Stansfeld

Headington Headlines #291

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 7 – 13 November.

There are some changes to the shops in Headington. The Rose Tree restaurant has closed “until further notice”, a Helen & Douglas House charity shop is opening where Oxford Furniture used to be and shopfitters are working in the old Morrison’s shop near Starbucks.

Headington Library is closed until further notice while the boiler and heating system is repaired.

After a long time out of the news (the last time was March 2015) there was some activity at 29 Old High Street this week. For new readers, number 29 is the near-derelict property between Waitrose and the car park. The Council has access to carry out a structural survey. I’m guessing, but perhaps there’s a chance it might be declared unsafe, in which case the Council could force action to be taken.

Headington Baptist Church celebrated its tenth anniversary the Sunday before last (6 November) with celebrations including the unveiling of a new artwork.

After last week’s news of the Fairview pub, another old-established but closed pub has reached the end of the line. Marston’s Jack Russell pub in Salford Road was “half-destroyed in an arson attack” on Saturday night. Locals have been campaigning for it to become a community centre.

The Friends of Stansfeld @FofStansfled are having an open meeting in @TheMasonsArmsHQ Arms tomorrow (Tues 15 November) to discuss the development proposals for the site. Everyone welcome.

Thames Valley Police @ThamesVP issued a statement on Friday in connection with the alleged abduction and rape of a 14 year old schoolgirl. They say that there is no evidence of an abduction but they are still investigating a case of rape.

A woman, her son and a pet dog were rescued unharmed after a fire broke out in the living room of their home in Weyland Road on Saturday night.

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

  • Friends of Quarry Meeeting
  • Oxford Winter Cycle Safety
  • road repairs in headington – hats off to the Labour Party
  • Glossy yellow leaflets and spuriously claiming credit

Headington Headlines #289

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 24 – 30 October.

The planning application for the Stansfeld site is now on the Council’s website (ref: 16/02618/FUL). Comments are open until Saturday 19 November.

Headington has one less charity shop. The CLIC Sargent shop next to HSBC has closed and the premises are up for lease.

@TheAmpRevival are having an open Community Meeting this coming Friday 4 November at 6.30pm in the Risinghurst Community Centre where they are re-launching their share offer. Also don’t forget @TiagosFishChips fish ‘n’ chips van is outside The Amp weekly every Tuesday from 5 – 9pm.

amp_meeting

The British Legion, whose members used to stand at the entrance to the JR on Headley Way to pay their respects to soldiers being repatriated after dying in Afghanistan, planted 456 daffodils at the corner on Friday. That’s one for each fatality in that campaign. The corner is informally known as the “Final Turn”.

Oxford University have agreed to set aside their plan to divert the Science Transit Shuttle buses via Lime Walk and Stapleton Road. However, they say they will keep their options open in case Warneford Road/Old Road congestion gets worse.

I posted an article giving more details of a planning application to build a mix of apartments, parking spaces and a new access road on land next to the C S Lewis nature reserve in Risinghurst which has attracted local opposition. See the application and comments on the Council’s website (ref: 16/02549/FUL). The comments are mostly, but not exclusively, against the development. There is also a petition asking the Council to reject the application. The application is open for comments until Monday 14 November.

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

  • Oxford Winter Cycle Safety
  • Lye Valley Issues
  • Building next to C S Lewis nature reserve
  • Time Oxford had congestion charging
  • Apple juicer

Headington Headlines #288

TonyOX3

Your weekly round-up of local news for 17 – 23 October.

The Access to Headington work started as planned on Monday. Read more in my note here. The contractors have been asked for confirmation that the Grade 2 listed 1667 highway stone on Warneford Lane will be protected from damage.

1667 Highway Stone, Warneford Lane
1667 Highway Stone, Warneford Lane
Photo: @headingtonnews

A knock-on effect of the roadworks is that Oxford University is proposing to reroute its Science Transit Shuttle down Lime Walk and Stapleton Road until Warneford Lane and Old Road are clear again. Highfield Residents’ Association is seeking discussions with the University, who have also been invited to the Headington Ward focus meeting tomorrow (Tuesday 25 October).

The Oxford Trust @scienceoxford has published detailed plans for the future of the Stansfeld site in Quarry. The scheme will provide a purpose-built science education centre for primary schools, and also a café and theatre. At the time of writing the plans hadn’t appeared on the City Council’s planning website.

News emerged of an armed robbery at BetFred on Cherwell Drive the week before last (Friday 14 October). A cashier was threatened with a knife. Police are appealing for information.

Yet more criticism of Southern Health Trust, this time in a Care Quality Commission report following an inspection of Slade House 2 about eight weeks ago.. The report finds that care provision ‘requires improvement’ in three out of five categories – safety, effectiveness and leadership; nor had some improvement measures promised earlier been completed:

The provider had told us that all the corrective actions specified in their action plans would have been implemented by the end of March 2016. During our inspection on 31 August and 1 September 2016 we found that not all of the recommended actions had been completed.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

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

  • Disruption
  • Plans for 3,000 more homes to west of Barton Park
  • Loss of play equipment at Margaret Road Rec due to building works
  • Fundraising for a new climbing frame at Headington Quarry Foundation Stage School