schools

Headington Headlines #299

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 1 – 8 January.

@OUHEstates have confirmed that the final reinstatement of the roads, including remaking the speed humps, will be done at the end of all the work in agreement with the County Highways Department.

In the wake of the withdrawal of the H2 local bus service last year Risinghurst & Sandhills Parish Council is asking whether people in that area would use a possible new bus service.

In what looks like a good move for both clubs, Oxford United @OUFCOfficial and Oxford City FC have signed a deal for OUFC to share City’s ground in Marston for training. The arrangement needs the blessing of the City Council.

Several pupils were sent home from Cheney School at the start of term for wearing ‘inappropriate uniform’ – trousers that were ‘too short’. Parents were upset that the children were sent home without supervision and without their parents being told.

@WindmillOxford school couldn’t open after the holidays on Wednesday as planned because the heating boiler had broken down. It was finally fixed on Friday and the school opens today (Monday).

A young man was threatening to jump off the Old Road bridge over the Eastern by-pass on Saturday. Police managed to talk him away and to safety. @HeadingtonNews was there.

You can recycle your natural Christmas trees at three Council sites in Headington – Bury Knowle Park, South Park and Margaret Road recreation ground.

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

  • Energy Pipe – 2017 works
  • Internet Connection in Headington

Headington Headlines #283

TonyOX3

 

Your weekly round-up of local news for 12 – 18 September.

A 48 year old man was stabbed in Margaret Road in the middle of the afternoon on Thursday. He was taken to the JR Hospital. On Friday police issued descriptions of two men they wanted to speak to in connection with the incident. The victim was said to be in a stable condition, and his injuries not life-threatening.

The Boundary Commission’s proposals for Oxford East (see section 81 on p.20) show our constituency gaining two City Wards, North and St Margaret’s, which currently lie within Oxford West and Abingdon (Nicola Blackwood’s constituency). In the City Council, North Ward is Labour and St Margaret’s is LibDem.

Two sets of number plates were reported stolen over last weekend (10/11 September), one on the London Road near Ramsay Road, the other on Lime Walk.

St Andrew’s School Association joined twitter with a bit of a stammer as @sasastandrews1. They need your vote to help raise money for a new outdoor classroom.

Frontier Estates (the developers building the Beech House student accommodation on the corner of Latimer Road) are resurrecting a new version of the planning application they withdrew earlier this year to build a 55-bed care home at 1 Pullen’s Lane. I’ve drawn up a handy timeline of the ups and downs of this potential development.

Children at @WindmillOxford were featured on @BBCOxford as they celebrated the centenary of the birth of Roald Dahl on Tuesday by dressing up as their favourite characters.

Behind the security fencing on the pavement at the top of Headington Hill is a 15 metre gap in the old wall. Here’s the story.

Buongiorno e Buonasera opened as scheduled on Friday, and Oxford Vapours @OxfordVapours seems to be opening a vape shop in what was the old BBB Stores next to the old Post Office. They already have shops in Abingdon and Witney. A vape shop sells e-cigarettes and related products – see Oxford Vapours’ website for more details.

@JockOx3 felt good about his visit to a new Turkish barbers in Marston.

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

  • Margaret Road Pavilion
  • Campaign Against Cuts to Services at Horton Hospital Banbury
  • The Marston Barber

Headington Headlines #282

TonyOX3

A day later than usual, here is your weekly round-up of local news for 5 – 11 September.

The heatpipe project cleared two hurdles, bringing work closer to a start. On Monday Vital Energi got consent for the necessary street works licences and on Wednesday the East Area Planning Committee (EAPC) granted planning permission for the works. The planning permission is subject to 20 conditions (several of them standard) and two ‘informatives’. Cllr @RuthWilk posted a useful summary before the minutes appeared online – they are now available in draft on the Council’s website.

Despite some campaigners still talking about legal action, the main problem for Vital Energi and the Trust is the co-ordination of work between this project, Access to Headington and the work on the Latimer Road student accommodation now officially named Beech House.

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.

At the same meeting the EAPC also gave planning permission for the Northway and Marston Flood Alleviation Scheme, and the demolition of two houses in Waynflete Road, Barton to allow access to a substantial housing development on the land behind which is in South Oxfordshire District. And in a heavy agenda they gave permission for an extension to Holy Trinity Church in Quarry, and refused permission for a three storey housing development on the site of the old Quarry Gate pub. Details of all these are in the draft minutes cited above.

Following last week’s link to @citizenofanvard‘s blog about The Kilns, here’s the follow-up post about Holy Trinity Church @HTHeadQ, especially the Narnia window and C S Lewis’ grave.

Marston-based Oxford City FC @OxCityFC narrowly avoided being put into liquidation when they were able to pay an outstanding tax bill at the last minute. Talks with potential new sponsors continue.

Thames Water’s emergency sewer work at the junction of Windmill Road and Old Road has been causing major traffic delays. Work is apparently going to continue through this week. Oh, and the water company put warning signs at the London Road junction instead of Old Road ‘by mistake’. *sigh*

A new 880 pupil Free School in Oxford – the “Swan School” – has been talked about for at least the past year. It now seems likely it will be located on the site of the Harlow Centre next to St Nicholas Primary School in Marston despite concerns about the extra traffic it would generate. An alternative site in Osney Mead seems to have fallen out of consideration, not least because of uncertainty over Oxford University’s plans for the area.

Headington’s newest restaurant Buongiorno e Buonasera is having its Grand Opening on Friday this week. It’s where the bed shop on the corner of Old High Street used to be, in case you’ve not noticed it.

A suggestion surfaced that part of the regeneration plans for Barton might involve the demolition and rebuilding of Underhill Circus.

Tenants of Oxford’s five tower blocks who own their leases under right-to-buy legislation – including Wood Farm and Northway – are challenging the Council’s plans to charge them up to £50,000 each for refurbishment and renovation work on the blocks. Pictures in @The Oxford Mail seem to show that at least some of the internal work has been carried out without much concern for how it looks. The Council has to apply to a special tribunal, the Property Chamber (no, I hadn’t heard of it either), to sanction the charges.

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

  • Reply M Clarkson
  • Cuts
  • Disruption
  • Campaign Against Cuts to Services at Horton Hospital Banbury
  • Proposal for 880-pupil school for Raymund Road, Marston
  • Lost Passport
  • Community Choir, Headley Way, sessions resume Monday 12th Sept