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Headington Headlines #196

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 5 – 11 January.

The resumption of roadworks on both sides of the Headington roundabout led predictably to big traffic delays. They are likely to continue until May/June.

Then there were two stories about parking associated with the road works. In Windmill Road, single yellow lines appeared without warning across several residents’ parking places. People were understandably upset, especially as they had paid for permits. It turned out it was all a mistake and the suspensions have been, er, suspended, though they might be reinstated sometime in the future if Windmill Road becomes a diversion route while the London Road works continue. I hope that’s clear.

The second story broke in the Streetlife forum that operates in the Marston/Northway area. Again, parking restrictions appeared apparently without warning. Investigation by @theabingdontaxi found that the statutory notice fixed to the lamposts explains that this is a temporary measure and not enforceable without accompanying signage and that it’s for the duration of the London Road improvement works. I imagine this is again a restriction that will be invoked if the need arises.

And it looks like still more roadworks, this time for the benefit of pedestrians and cyclists in Headington centre. @TheOxfordMail reports that @OxfordshireCC will start work this month to eliminate the flooding problem on the corner of London Road and Old High Street (not Windmill Road as stated in the article). I seem to remember that engineers have diagnosed a collapsed sewer as the cause of the problem, although the fall of the road surface needs re-setting too. @RosalindRogers has been campaigning for this for a long time!

Tesco announced the closure of 43 unprofitable stores. We don’t know yet if Headington (@Tesco6880) will be one of them, nor whether Tesco will now scrap plans to open on the old Friar pub site in Marston.

The Holy Trinity Preservation group is holding a public meeting on 22 January at @TheMasonsArmsHQ to discuss the revised plans for extensions to the Church. All welcome.

As the general election campaign juggernaut begins to rumble into motion, I wrote a short summary of the candidates so far declared in the two Oxford constituencies, and made a handy twitter list for you to follow if you don’t want to miss a word, at least from those of them that are on twitter.

And finally….. a tree blew down in Valentia Road in the storms.

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

  • Parcel Couriers
  • Maps
  • New Headington bus routes
  • Revised Proposals for the Development of Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry
  • Parking on pavement
  • Barton Road Park
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 #193

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 8 -14 December.

Roundway traders say they have been badly affected by the London Road roadworks, especially as it seems the project is suffering significant delays.

A man was assaulted and robbed by ‘a gang of teenagers’ on Margaret Road on Friday 5 December.

Two further robberies on Monday, in Quarry Hollow and Bury Knowle Park, are being linked by @TVPolice.

Again on Monday a man had an unknown substance sprayed into his face in a robbery which happened in the alley between Cinnaminta Road and Leiden Road in Wood Farm. The victim was carrying £3500 in cash which he was taking to the bank for his employer.

The John Henry Brookes and Abercrombie Building at Oxford Brookes, and the Maggie’s Centre at the Churchill, are among 147 buildings nationally nominated for the 2015 Civic Trust Awards (scroll down the linked document to South East Region).

Headington Community Action opened a new bike shelter at the Headington Community Centre in Gladstone Road.

After two unannounced inspections by the Care Quality Commission earlier this year, the Albany Care Home was rated ‘Inadequate’. The care home is on the London Road opposite Headington Prep School. One of several problems which the home seems to have failed to cope with was the departure of all their staff nurses, who had to be replaced with agency nurses. The Oxford Mail has more on the story. The company that runs the Albany, Four Seasons (Bamford) Ltd runs a large number of other care homes and has an outstanding CQC warning at a home in Manchester that they must make improvements within a given timescale.

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

  • no lights
  • Smoking at JR Hospital
  • Transport and the social divide
  • Pub on Barton Park?
  • Barton Rd development
  • Bicycle hazard – Headington Hill
  • Oxford-HM Forum needs your financial support!
  • Does YourNextMP have your constituency right?
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 #191

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 24 – 30 November.

I blogged about the obscurity around the @BartonPark_ Reserved Matters planning documents, available online. There are 113 documents to absorb. But credit to Oxford City Council planning officers – within 48 hours of my mini-rant the document names had all been changed to something more meaningful.

The 20-bed Oxford City Community Hospital has moved from the JR to the Churchill. The move is said to put patients closer to other services.

@RosalindRogers posted this picture of a mural in Quarry Village Hall, uncovered during the on-going refurbishment.

A traffic accident outside Waitrose early on Friday evening closed Old High Street for a while.

Forget Black Friday, it’s Golden Monday! The Ford family who run everyone’s favourite hardware store Headington Homewares celebrate 50 years of continuous trading as a family business today. Congratulations! I’m told they are marking the occasion with 10% off everything this week.

Starting today, the Headington Live Advent Calendar @LiveAdvent2014 presents a different musical or artistic event in a different location every day until Christmas. Full details on their website, where you can download a full programme.

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

  • no lights
  • Cyclists on Pavements
  • Headington Festival Weekend 2015
  • Does the Old School British Gentlemen/Lady still exist in this modern age?
  • Save the date! #GivingTuesday – December 2
  • Barton Park: Planning application November 2014
  • Drivers going too fast and thinking that’s OK
  • Correction of previous submission – Care Home inviting community at Christmas
  • Parking at the JR
  • Problems with Royal Mail
  • I’d just like to say…
  • Dunstan Rd Speed Humps
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.