shops

Headington Headlines #260

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 28 March – 3 April.

With the added complication of The Lime Walk Alternative (my new indie band name) it looks like we won’t be seeing any heatpipe roadworks this side of the summer holidays. @RuthWilk explains in the e-democracy forum.

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.

Headington Action @HeadingtonA is asking local businesses to sponsor hanging baskets this summer. £100 each.

Unofficial Oxford United FC goods were being sold in Headington in the run-up to the club’s Wembley appearance on Sunday. As @OUFCOfficial pointed out, none of the money paid to unofficial traders goes to the Club.

The local campaign to get the City Council to remove parking spaces from outside thei planned new pavilion at the Margaret Road recreation ground seems to have been successful. Headington Quarry FC would still like to see further improvements to the changing facilities.

Feather and Black are closing down.

To the great disappointment of campaigners led by @friendlyevalley the City’s Planning Review Committee gave planning permission for houses to be built on green land in Warren Crescent above the Lye Valley.

My favourite OX3-related tweet of the week:

There’s a more serious story behind the picture though, about rat-running and speeding through the narrow streets of Quarry.

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

  • Disruption
  • Energy pipe
  • new email address

Headington Headlines #258

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 14 – 20 March.

In a surprise announcement the OUH NHS Trust and VialEnergi said they were taking more planning advice and would submit a revised planning application for the heatpipe covering two alternative routes – the original route and another via Lime Walk instead of Stapleton Road. They intend to submit the application in time for the June East Area Planning Committee.

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

The shop that was the dry cleaners next to Up & Running is being refitted. It is reported that it will be a Card Factory shop. Card Factory is a chain of over 800 stores and it looks like they will be competing to a greater or lesser extent with @frogorange, Daisy Chain and Pen to Paper. They already have a store in Cowley.

A mobile bike servicing and repair service has started operating out of Headington Quarry. It’s called Quarry Cycle Services and is of course on twitter as @quarry_cycles. Details of services offered and charges are on their website.

The application for three five-bedroomed houses on the site of the former Quarry Gate pub has been refused, and the one to turn two residential units behind the old Headington Post Office into a six-bedroom HMO has been approved.

The Garden florist shop turned yellow in support of Oxford United playing in the Johnson’s Paints Trophy final at Wembley on 3 April.

Staying on a horticultural theme, Monty Don’s “Big Dreams Small Spaces” show featured a garden in Headington.

No hesitation this week over my favourite OX3-related tweet:

The Headington & Marston e-democracy forum has been particularly vitriolic this week with new threads being started willy-nilly and moderator @headingtonnews having to appeal for an end to personal attacks. Active topics this week:

  • Guardian story the danger posed by the Northway link road
  • Latimer Road
  • Revesing [sic] bleepers
  • Tower block refurbishment
  • New type speed camera on Marston Road
  • Northway and Marston Flood Alleviation scheme
  • Disruption
  • Re Election
  • R Darke
  • Noise and air pollution on Foxwell drive
  • Quarry Gate pub
  • New road humps (Access to Headington)
  • The Headington Plan – whats next? (August 2015) – Parking at the JR
  • Northway Estate

Headington Headlines #254

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 15 – 21 February.

I haven’t written an Energy Project update for last week, but  one will follow soon. 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.

I’ve also brought “Access to Headington” out of its hiding place under “Transport Plans” and given it its own link on the menu. The County’s official notice of the next round of consultations is there, and I expect there will be more posts to follow!

Headington Post Office moved to its new home in the Co-op on Monday. There were some teething problems: it was closed for a while on Tuesday.

The new Post Office inn the Co-op (closed at the time)
The new Post Office inn the Co-op (closed at the time)

Team Yellow, covering Wood Farm, won the Council’s Blue Bin Recycling League last month. They’ll need to choose a local good cause to receive the prize of £400. Two households also win a prize worth £30 each.

Headington Car Club – the car-sharing scheme – is to get two new parking places, one in Sandfield Road and one in All Saints’ Road. This is after the original proposal was rejected: the County wanted to find off-street sites but none have come available. See also HH 248.

It’s been reported that tower block leaseholders are considering legal action over the City Council’s intention to charge substantial amounts for refurbishment of the blocks.

New width-restriction bollards have been installed at the entrance and exit to Horspath Driftway Homebase car park. The gap is 7ft 6″, or 2.29 metres. It seemed a tight squeeze in my smallish car.

The north side of the A40 between Marston turn and Headington roundabout will be closed overnight from 8pm to 6am on Monday 7 – Wednesday 9 March. The Traffic Order says ‘three overnight closures’ so I assume that means until Thursday morning. The official diversion is enormous, clearly designed to discourage traffic from Marsh Road, Headley Way and the London Road, or trying to work its way through Elsfield and Forest Hill. It takes traffic back up the A40 to Pear Tree, round the ring road to Hinksey Hill, Heyford Hill and Cowley up to the Headington roundabout. Good luck with that. The same diversion will operate in the other direction on the next three nights when they close the other carriageway on the A40.

A40 closure diversion details
A40 closure diversion details

The group hoping to save The Ampleforth Arms in Risinghurst @TheAmpRevival is making a last-ditch appeal for funds to allow them to bid to buy the pub. Their window of opportunity runs out in March.

Jaya’s deli, on the London Road near Headington roundabout, earned a write-up in the Oxford Mail.

Sky broadband customers suffered a long loss of service which began around 10pm on Friday and lasted more than a day.

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

  • Tower Block Refurbishment
  • Disruption
  • Guardian story the danger posed by the Northway link road
  • Disruption
  • Possible Extension to Car Spaces in Bury Knowle Park