Headington Headlines #325

Your weekly round-up of local news for 3 – 9 July.

Thames Water starts sewer replacement works in St Clements today, lasting for several weeks. There will be long delays. You have been warned.

Councillors and The Oxford Mail are reporting that because of the work in St Clements, the Headley Way stage of Access to Headington, recently rescheduled to start on 24 July, has now been put back to the new year. This has yet to be confirmed on the County’s website, but it seems highly probable. This potentially pushes the work into conflict with building work on the JR site. Update, 1500 10/07/17 The County has now confirmed the postponement.

Police are appealing for witnesses and information about a suspected arson in Weyland Road last Sunday (2 July).

As predicted by the Huffington Post and reported in HH323, Oxford East MP Anneliese ‘One of Nine to Shine’ Dodds has been made a front-bench Treasury spokeswoman for Labour.

With the closure of the Marston Medical Centre patients have been re-allocated to other practices. Some will go to a unit based at the Marston Pharmacy, others have been allocated to a new unit being set up in the grounds of the JR at Arthur Sanctuary House (ASH, the building opposite the Women’s Centre). Patients have been told there will be no extra parking at ASH so anyone arriving by car will need to join the queues of drivers trying to get into the JR pay-for-parking car parks. Coming from Marston, the JR is served by the 13, X13, 14, and 700 bus services, which would be a sensible alternative for those who can use them.

The planning application by @TheSpiritofToad for a café at their new South Park distillery was called in by councillors after a close vote at the West Area Planning Committee. It will be decided at the Planning review Committee meeting this Wednesday (12 July).

@HeadingtonNews has sifted through all the site allocations in the City Council’s Preferred Options local plan document and produced a list of all the sites in the Headington area. Do try and find time to look at the consultation and make your views known.

Street names for the @BartonPark_ development have been released. The main spine road is to be Barton Fields Road (why not Barton Park Road?). Other names commemorate well-known Barton people, including Barry Holden, former Vice President of the Barton Community Association, and Elizabeth Maud Smith, a resident of Barton for 57 years.

Oxford Health NHS Trust @OxfordHealthNHS, who run the Warneford Hospital, showed their masterplan for how they want to develop the site into a world-leading treatment and research centre. Oxford University is collaborating to help them raise funds, but nothing’s likely to happen for a while yet. Exhibitions of the masterplan will be arranged over the summer months.

Model of the Warneford Masterplan site layout
Model of the Warneford Masterplan site layout (Warneford Lane at the top)

Travellers are back on the Marston Ferry Road cycle path. They were able to access the path due to a bollard failure.

It’s been a long time, but 29 Old High Street (the derelict place on the right near the car park) is back! Planning application ref 17/01686/FUL is for “Partial demolition of existing house and demolition of existing garages and outbuildings. Erection of two storey side and rear extension. Provision of new access, car parking and turning area. Rebuilding of stone boundary wall fronting Old High Street.” The application is open for comments until 3 August.

Ruskin College has been criticised for abandoning its roots and its foundation by closing its international labour and trade union studies department.

Active posts on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week:

  • Ramsey Road Allotments
  • Local Plan 2036
  • Ramsey Road Allotments
  • Charity event to celebrate Adult Volunteers in Oxfordshire
  • Frontier Estates Multiple Site London Road / Barton Road

Headington Headlines #274

Your weekly round-up of local news for 11 – 17 July.

The heatpipe planning application finally surfaced on the City website on Thursday. Its reference number is 16/01565/FUL. There is now a consultation period which runs until 18 August. As yet no comments have been published.

All my posts about the project are under the ‘Energy Project’ tab in the main menu, and there’s a page of links and contact details here.

The body of Sara McDonald of Woodstock, who was reported missing on Monday, was found in Shotover Country Park on Tuesday.

Oxford City FC managing director Colin Taylor was found dead at the club’s ground in Marsh Lane, Marston on Sunday (yesterday) morning. Police say the circumstances of his death are not thought to be suspicious.

The Telegraph education supplement published a guide to Ruskin College. You may find the article is behind a paywall.

A blocked sewer has been causing a foul water overflow in Brookside and London Road. Councillor @RuthWilk is on the case. The problem seems to have been caused by, among other things, baby wipes being flushed down the toilet. Don’t do this, folks – they don’t disintegrate!

None of the Co-op stores in Headington & Marston, or indeed in Oxford as a whole, are affected by the Co-op’s annonced sale of smaller stores to McColl’s Retail. The full list in postcode order is here.

It’s been another of those rare weeks without any new posts on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum.

Headington Headlines #259

Your weekly round-up of local news for 21 – 27 March.

The planning application (Ref: 16/00604/FUL) by Vital Energi for a 27-space carpark at the JR Hospital to be used by residents of Sandford Road while the road is closed during heat-pipe work has been published.

Plan of temporary car park
Plan of temporary car park

The Trust also explained why they couldn’t use the most direct route via Osler Road and Lime Walk. As Osler Road had just been resurfaced there is a 5-year ban on re-excavating.

All my posts about the project are under the ‘Energy Project’ tab in the main menu, and there’s a page of links and contact details here.

Two sheds in Collinwood Road, Risinghurst caught fire on Sunday last week (20 March). The fire spread to neighbouring trees and then a house. No-one was injured and the cause is being investigated.

Ruskin College announced the death of their Principal, Dr Chris Wilkes. He was appointed two years ago having served the College for many years as General Secretary. Vice-Principal Paul Di Felice has been appointed Acting Principal.

The national GP Patient Survey rates GP surgeries. A story in the Oxford Mail reports that of OX3’s surgeries, Wood Farm Health Centre has an overall satisfaction score of 94%; Manor Surgery – 91%; Bury Knowle Health Centre – 90%; Marston Medical Centre – 79%. Not all surgeries are covered due to insufficient data. You can search by postcode or GP practice name here, where there is much more detail of the good and not-so-good performances.

Aziz Restaurant @AzizOxford has moved into the Chequers in Headington Quarry. Their Cowley Road restaurant has closed.

Active posts on the Headington & Marston e-democracy forum this week:

  • Northway Estate
  • Access to Headington Proposals