Thanks to all who signed up to become Friends of Bury Knowle Park, we will be in touch with you shortly to let you know the date and time of our first meeting (probably 24 June)

Would you like to:

• help improve the park’s appearance?
• have a say in the park’s facilities?
• improve the local conservation value?
• increase the park’s safety?

Why not help us start up a Friends of Bury Knowle Park group?

There are lots of benefits:

• the groups are a great way to meet new people
• you can make a positive contribution to your local area
• it’s a great way to get exercise, improve your health and wellbeing
• you can have a say in tackling vandalism and crime in the parks
• you can influence future improvements to the park
• Friends Groups can apply for funding to improve parks
• Groups can organise community events
• you can access training
• you can enhance your skills

Come to the Headington Festival on Sunday 7 June and find our stall!  We shall have an informal meeting at 3 o’clock and everyone is welcome

We have been trying to sort out the problem of litter in the area next to the bus stop in Windmill Road.

Here is an update on progress. The environmental development officer has written to the owners of the land and discussed the siting of the bus stop and the height of the retaining wall and advised them who to contact regarding this.

As the problem is continuing, he will seek to serve a litter clearing notice on the owner of the land and arrange for concentrated litter enforcement in the area

It was good to see so many people at the exhibition on Saturday morning! If you haven’t yet seen the County Council’s plans for upgrading the London Road, please click on this link

If you haven’t yet submitted comments/feedback on the new scheme, please do so online here

Please note: you will need to click on Next to complete the feedback form.  David and I are very keen that everyone fills this in.  Among the concerns that were brought to my attention on Saturday were the lack of attention given to cyclists, the narrowing of Old High Street at its junction with London Road in respect of the advent of Waitrose, safety concerns about the London Road/Windmill Road junction, and the removal of the subway at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds.  People were also concerned about the lack of planting in London Road

Here are some of the things we’ll be discussing at Tuesday’s area committee meeting at Wood Farm School at 6 pm.  Don’t forget that all residents can come along and join in the debate:

• Roads on which there should be 20 mph speed limits
• Improvements to Queen Street
• Whether land at Court Place Farm should be leased to Oxford City Football Club (we’ll also consider an objection to this)
• Planning application re land on the corner of Marston Road/Cherwell Drive
• Change to Marston cycle route
• Police matters relating to the area

See you there!

A resident reported that there is a small spring which flows over the path opposite the Morrell Halls near a padlocked gate on one side and a recently created tree stump on the other. He suggested that this could be remedied by opening up the ditch so that the water flows down hill into it.

I asked council officers to investigate this and they confirmed that water is running off Headington Hill Park over the path and into Brookes’ site. He agreed with our resident that the simplest way would be to reopen the ditch along the park boundary. He commented:

The upper section seems to have been lost to this point.  It would required the removal of some of the shrubbery behind the iron railings that has grown.

I’ve just had some good news from Parks to let us know that they have been instructed to undertake the ditch extension in Headington Hill Park and hope to be starting in the next couple of weeks.

Result!  Do please keep sending in your ideas for improving  our environment!

Oxford City Council have teamed up with the Energy Savings Trust (EST) to bring the EST Renewable Energy showcase to Oxford Town Hall on Saturday 28th February 2009.

The event is on between 10.30 am and 3.30pm and includes stalls, advice and information from providers of specific energy saving and renewable technologies demonstrated by industry representatives.

Oxford City Councils Energy Team will also be on hand to answer any questions you may have on specific technologies and grants for installing such technologies.

 Following a meeting between the Head of Environmental Development (who also chairs the Oxfordshire Flood Partnership meetings attended by reps from lots of other agencies), David has secured an agreement that a named person at the City Council will be tasked to manage specific complaints regarding flooding and sewage problems. We will let you know the contact details for this named officer as soon as we get them

I have been pleased with the improving response to residents’ problems with sewage and clean water enquiries over the last three months, particularly by Peter Claridge of Thames Water who has worked hard to resolve outstanding difficulties.

There are, however, two big multi-agency problems which remain unresolved and which will require representatives from various agencies like the City, the County, the Environment Agency, and Thames Water, among others to sort them out.  There is a multi-agency committee at which these issues can be raised and this is chaired by John Copley, the Head of Environmental Development.  I have made an appointment with him and my colleague Cllr Altaf Khan for 27 January to discuss progress and/or action  in Brookside and Northway.  If you know of any other problems of continuing flooding or water contamination in your area please contact David or me - just click on Contact us on centre toolbar

This afternoon, I walked round the social housing areas in the ward with officers from Oxford City Homes, City Works and the Area Co-ordinator to identify areas that need maintenance or upgrading. Here is one area we found in Mattocks Close, and we have asked the Works Dept to submit quotes for levelling this pavement to City Homes so that it can be upgraded. If you would like more details of this site inspection, please hit the comment button or contact us for more information.

Below is a picture of North Place, David and I have asked OCH to tell us when the properties will be double glazed, and we have asked them to investigate internal noise reduction too

We have been in contact with the officer in charge of planting trees within the City, as a diseased tree was taken down in Latimer Road, and residents have asked if a new one could take its place.

We have had a promising response which I post below - maybe there are other locations in Headington suitable for tree planting requests? Please hit the comment button or use the Contact us button on the left hand tool bar if you have any ideas.

I have a number of trees available for planting this winter. I will
ensure an appropriate replacement is reserved for this location. 

Public consultation on Oxford’s CORE STRATEGY (2026)

Lib Dems on Oxford City Council have welcomed the decision by Oxfordshire
County Council to approve a plan for a new recycling facility in North
Oxford. This will mean that much of the domestic and commercial waste
collected in Oxford will only have to be taken a few miles up the road,
instead of being transported to Milton Keynes for sorting and processing,
as happens at present. Savings in transport costs, and savings in carbon
emissions, will make a big difference to Oxford’s recycling revolution.

See the County Lib Dem website for information

Fed up with litter? Like to make where you live a better place? Well now’s your big chance. Keep Britain Tidy is launching the Big Tidy Up, the country’s biggest ever litter tidy up!   Oxford City Council and Oxforshire Waste Partnership are supporting the Big Tidy Up and we are encouraging people to have their tidy up in September 2008, however tidy ups can happen anytime throughout the year.  Schools, groups, businesses, or even just you and your neighbours - lets all get together and have a great Big Tidy Up! 

Go to the Oxfordshire Waste Partnership website to register

All tidy up groups will be entered into the draw which takes place at the end of September with one lucky group winning £250

David and I helped the New Headington residents tidy up in Kennett Road last year, don’t forget to let us know the dates and times of your Big Tidy Up events! We’re keen to help.

Many thanks to those who attended our street surgery this evening, we enjoyed meeting you and are taking up the issues you raised. Over 25 people attended and the event was very worth while. We shall be repeating our street surgeries in areas across the ward. Please watch out for details of our next surgery by clicking the box in the left hand margin

Some of the issues you raised included:  the future of the Dorset House site, uneven footpaths, the site of the old tree stump, the drains in Latimer Road, the delivery lorry at 4 am to St Luke’s Hospital, parking problems, rubbish problems at a site in Beech Road, RPZs for disabled constituents and their carers, green waste, replacement tree planting, cycling on pavements, affordable housing, and health and safety incidents involving buses in Osler Road

We are on the case!

If you want to read the latest opinion piece by Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable on the Lib Dems’ policy on fuel poverty, please click here.

I learned today that there is a telephone number for residents to ring if they want an enforcement officer to check on cars parking without permits in residents’ parking zones.

The company’s name is APCOA and the number to ring is:

01865 793147

At Thursday’s meeting of the CNHRA, residents told me that the repair and maintenance of uneven pavements is even more important than the repair and maintenance of roads.

Certainly, if there is any question that a pavement is so uneven that it is causing a tripping hazard, it is really important that the Council is notified about it.

In Headington, we have a lot of problems with “root heave” which is damage caused to pavements by the roots of nearby trees. A resident recently let me know about a case of root heave in Latimer Road (top end near the old Dorset House Site on the corner of London Road), and I contacted the officers to arrange for this section of pavement to be ‘ramped’ - that involves putting a layer of tarmac across the top to make sure the pavement surface is even.

DO YOU THINK IT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO SPEND MONEY ON REPAIRING PAVEMENTS OR REPAIRING ROADS?

I would be interested in your comments!

If you know of a particularly unsafe stretch of pavement that we need our City Works managers to investigate, please let me know by clicking the REPORT A PROBLEM button on the left hand menu .

Click on the left hand tool bar for the latest guidance!