Headington Headlines #158

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 7 – 13 April.

The main obstacles to the Haboakus developments in Northway seem to have been removed with Thames Water agreeing what needs to be done about the sewerage system.

Dr Mark Crowley, a Consultant Anaesthetist from the JR Hospital, has been selected to play for the England over-40s Masters hockey team. England currently hold the World, European and Home Nations championships at this level.

Following the news of the retirement of Headteacher Keith Ponsford last week, it’s been announced that Bayards Hill primary school in Barton is to become an academy school from the start of the new term. It will be sponsored by Cheney School, the secondary school to which many Bayards Hill pupils progress.

New fitness equipment was installed in Headington Hill Park, some of it in the wrong place according to the newly-formed Friends. The Council has said it will move the offending apparatus.

The planning application for a change of use from retail to a restaurant/café at the ex-Trade Exchange shop on the London Road was withdrawn. It was unlikely to have been successful anyway.

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

  • London road from Hamburger roundabout to Headington
  • Bar Meze
  • Proposed Changes to Green Road Roundabout
  • Tree-felling on Oxford Bypass adjacent to Northway
  • Tree Felling on A40 By Pass
  • Barton / Northway bus link
  • Northway consultation
I cover news from the OX3 postcode in Headington and out as far as Barton, Sandhills and Risinghurst (see map). To feed into next week’s summary you can comment on this article, or tweet either with the hashtag #ox3 or @mentioning @TonyOX3.

Headington Headlines #157

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 31 March – 6 April.

A barrier has been installed on the bridge carrying Old Road over the ring road and up to Shotover. Apparently one side of the bridge is in a bad way and the County engineers have decided they need to restrict the traffic to one side. There’s a discussion on the e-democracy website including a letter from the engineers.

The relaunch of the bike hire scheme at Thornhill P&R and Headington has been put back by at least two months as the operators say they need more time to install their technology.

Keith Ponsford, Head Teacher at Bayards Hill primary school in Barton, retired this week. Over a forty year career he has taught in Marston and Cutteslowe as well as Barton.

Friends of Quarry are hoping to get the Stansfeld Outdoor Centre listed as an Asset of Community Value. I blogged about it, thinking it may be destined for housing.

Istanbul Barbers opened in the old Lazy Gamer shop.

Power was out on Saturday afternoon in an area from Bickerton Road to Wharton Road and extending out to near the NOC, with a reported brief ‘blip’ in a wider area from Wood Farm to Quarry. The power cut lasted about an hour.

The police helicopter @NPAS_Benson hovering over Headington on Friday afternoon was helping in the search for a person reported missing, who was eventually located by police on the ground.

Smart new blue bus shelters have been installed in the JR grounds.

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

  • Multi-storey car park at Old Road campus
  • Activities for under 5s on Fridays
  • Tree-felling on Oxford Bypass adjacent to Northway
  • Barrier on bridge on Old Road
  • Quarry Gate pub
  • Trade Exchange
  • Student accomodation where Cavalier pub was
  • New Headington Residents’ Association
  • Bar Meze
I cover news from the OX3 postcode in Headington and out as far as Barton, Sandhills and Risinghurst (see map). To feed into next week’s summary you can comment on this article, or tweet either with the hashtag #ox3 or @mentioning @TonyOX3.

Headington Headlines #153

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 3 – 9 March.

The new management team at @VictoriaArms, Euan and Lizzie, have a combined 26 years in the licencing/hospitality trade.

The body of Dr Richard Barnett who worked at the Manor surgery before his retirement was recovered from the Thames at Shillingford.

A man from Saxon Way appeared in court charged with rape. The alleged incident took place in September 2012. He pleaded ‘not guilty’ and the trial continues.

The inaugural meeting of the Friends of Headington Hill Park will take place on Weds 26 March at 6pm in the East Oxford Community Centre.

More on the @BartonPark_ development – this time a suggestion from Councillors that existing Barton and Northway council tenants ‘might’ get priority in allocation of social housing.

Last week’s Walk of Protest made national TV, albeit on the Urdu channel GeoTV.

A friar who is also a former governor of @RyeStAntony school admitted at Southwark Crown Court possessing more than 5,000 child abuse images. He will be sentenced later.

The Oxford Mail reported on the new @JacobsChopHouse.

@Stagecoach_Ox announced they will be ordering 26 new buses to replace the current @Oxford_Tube fleet.

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

  • Northway Town Green application and Barton Park
  • Osler Road junction
  • Headington Hill Park Friends inaugural meeting
  • Activities for under 5s on Fridays
I cover news from the OX3 postcode in Headington and out as far as Barton, Sandhills and Risinghurst (see map). To feed into next week’s summary you can comment on this article, or tweet either with the hashtag #ox3 or @mentioning @TonyOX3.