Ruth Wilkinson and David Rundle

Oxford City Council is running two citywide consultations at the moment on their consultation website. The first is on finding out what our residents key priorities are and the second is on public toilets provision in the city. To access it, and to register your vote, please click here.

It’s really important for us to hear your views and gives us evidence to show that people’s views really count!

Other consultations that are taking place can also be found at the same web address.

A number of residents have asked us when the new 20 mph speed limits will come into operation. Our latest news from the County is as follows:

We’re anticipating the speed limit will come into effect in late August / early September but have yet to confirm the exact date (as you can appreciate, there is a lot of signing work) - the contractor is making very good progress with installing the poles, and we expect the signs themselves to be installed in the latter half of August.

If you live on the Windmill Road side of the London Road, and you are worried about any issue that you think the police or street wardens can help with, please take the time to drop in at one of the neighbourhood surgeries. Your views will be dealt with in the strictest confidence.

Here are the surgery dates and times:

Co-op, Atkyns Road on Friday 24^th July between 4pm and 5pm

Nuffield Orthopaedic Hospital, main reception on 21^st July between 11am and 1pm

Headington Community Centre, Drop-in café, Gladstone road on

22^nd July between 10am and 12pm

Yesterday I went to an extremely interesting briefing on the criminal justice system. There are more people than ever before in prisons.  Yet there is less recorded crime.

How can this be?

I wonder if the policy makers have looked into the research findings of Bernard Gesch? I attended an Open University course on well-being about three years ago, and Bernard Gesch was a keynote speaker.  He had done some research into diet and re-offending. It was not insignificant research: his cohort size was significant. He had found out that programmes to teach prisoners how to eat healthily were more successful in cutting the rate of re-offending than the normal rehabilitation programmes. His work had been recognised in Scandinavia but not in the UK.

There is a huge groundswell of research to back up the links between antisocial behaviour and fast food.

I wonder if this will be taken up in the forthcoming Local Government Information Unit  report to be launched next week by the All Party Parliamentary Local Government Group at Westminster?

As you may know, Brookes are objecting to the present phrasing of section CS 26 in the City Council’s Core Strategy, and want more specified sites listed for student accommodation. 

We are surprised and frustrated by Brookes’ approach. The sites mentioned are relatively small and can hardly be called ’strategic’ (which is the point of that part of the Core Strategy). What’s more, they include parcels of land which should be preserved as green space. No councillor has come out and said that allotment space in the city should be slashed. Brookes should realise that asking to be allocated an allotment site will be highly contentious and counter-productive for them.
 
Because of the procedure, David and Ruth can not now speak at the Inspector’s hearing but we are making it clear to the officers that they have our support in opposing the Brookes proposal which we believe is both wrong in principle and in its specifics.

If you wish to see the Brookes submission in full, click brookes11.pdf 

If you are interested in looking at all the submissions and seek more information about the Core Strategy DPD examination phase, please click here 

 Oxford Brookes University has rethought its plans for the proposed student centre. If you would like to see the revised plans, please click here

If you would like to make comments on the plan directly to Brookes, or ask the University questions about the plan, you can email spacetothink@brookes.ac.uk

If you want to lodge any comment or concern with the City Council, you will need to contact Planning Officers (see Planning website for City Council on the central orange tool bar)