Stansfeld

Headington Headlines #216

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 25 – 31 May.

Police, the local and national media were out in force at the Marston end of the Marston Ferry Road cycle track on Monday as the search for the man suspected of murdering three members of his family in Didcot focused on the area. A body later identified as the wanted man was found in land alongside the track.

Oxfordshire County Council has told parents and residents campaigning for traffic calming measures near Headington Quarry School that there’s no money to do anything there.

The Headington Festival happened over the weekend. The weather on Sunday wasn’t kind but plenty of people came along to enjoy the action in Bury Knowle Park.

One of the bids to buy the Stansfeld Outdoor Centre is from a group called Oxford Cohousing. @TheOxfordMail explains “Cohousing is a set of purpose-built houses where residents work together as a co-operative to share childcare, cooking and gardening, and socialise as a collective”. You can read more about the organisation on its website.

The process of making Headington’s Neighbourhood Plan reached a significant milestone this week with the publication of the formal Draft Plan.

The Annual Meeting of @OldMarstonPC was attended by just 12 members of the public.

in other Old #Marston Parish Council news, only 12 parishioners attended the annual parish meeting this year #Oxford pic.twitter.com/mwtkObSowG

— Colin (@theabingdontaxi) May 26, 2015

A small herd of cows taking a stroll along the Marston Ferry Road cycle track on Wednesday prompted this exchange on twitter:

.@oxfordtimes The cattle are all over the *cycle track*, and it's the *drivers* you're warning?

— Rob Haynes (@RobOnABike) May 27, 2015

The Oxford Designer Blinds shop on London Road has closed after being open less than six months.

The refurbishment of Forester’s and Plowman tower blocks (see HH137) has been delayed until next year at the earliest, and will probably cost more that originally planned.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

Gonna miss working at churchy 😞 might just work my way through all the headington hospitals 😂

— Sophia (@SophiaFrost) May 28, 2015

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

  • Stansfeld Centre now up for sale
  • Petitioning Oxfordshire County Council for Quarry Hollow Traffic Calming and pedestrian safety
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 #206

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 16 – 22 March.

A collision involving a car and a motorbike closed the London Road near the Lime Walk junction for a time on Monday afternoon. On Thursday a bus and a car collided outside the Churchill Hospital and a man was taken to hospital for treatment.

The Barton Road / London Road junction is closed until Tuesday 31 March. There’s no access in or out at that end.

Headington Festival’s @HeadingtonFest new website went live with details of this year’s fun and frolics. Saturday and Sunday 30 and 31 May – put the dates in your diary!

@RyeStAntony School launched their new website.

Planning permission has been given for the change of use of Kennett House offices (above Iceland) to residential. This was given under the new permitted development rules introduced by the coalition government.

Friends of Quarry are publicly looking for partners who can help them bid to buy the Stansfeld Outdoor Centre, which they registered as an Asset of Community Value. The back story is in these HH articles, and my brief “what happens next” is here.

A muntjac deer got jammed upside down between two walls in Stephen Road on Monday and had to be released by the Fire & Rescue Service and the RSPCA. It was relatively unharmed and was released in “nearby woods”.

Olympic rowing gold medallist Dr Katherine Grainger CBE was inaugurated as the new Chancellor of @Oxford_Brookes University on Friday. The ceremony was followed by the formal ‘opening’ of the John Henry Brookes Building.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

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

  • City Council looks to residents for Barton Park street name ideas
  • drains
  • Solar panels in Bury Knowle Park
  • School Places
  • St. George’s day in Headington
  • Could installing a cable car commuter system be the answer to Oxford’s congestion?
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 #204

TonyOX3

Here’s my weekly round-up of local news for 2 – 8 March.

The Sunday Times forgot to mention the amazing coverage of local issues enjoyed by residents of Headington as one of the factors that makes Headington one of the top 50 places in the UK to live. The list was in alphabetical order, so being number 44 doesn’t mean anything. Thanks to @headingtonnews for sending me the cutting. I had to look up ‘Tiger Parents‘.

The much-delayed zebra crossing on Margaret Road, near @WindmillOxford school was finally completed and fully operational last Monday morning.

And the work to upgrade the Risinghurst – Quarry crossing at Kiln Lane to a toucan (that’s bikes as well as people on foot) was completed four days ahead of schedule.

Children at @WindmillOxford celebrated World Book Day on Thursday by dressing up as their favourite book characters.

Headington public library has free wifi.

A new noticeboard has appeared on the corner of Headington Road and Headley Way. As of Saturday mid-day it was still empty (and graffiti-free).

Fire services were called to a house fire on Colemans Hill (off Pitts Road) on Sunday evening. @philmercer broke the story.

The City Council is consulting on the plans for a pavilion in the Margaret Road recreation ground. There will be a public event to show the plans on 31 March at 6.30pm in @TheMasonsArmsHQ.

Oxford LibDems announced that their PPC for Oxford East, Mark Mann, has stood down for family reasons. The new parliamentary candidate is Alasdair Murray @alasdairjmurray. He lives on Hill Top Road, which is almost in OX3.

The Albany Care Home on London Road was once again criticised in a CQC inspection report. After two earlier critical reports (see HH193) a surprise inspection was carried out in January this year. In the latest report leadership at the home was rated “inadequate” and safety, care and responsiveness of care “require improvement”.

Medical services for @BartonPark_ will be provided by expanding the existing Barton Surgery in Underhill Circus.

Jolie Kirby, the Headteacher of Cheney School, threw down the gauntlet in front of some of the local competition when she declared parents should not “waste their money” on private education.

This hubris was followed by its nemesis when police were called to the same school last Monday after a report that a 16 year old pupil had been attacked in the school grounds. It seems no-one is prepared to give any more information about the incident.

Birmingham City Council has put the Stansfeld Centre off Quarry Road on the market. Friends of Quarry have had it designated an Asset of Community Value. I wrote this short note on what happens next.

Following complaints from the public, including @HeadingtonHeritage, about their visual impact solar panels on the roof of the new buildings facing Bury Knowle Park will be removed. It seems the proper planning procedures were not followed.

A woman gave birth to a baby boy in a taxi outside Leaders in Windmill Road on Wednesday morning. A paramedic attended and mother and baby were said to both be well. Reporters at @TheOxfordMail who had worked a 16 hour day the day before getting their 13-page coverage of the Bullfinch report ready were in a more relaxed mood as this story broke.

My favourite Headington-related tweet of the week:

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

  • Quarry Gate pub
  • Craft Fair at Townsend House
  • St Andrew’s Church, Headington
  • Serious Case Review Damns Oxford’s Police and Social Services
  • Margaret Road zebra crossing work
  • Parking on pavement
  • Railings damaged on corner of BartonLane/Road
  • Revised Proposals for the Development of Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry
  • Stansfeld Centre now up for sale
  • Nice sunny weather for Craft Fair in Headington
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.