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)

It was great weather for the Friends of Old Headington’s Open Gardens Day yet again this year, and the event was very well attended today.  The event is not only legendary for its wonderful variety of attractive gardens, but also for its excellent refreshments, especially the home made cake by the WI.

Please click here if you would like to see the Friends of Old Headington website, it is hot off the press, and a valuable community resource.

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)

The campaign to save Dorset House from demolition was mentioned briefly in yesterday’s Oxford Mail , click here for the link.

Five residents from Latimer Grange and McMaster Court attended yesterday’s site meeting with the demolition company, along with the Latimer Grange manager and Ruth.

The project supervisor’s name is Eric and he will be present on the site at all times during demolition. The work is scheduled to start on Monday 8 June and the hours of work will be between 8.00 and 18.00 Monday to Friday, and 08.00-13.00 Saturdays, this was agreed with approval of residents.  It is scheduled to take 8 weeks and all access will be from London Road.

The dismantled materials will be recycled as much as possible - bricks, roof tiles, timber. In the unlikely event that contractors’ machines will damage the pavement outside (making it difficult for the elderly with buggies), the demolition firm will make good the damage.  Asbestos is present on the site but appropriate safety precautions are being taken. Some of the trees have a protection order on them and ‘crowd barrier’ style fencing will be placed around them with signs to warn demolition staff to keep clear of them.  A map was produced which shows which trees have TPOs and which not (the majority along the London Road boundary). There will be no burning on site.  Dust will be damped down as much as possible.   The site will be locked up as now during the project, and the side gate to Latimer Road may need to be strengthened.  Contractor parking will be on site.

Representatives from Quintain arrived towards the end of the meeting.  They said that they would shortly be approaching Oxford City Council for pre-application advice regarding development of the site but they didn’t know what would be in the application. (They withdrew their previous application four years ago which was for student accommodation)  One person from Quintain said that in his view there was only one tree on site worth keeping and that was a copper beech at the rear of the site opposite Latimer Grange, but that was diseased.  It also turned out that this particular tree is in the way of the demolition.  I rang the Tree Officer immediately to ask him to do checks on this, and also the Head of Planning Control and Development at the City Council. To be frank, I am concerned that trees may be lost, although there is no evidence to back this up, and I have already arranged that an enforcement officer keeps a close watch on the project

The local residents have been invited to visit the site at any time and raise any issues they may have with Eric the supervisor.  If any resident from Latimer Grange needs Eric’s contact number I suggest they contact Andrew the manager, and I have it too.

Details as follows for meeting re demolition of Dorset House

Site meeting: Dorset House
11.00
Led by project manager Terry Hawken tel 07973 210677

Andrew Galloway from Latimer Grange  has kindly agreed to raise the
issue of the preservation order on the trees on my behalf, and is
going to alert the Latimer Grange residents to the change of date and
time. Neighbourhood police have also been asked to attend.

The following issues will be covered:

ask when work is at its noisiest and limit noise to specified hours of the day
clarify the number of times heavy traffic will need access/egress
to/from the site and ensure contractor parking is on site
explain method of demolition (not the trees!!)
give information re dispersal of dust or any burning
make sure the site is left secure at all times
explain timescale of work

The demolition will start first thing on Monday morning June 8, but for the first week there will be no heavy machinery as work will be surface stripping. 

It’s the European and County Elections tomorrow. You will get two ballot papers and have three votes: one for a party in the European and two for County candidates to represent the area comprising Headington, Marston and Northway. Your two County Councillors are presently part of the LibDem team and one of those, Altaf Khan, is standing for re-election. Alongside him, Barry Crossman who works on the University research site on Old Road, is standing hopefully to join Altaf. I am hoping that our team will remain at full strength as only that way can we best represent the people of Headington. I see that the Tories’ slogan is ‘Vote for Change’ — and considering the Conservatives have run the County for the past four years, introducing residents’ parking charges, cut budgets for traffic maintenance, messed up the buses in our area etc etc, I certainly hope that Headington will vote to send the County Conservatives a message that we need a change of Council!

Enough of the soap-box. Here is the public service announcement. Where to vote between 7am and 10pm:

• if you live between London Road and Old Road, between Windmill Rd and Brookside (and also including the Rock Edge area), you vote at the old Scout Hut on Perrin St in New Headington
• if you live in Old Headington, between Dunstan Rd and Larkins Lane, or between Osler Road and Old High Street (including North Place), you go to the Baptist Church (NOT, please note, the Viking Sports Centre — you go there if you live in the area bounded by Barton Lane and Barton Rd)
• if you live around the top half of Headley Way, from Franklin Rd over to Sandfield Rd, taking in Beech Rd too, you vote in St Antony of Padua Church Hall, just below the entrance to the JR

As the area covered by the County division extends beyond Headington, it might be useful to give the other polling stations as well:

• if you live around the bottom half of Headley Way, including the ‘Lakes’ area and Copse Lane, you vote at New Marston First School on Copse Lane
• if you live in Northway, you vote in the Community Centre, just next to the old school which Labour want to flog off and demolish
• if you live on the north side of Marston Road, including Crotch Crescent, Lynn Close and the Jack Straws Lane, Haberton Mead area (but excluding Moody, Pritchard, Peacock and William St), you vote at St Michael’s Church, at the bottom of Jack Straws Lane
• if you live on the south side of Marston Road, from Ferry Road over to Wadham Park, or in one of the streets north of Marston Road excluded from the Jack Straws Lane polling district, you vote at the Scout Hall, at the corner of William St and Marston Rd (note this new location)
• if you live in the Croft Road estate or Ouseley Close, you vote at URC on Marston Road, just opposite the entrance to Croft Road
• if you live in the Carter Estate or in Old Marston Village, you vote at Mortimer Hall

Got it?! If you have any questions of if you want a lift to the polls, give us a call on election day on 01865 798777.

A demolition notice has been sent in by contractors on behalf of Quintain, the owners of the Dorset House site, to demolish all buildings on the site except for the three nearest the corner of Latimer Road and London Road. The demolition work is scheduled to take place week beginning 8 June. This came as a complete surprise to local residents.

This means that Dorset House itself is set to be demolished, along with 1A Latimer Road, and the newer buildings to the rear of the site facing Latimer Grange.

Residents are perplexed about how the owners can simply announce demolition when the City Council has previously recommended the retention of the old buildings as being of local interest. In fact, five years ago, David and Stephen Tall called for extra protection for the House and the buildings were put on what’s called ‘the Local List’. But that’s not the same as a nationally listed building and the site is not within a Conservation Area. In legal terms, when there are no other safeguards, an owner has a right to demolish their own property. That means that the Planning Department, to everyone’s frustration, can’t just stop the demolition happening.

There are, though, other aspects to the issue. We have also found out that there are various trees on the site that have preservation orders on them, and we have requested the planning enforcement officer to contact the demolition project manager to make this clear to him

There are also parts of the site which would not be a loss, in particular the newer buildings at the back of the site. We know that Latimer Grange residents are keen that the demolition of those buildings takes place as soon as possible, to stop the chance of anti-social behaviour on the site. We are setting up a meeting between them and the project manager to discuss issues around dust, noise, parking, access and egress, and, most importantly, security.

Do you live in the Central and North side of Headington?

Are you concerned about something the Police can help with?

The neighbourhood team is holding local drop-in surgeries

If you don’t tell them your problem, they won’t be able to tackle it

For details of Headington North neighbourhood surgeries, click surgeries-09.pdf

A licensing application has been made for the White Horse (Hungry Horse) in Headley Way and the deadline for representations is 4 June 2009.  If you wish to know more about this application, please click Licensing Applications on the central orange toolbar.

David is willing to hold a meeting with local residents to explain the procedures if you think this would be helpful?  Please comment here or email either David or me if you would like us to organise this

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

The two Lib Dem candidates for Headington and Marston Division are Cllr Mohammed Altaf-Khan and Barry Crossman.

Altaf has been your local County Councillor since 2005. He has lived and
worked locally with his family for more many years and is currently
finishing a course in labour economics and law at Ruskin College in
Headington.
Altaf has always been at the heart of our community and led the campaign to
retain the IT hub at Northway community Centre.
As a City Councillor, Altaf is also a member of the local neighbourhood
action group and is a trustee of the charitable trust of Old Marston.

Barry works in Headington as a Clinical Trials Co-ordinator for the
University of Oxford - making life saving medicines available to the wider
public.
He has been actively involved in campaigning to retain and improve sports centre facilities and he helps to represent leaseholders in the City.  He is keen to involve Headington and Marston residents in developing local plans and amenities

David and I are re-starting our popular open air street surgeries in June, and look forward to meeting you in a place near where you live

9 June 18.30 - 20.00  Informal street surgery outside St Andrew’s Church, St. Andrew’s Road. All residents in Old Headington are welcome to come and share their views and concerns with David and Ruth.

30 June 18.30 - 20.00 Informal street surgery in All Saints Road by the community noticeboard.  All residents in Highfield and New Headington are welcome to come and share their views and concerns with David and Ruth.

There is no need to book in advance, just come along, we’d love to see you!

If you need to speak to us about any issue, our contact details are at “Contact us” on the central orange toolbar

Residents in Franklin Road have contacted David and me about the unexpected appearance of bus shelters in their road, despite the fact that they no longer have access to public transport themselves since the no.10 bus route was pulled from Headley Way

I made a site visit this morning, and David and I will investigate this today with Rye St Antony School and the county council. We shall keep residents informed of developments

UPDATE 23 April

David is arranging to meet the Bursar of Rye St Antony School to discuss this and other issues early next week

We have been informed that the developers have allocated an area for
disabled parking and can also confirm that they have cross hatched four
bays, allowing traffic to flow more freely around the car park.

We are waiting for an instruction to confirm that it is possible to remove a
section of the car park wall to allow access onto the footpath.  

The disabled parking could then be relocated
over to that area so customers with walking difficulties will have a
shorter distance to walk to gain access to Headington.

Over the last couple of days council officers have indicated that the general
situation does seem to be improving. This seems to be confirmed by a
reduction in complaints. Officers will be visiting the site again next
week to check on the progress made, and update us on developments

David and I are being updated several times a day on the situation with regard to the Old High Street (Waitrose) car park.

Signage is going up over the weekend which will help a great deal as motorists get to grips with the temporary relocation of disabled parking spaces and the recycling bins are moved to a temporary location. Officers have requested that Waitrose creates disabled access at the entrance to the car park, albeit temporarily until the usual disabled car park spaces are back in operation after the refit.

Many of the bulkiest delivery vehicles have now departed, the heaviest of these were delivering materials to construct and fill the compound near the store

A complaint was made by a resident that some of the contractors were parking in the car park spaces but were not displaying permits.  This was investigated and it was established that the builders doing this had paid by the Ring Go system, so payment for parking had indeed been made although a paper ticket was not displayed. We have requested that the number of car park spaces is monitored closely over the period of the refit; we are aware that three cars were queuing for places on Friday lunchtime at a busy period when some extra car park spaces were coned off temporarily to allow turning space for the larger lorries.

The City Officer responsible for liaising with Waitrose over the development is Andrew Bradfield-Barnes: he is away for a week’s holiday after Easter but if you have any concerns, please contact either David or myself, or Andrew’s deputy Jason Munro who is working on the Easter bank holiday weekend and all of next week. His office number is 01865 252489 and his email is jmunro@oxford.gov.uk.

Please copy David and myself into any emails you send Jason as we want to ensure that all complaints and concerns are receiving prompt attention, our email addresses are:

david.rundle@oxfordlibdems.org.uk

ruth.wilkinson@oxfordlibdems.org.uk

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 is the full result for Thursday’s Headington Hill and Northway by-election,
with percentage vote shares and change in shares since last May:

Roy A. Darke (The Labour Party Candidate)               548  38.3%  +2.0
Marc Anthony Borja (The Conservative Party Candidate)   443  31.0%  -2.6
Ruth Margaret Beer (Liberal Democrat)                   378  26.4%  +2.4
Katherine May Wedell (Green Party)                      62   4.3%  -1.8

This is a good result for the Lib Dems, as we increased our percentage vote share by more than the other parties.  It is interesting to note that the total votes cast increased, yet the total number of Conservative Party votes went down from last year’s total.

  The county council is planning to make improvements to London Road through the centre of Headington during 2010.  The scheme will include enhancements to the shopping area.

You are warmly invited to a public exhibition in Headington, where you will be able to view the plans, talk to planners and designers, and tell us your views

Headington Baptist Church, Old High Street, Headington

Friday 27 March, 12 noon until 8 pm

Saturday 28 March, 10 am until 3 pm

The Oxford Bus Company and Stagecoach share many of the objectives of Oxfordshire County Council’s Transform Oxford vision, but do not agree with their proposals for how the bus network should serve the city. Their joint proposal can be found at this site

Oxford Brookes and Stagecoach have confirmed that the Gipsy Lane bus stops have been moved due to the roadworks.  Wheatley bound, the stop is nearer the gates to Headington Hill Hall, and City/Harcourt Hill bound it is nearer the entrance to the new Buckley building .

Signs have been put up but passengers are still getting confused.  On a couple of occasions people have been seen jumping the orange barriers, this is not safe, and Oxford Brookes University has asked us to pass on this information to anyone we know who travels on the Brookes bus.

Thank you to all the wonderful people from New Headington Residents’ Association and the Friends of Old Headington for allowing David and me to help them clean up the centre of Headington this morning. Here are one or two photos to make you smile, courtesy of the Headington and Marston Forum

Congratulations to Central and N Headington Residents’ Association for their hard work!

They did a fantastic job tidying up Sandfield Road, Staunton Road, Headley Way and Woodlands Road today - thanks everyone!

Permission has been given for a certificate of lawfulness to erect a telecomms mast on Rock Edge, and permission has been refused for an application to extend property in St Anne’s Road this week ending 27 February.  Please click on Planning decisions on the centre orange menu bar for details

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!

The Liberal Democrats are proposing the Freedom Bill - http://freedom.libdems.org.uk - and here’s a selection of the measures it incorporates:

• Scrap ID cards for everyone.
• Restore the right to protest in Parliament Square.
• Scrap the ContactPoint database of all children in Britain.
• Remove innocent people from the DNA database.
• Reduce the maximum period of pre-charge detention to 14 days.

You can read the full set here

David has received the following email from the Senior Technician at Oxfordshire County Council

I have spoken to the contractor today who informs me that the footpath should be re-opened by next Wednesday 4/3.

The delays were due to the cold spell and the contractor offers his apologies.

The next meeting of the Bus Users’ Forum is scheduled to take place at the Town Hall on Wednesday 11 March.  The venue has changed to accommodate a bigger audience.  There will be an opportunity for all bus users to discuss the bus companies’ plans to move bus stops in line with plans to pedestrianise Queen Street.

We would urge residents from Franklin Road, Woodlands Road, Fortnam Close and the top end of Headley Way to attend this meeting so that we can call for buses to be reinstated along Headley Way.  There will also be an opportunity for Headington residents to lobby for a through route from Headington to North Oxford.

We have been told by the bus companies that they have been working on a joint scheme that will be ready in early March - this may be the first time that the public (and maybe also councillors?!) will learn about it.  The meeting will be some time between 17.30 and 20.30, we will post up timings when we have more information

People who have served the City with distinction are to be invited to receive a Certificate of Honour at a special presentation ceremony and reception in the Town Hall in May.  As councillors, we are not permitted to propose or second a nomination, but nominations from the public will be considered by a panel comprising the Lord Mayor, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire and the Director of Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action (or their nominated representative).

The recipients can be of any age, including young people.  They can live anywhere but their service must benefit the people of Oxford. Nominations for this year’s ceremony need to reach Jude Skipp at the Town Hall by noon on 27th March 2008, and David and I have copies of nomination forms.

For more details, contact either David or me in the usual way, or Jude Skipp at the Town Hall by telephone on 01865 252414 or by e-mail at jskipp@oxford.gov and we will send out a form.

[Ruth writes]

I have lots of meetings lined up for Monday 23 February, and two of the officers I shall be meeting (separately) have responsibility for car parks - including St Leonard’s Rd and Somerfield’s - and for the spending of what is called Section 42 money, which is the money given to the City Council by the County Council for repairs and maintenance to roads and pavements.

If you want me to raise any issues with these officers please let me know either by using the comments box or by emailing me on ruth.wilkinson@oxfordlibdems.org.uk

The major political news of the week (apart from the gagging of debate between democratically elected councillors in the Council Chamber by the Labour Mayor on Monday) was that a by election has been called in the Headington Hill and Northway ward.  Names of candidates have to be in by Friday 27 February and the election will be held on Thursday 26 March

In a turn of events which left opposition councillors, members of the public and the press gasping, the Labour group on Oxford City Council last night prevented any debate on their budget proposals in council, and then forced them through on the Lord Mayor’s casting vote. The increase in council tax will be 4.5%, well above the increases in income which most Oxford residents are likely to get this year.

David says: “You have to wonder why Labour were so keen to avoid discussion of their proposals. In recent weeks we have seen them going back on their promises to keep the Peers Leisure Centre open, and on their undertaking to traders in the Covered Market to invest in repairs and improvements. They are saying they will keep the Museum of Oxford open, but have not budgeted enough money for this. What else are they trying to hide?”

Deputy Leader Stephen Brown added: “We proposed our own alternative budget, setting the Council Tax increase at 2%, which we felt was more reasonable in the present climate. But we still found ways to honour the council’s promises on the Covered Market, and the Museum, and to help community centre users which are going to be squeezed with the new business rates, and the various other local groups who rely on grants from the area committees. Labour seems to have no understanding of what life will be like for people during this recession.”

To see the report in the Oxford Mail, visit:

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yourtown/oxford/4131037.Council_tax_to_rise_by_4_5_per_cent/

At the Oxford City Council budget debate on Monday, the Liberal Democrat group will propose a set of amendments intended to honour undertakings to community groups which the Labour administration’s proposals have abandoned.

Deputy Leader Stephen Brown says: “We find it unacceptable that Labour should let down those in the city who are most in need of help in these difficult times. The users of our community centres, those in fuel poverty and other financial hardship, and those in fear of crime, are not getting the help from Labour that they deserve. Instead, Labour is proposing a stonking 4.5% increase in Council Tax, which will hit those on low incomes hardest.”

Added Cllr Brown: “Last year, the Lib Dems proposed an increase in council tax of 2% for the financial year 2009/10, and we still think that is the right level. We also want to see the council honour its promises to repair the Covered Market, to keep the Museum of Oxford open, and to maintain area grants for the many valuable community initiatives. We also want to correct the serious effects of new business rates on community centres, and to cancel cuts in the budgets for Street Wardens and Social Inclusion initiatives which Labour wants to make.”

Proposals include cutting the amount of savings that the Museum of Oxford must make next year; this would allow more time for a Trust to be set up to ensure that the Museum has a long term future. This has been an issue that has generated much concern from residents in our Ward.

No single Party has a majority on Oxford City Council. The Labour group is the largest and runs a minority administration, but the combined votes of the opposition parties in council can prevent their budget being adopted. The Liberal Democrat amendments will be debated along with proposals from the Green group at a full council meeting starting at 5 p.m. on Monday 16th February in the Town Hall. Members of the public are welcome to attend

People often ask us questions about who to report things to, or how to find out what’s going on in the area. It’s certainly worth trying oout the following web pages if you haven’t already

Fix My Street
www.fixmystreet.com is a sort of (non-party) online casework service. The site encourages people to register their local issues, and then monitor how, when and by who they’re fixed by.

Enter your postcode (or a postcode in the middle of the ward you represent) and you’ll get a list of issues in your local area. You can also sign up for email alerts every time someone enters a new issue.

Planning Alerts
www.planningalerts.com has been around on a trial basis for a little while now - its pretty straight-forward: give your postcode and email address and in return you get news of planning applications by email. The email alerts seem to be comprehensive and complement the ones offered by the City council. It covers 315 local authorities at the moment.

Write to Them
Another website from the same people as Fix My Street is www.writetothem.com.  Enter the postcode in your ward, and hopefully you should come up with the details of your city councillors, county councillors and MP

The latest hot tip we have received is that the decision on the introduction of 20 mph limits will be made/announced on 23 April

People are to be asked for their views on where 20mph speed limits
should go in Oxford as the county council starts a consultation
exercise on February 12.

In Autumn 2008, the people of Oxford were asked what they thought
about the idea of introducing 20mph speed limits in the city.
Two-thirds of people who responded were positive about the idea.

The county council now wants to know what people think of the detailed
plans in terms of which roads are to be included in the proposal and
which should remain excluded.

WHERE COULD LIMITS BE INTRODUCED?
The proposals recommend that 20mph limits could be introduced in 2009 on:

Minor roads within the city including outlying areas such as Sandhills
Un-numbered through roads except where they are part of heavily-used
bus routes into the city, for example the section of Blackbird Leys
Road (north west of Balfour Road) and Barns Road (except for the
section immediately adjoining Between Towns Road), and Old Abingdon
Road
Some sections of the main A roads and the B road network where there
are busy shopping areas, for example the London Road through Oxford
Brookes University/Headington and on parts of the B4495 through Temple
Cowley

EXISTING 20 MPH ZONES
There are already a number of 20mph zones and limits in Oxford and
these would be incorporated into the wider project. The area of the
city centre that would be covered by the 20mph limit would be expanded
significantly.

HOW WOULD MAIN ROADS BE AFFECTED?
Radial routes such as:

Abingdon Road
Banbury Road (either side of Summertown)
Woodstock Road
Botley Road beyond Abbey Road
London Road either side of Brookes/Headington Shops
Iffley Road beyond Temple Street

would NOT be included.

Routes around the city such as:

the ring road
Oxpens Road/Thames Street
Marston Ferry Road
Donnington Bridge Road

would also NOT be part of the limit.
The Botley, Cumnor and North Hinksey areas will NOT be part of any
20mph plans with people from those areas having already stated that
they do not want to be part of the proposal.

BENEFITS
The introduction of 20mph speed limits, which are designed to be
self-enforcing, can reduce accident levels, especially when associated
with traffic-calming measures. The 20mph limit would encourage more
walking and cycle trips and bring associated health benefits.

HOW TO HAVE YOUR SAY
Consultation officially begins on February 12 and runs until March 5 .
You can find out more and have your say by:

Going to your local library in Oxford, viewing information about the
plans and filling in a response form. Participating libraries are
Blackbird Leys Cowley, Headington, Central Oxford and Summertown. The
same information will be available at receptions in County Hall and
the county council’s Speedwell Street headquarters.
Visiting Oxfordshire County Council’s website at
www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/20limits and filling in the same form.
Writing to the county council at Oxfordshire County Council, 20 Limit
Consultation, Speedwell House, Speedwell Street, FREEPOST OF260,
Oxford, OX1 1BR .
Emailing 20@oxfordshire.gov.uk

I had a meeting on site yesterday with a representative from Waitrose and three officers from the City Council to discuss the building works which will take place in April. The Project Manager for the re-fit is Mark Sharkey and I have his contact details; he managed the Asda refit in Wheatley and has practical working experience with some of the sub-contracters on this project.

It was agreed that 30 car park spaces would be cordoned off for use by the Waitrose construction team for storing materials and for skips. Work vehicles will have sole use of the entrance nearest the London Road junction (next to the Audio shop) for access to the site. This will leave the main entrance accessible to the public. There will be a crane on site while they are working on the roof of the building. Cycle parking will be moved elsewhere on site during the re-fit as a temporary measure. Two trees that currently overhang the building are considered a hazard and will be trimmed back by the Parks Dept.

Waitrose are keen to relocate the recycling bins on the far side of the car park near the wall with Bury Knowle Park, this has also been suggested by residents. We are asking the City Works Dept. to advise us on the most suitable location.

Signage will be put up and Waitrose will re-line the car park at the end of the project. It is recognised that the lighting in the car park isn’t very good, Waitrose will paint the lamp posts in corporate colours (black and silver).

Timescale

It is likely that the project will run from 9/4/09-30/4/09
1 month before the start date, Waitrose will write to those in neighbouring properties, explaining what will happen and when, and giving contact details of the site manager and project manager

6/4/09-8/4/09 Allowed on site (busy traffic, setting up huts etc)
8/4/09 Last day of trading for Somerfield’s
9/4/09 Ownership transferred to Waitrose
16/4/09 Real work starts

Noise

We have specified that that noise is kept to a minimum (they are working 24/7) and also that that they should not be using noisy equipment after 20.00. They will keep the doors closed at all times while work is going on. The power will be taken off as part of the re-fit so there will be use of generators, the project manager is sourcing the quietest ones he can find.

Shoppers’ tickets

The officer in charge of car parks at the City is negotiating terms with Waitrose concerning ’shoppers’ tickets’ i.e. a discount on parking for those who buy goods at Waitrose. More on this later!

Staff

I understand that it is Waitrose policy to retain staff from the existing Somerfields’ store, at least for twelve months, during which time they will have the opportunity to attend staff training courses and may be retained on a permanent basis after that date.

Plans

I don’t have the detailed plans yet but it would seem that there is a space allocated to on-site bakery!

The St Aldates chambers customer service centre has had to be closed this morning due to the adverse weather. There is a notice on the door giving telephone contact numbers and there is a free phone in the lobby so that queries can be dealt with by phone.

They have called all customers ( where they have given a telephone number) who had made an appointment for meetings today. They have been offered alternative appointments or referred to Templars Square one stop shop which remains open and is being staffed by three officers .

There are currently eleven customer service staff and  phone lines at the telephone contact centre were open from 9.30am . The sites will close at 16.30  in order that staff can get home safely, this time may be brought forward now that bus services have been suspended.  Probably best to ring before you go!

Part of the footpath in Cuckoo Lane has been closed temporarily for safety reasons while an unstable wall to the rear of Headington House is being repaired to prevent further collapse.  This part of the footpath from the junction of Osler Road to the junction of Stephen Road will be closed for three weeks from 2/2/09

Ruth writes..

Apologies to all for the relative infrequency of new posts on the website lately, I have been unwell and have now returned to a schedule of up to four meetings a day on top of the full time job, so please bear with me while I get back up to speed…  Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!

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

A number of people have asked questions about the surveillance that is carried out by City Council Officers on members of the public under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, and our Lib Dem colleague representing Barton, Chris Scanlan, has been pressing for a statement on this.  I thought you might be interested in this response from the appropriate officer in the Legal and Democratic Services department:

For your information the Council has authorised directed surveillance on 24 occasions since the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) came into force. The Act came into force in October 2000. Of those 24 authorisations 6 related to benefit fraud investigations, 13 related to anti-social behaviour/crime & disorder investigations and 5 related to internal disciplinary investigations.

None of the above include investigations into littering, dog fouling or any of the other minor offences, which have made the press in recent months. Over a period of 8 years I think it is fair to say that the Council has used these powers very sparingly.

Under the Council’s current RIPA policy and procedure (which is available on the Council’s website) I receive a copy of each authorisation. If I felt that the Act was being used inappropriately or that the ‘necessity and proportionality’ test had not been applied then I would intervene and require the investigating officer and the authorising officer to justify their actions.

If you have any queries or concerns about this, just hit the Comment? button or email David or me directly (see Contact us in left hand tool bar for details). 

Lib Dems believe that planning decisions should be made as close as possible to the people affected

An inadequately argued proposal from the Labour administration on Oxford City Council, to remove the right of area committees to make decisions on planning applications in their areas, and to return to centralised decision-making, was so fundamentally amended at the last full council meeting that the council is now in limbo.

Since 2002, when a Lib Dem-led administration set up six area committees to make decisions affecting their own communities - including deciding key planning applications - people in Oxford have found that they can get much more involved with matters which concern them, and can influence their councillors much more effectively. Attendance at area committee meetings is regularly many times higher than was the case with centralised planning committees.

But the current Labour administration has vowed to change this, and return to a system of decision-making in the Town Hall by councillors who often know very little about the likely effect of their decisions on the people living closest. Said Lib Dem group leader Cllr David Rundle: “We have protested loudly that there has been very little consultation about this change with the communities affected. Representatives of many groups in the city have come forward in recent days to object, but they have been ignored by the Labour group. This flies in the face of their own Government’s claims to want to increase the powers of communities to decide things which affect them.”

Added Cllr Rundle: “Labour claim that the change will save the council money, but their financial case is so full of holes that they dare not let the scrutiny committee, or area committees, check it out. We have heard a succession of contradictory and false statements by the portfolio holder, and it is clear that the whole idea is being pursued for reasons which have nothing to do with community empowerment or improving quality of decisions.”

As a result of amendments agreed in council, the council may now allow area committees to decide for themselves whether they want to retain planning powers. People in those areas of the city with Labour-dominated area committees would find their planning decisions being made centrally, with limited opportunities to hold their councillors to account.

David and I have been informed by Thames Water that the cleaning out of the sewers has now been completed in Old Headington. The extent of the operation had to be extended as they found the line was heavily fatted and greased, and was heavily scaled

This should have sorted out the problems. Please let us know if anything else needs to be done

Re: 10 STEPHEN ROAD - Application  08/01961/FUL

The Strategic Development Control Committee met yesterday and resolved to approve the application for the following reason, and subject to conditions as detailed in the planning officers report. The Council considers that the proposal accords with the policies of the development plan as set out in the report.  It has taken into consideration all other material matters, including matters raised in response to consultation and publicity.  Any material harm that the development would otherwise give rise to can be offset by the conditions imposed.

     Ruth Wilkinson writes…

I am sure everyone in the Headington Ward will join me in congratulating David and his fiancee Ruth on their recent engagement.  She’s either brave or foolhardy, but we wish her (and David!) all the very best for a long and happy future together.

PS from David: Thank you, Ruth, for your kind words about me and the other Ruth! (A source of eternal confusion). Like you, I’m surprised she said ‘yes’ but I’m not going to ask for a re-count. Thank you to those of you who have written to me and my fiancee with warm wishes: we appreciate it.

Scottish and Southern Electric have confirmed that the recent spate of power blackouts in Osler Road/London Road, Headington have definitely been caused by a fault with an underground cable and have had nothing to do with the Christmas lights.

SSE explained further blackouts have occurred because a fuse has been blown associated with the load being too high; this is likely to have occurred due to a particular business tripping the power with a new piece of equipment. SSE Engineers are currently onsite trying to trace the exact source of the problem.

Should any of the businesses in Headington want to contact SSE directly, they need to ring 0800 072 7282 (emergency number if another power blackout occurs) or 01865 845 800 (for general information). The caller will need to give SSE their address details including postcode so they can track the job and provide the most up to date information

At eight o’clock last night, a big tanker lorry turned up with hoses in order to clear the manhole  in St Andrews Road, at the corner of Laurel Farm Close.  Thames Water has jetted the sewer at high pressure.

If you live nearby, and have been experiencing problems with either sewage or drainage, please keep David and me informed about how things are going - it would be good to know if this jetting has cleared the problem!

UPDATE!  Thames Water rang me today to advise that the sewer cleaning in St Andrew’s Road is scheduled to take up to 10 days from 4 December

There seems to be some movement in the County Council’s Transform Oxford proposals on buses. More details can be found on their website but I have copied and pasted an extract below. David and I attended a meeting at County Hall last week and asked some questions about bus services for East Oxford residents that seemed to provoke some irritated comments, and it seemed to me that the public transport proposals for East Oxford are causing considerable concern and re-consideration. I wonder if there is scope in this text for bus routes to operate into Oxford City Centre from East Oxford? See what you think!

So far, we believe that there are three options for achieving a reduction in bus flow in High Street and St Aldate’s:
1.
Re-route certain services that do not necessarily need to use the High Street and St Aldate’s to other routes – for example Abingdon Road or Marston Ferry Road and Banbury Road. Because of the detours involved, this approach may only be appropriate for a limited number of services but will still help us achieve a reduction in bus flows.

2.
Use larger vehicles to serve the routes that feed into the High Street, but reduce the service frequencies – i.e. carry the same number of passengers on fewer, larger vehicles. This could mean significantly fewer vehicles not only in the city centre but throughout the routes into the city from the east.

3.
Use “normal” size buses to serve the routes that feed into the High Street but terminate those buses to the east of the High Street. There are two points where routes converge – at The Plain and at London Place. There appears to be scope at both locations to create an appropriately landscaped terminus. Travel onwards into the city centre would then be by a very high capacity, high frequency (leaving at least every five minutes) transfer bus (some vehicles are available that take almost four full “normal” bus loads) or on foot or, possibly, by a hired bike.

Options 2 or 3, probably in conjunction with option 1, could result in at least a 50% reduction in bus flows in High Street and St Aldate’s.
From a passenger’s perspective, option 1 could mean longer journey times. Option 2 means lower service frequencies but no need to interchange; option 3 maintains high frequency services but means an interchange. Making the options work well for passengers is clearly vital and that will be the focus of our work.

We will consult stakeholders and the public on these options to try to find the right balance between convenience for bus passengers and local environmental improvements.
Because of the huge amount of work involved, we are not expecting to deliver major bus reductions in High Street and St Aldate’s before 2011.

David and I have contacted the City’s senior structural engineer regarding a wall in Cuckoo Lane which appears to be in danger of collapse  between Osler Road and Old High Street

He has now met the owner who was aware of the problem and keen to take
action but unsure of how to proceed.  He has given her contact details for a local stonemason who is the Council’s first choice for any similar work and phoned the stonemason later to advise him that the wall should be made safe as a matter of urgency.

Some cones have been placed in the area, presumably by the County, in an attempt to keep pedestrians away from  the immediate area. Unfortunately Cuckoo Lane is very narrow and any falling masonry would be likely to spill beyond the coned-off area, so he has suggested that the County consider closing this part of the lane until the wall is made safe.

We will update this post once we have more details from the County

Just to remind everyone that the London Road entrance to Sandfield Road will be closed for one week from 4 December because of roadworks - signs are in place already.

UPDATE
Our latest information from the County Highways Dept indicates that the closure will be for three days only from 2 December in order for gas pipes to be laid. This information conflicts with the red and white sign at the end of the road and we are trying to find out why!

There is now a Frequently Asked Questions page on the County website with an exceedingly long web address.  Please click on this link for a short cut!

Planning Aid is an organization which provides free, independent and professional town planning advice and support to communities and individuals who cannot afford to pay planning consultant fees. It complements the work of local planning authorities, but is wholly independent of them.

Planning Aid can help people to:

Understand and use the planning system

Participate in preparing plans

Prepare their own plans for the future of their community

Comment on planning applications

Apply for planning permission or appeal against refusal of permission

Represent themselves at public inquiries.

I shall put a sticky link on the left hand menu to this web page as it may be a useful contact point for residents’ associations and those making (or commenting on or objecting to) planning applications

Congratulations to Jill Cummings and all involved in organising the very successful Headington Christmas Experience over the last three days!

This is a picture of the Leiden brass band entertaining us in London Road this lunchtime. County Cllr Altaf Khan and I enjoyed meeting business owners and thanking them for their support for the community by providing promotions and contributing to the “Odd one out” competition. All the residents we spoke to said they had thoroughly enjoyed the events of the last week, and the children out and about today thought the balloon modeller was cool!

It was a really ‘feel good’ experience on a really ‘feel cold’ day! A big Thank You to all concerned!

More good news for residents living in Old Headington. Thames Water assures us that a job has been raised for their clean water side to check the ‘clinking’ metal cover in Old High Street that rattles every time a car passes over it (near North Place).
The reference number is 81119 596127.

The bent metal manhole cover near Laurel Farm Place is puzzling us as it does not seem to belong to anyone! We’re still working on how to replace that!

The slightly sunken manhole cover in the middle of St. Andrew’s Road towards the triangle with Osler Road is definitely going to be replaced, but the job is being added to the non-urgent list.
All in all we think we are making progress and, once Thames Water come and give the St Andrew’s Road foul sewer and fresh water sewer a good cleanout by the end of the month as promised, things should be on the up. There is still a strange smell being reported in Old High Street/St Andrew’s Road though, and we’re still on the case.

There will be a big meeting about the Boundary Brook contamination on Friday - more later!

Those who attended the planning meeting of the North East Area Committee last Thursday will remember that the planning application relating to 10/12 Stephen Road was discussed.  The decision of the area committee has now been called in by the Strategic Development Control Committee for further consideration.  There are two ways that decisions by area committees can be called in - either by the most senior officer in charge of planning at the Council (Michael Crofton-Briggs) or by four councillors.  This decision has been called in by the portfolio holder for planning, Cllr Colin Cook, and three other councillors. 

The membership of that committee is: Councillors Abbasi, Altaf Khan, Benjamin (Vice-Chair), Brundin, Christian (Chair), Cook, Goddard, Gotch, Khan, Keen, Timbs and Young. The Committee has a meeting scheduled for today but it is too late to include this item within the agenda.  The next date scheduled for the committee to meet is the 18 December and I have asked one of the officers to double check that date for us as it’s so near Christmas. A number of meeting dates have been changed at short notice recently so I will post this up when it has been confirmed.

Residents are very worried about the safety of pedestrians (and particularly the elderly folk from London Court, Albany Court and Victoria Court) on the stretch of London Road between Sandfield Road and Horwood Close and beyond. I have been out to look at this and am concerned about the safety of pedestrians coming out of the Dial House and other B&B establishments as there is no obvious means of crossing the London Road to a place of safety.

I reported this last week to the officer managing the London Road redevelopment project and here is his response:

All these works are being carried out as part of the London Road
Corridor scheme.
Most of the construction work is located in and around the footway /
kerbline area and impacts on the carriageway and footway areas.
As you will appreciate we need to consider all safety issues when
carrying out the works and protect the public by setting up and signing
safe routes to follow. Where possible we will try and maintain a through
route on the side where the work is being undertaken but in this instant
the work involves the refurbishment of a gas main in the footway area
from Headley Way to Osler Road followed by changes to the kerbline and
resurfacing of the footway.
The safest way to carry out this work and provide a safe route for
pedestrians was to close the footway and provide temporary pedestrian
crossings at each end to allow safe crossing of the main road.
Signs have been erected informing pedestrians that the footway is closed
and directing them across the crossing as the route to follow.

I can not physically force a member of the public to follow the route
but hopefully common sense will prevail and they will refrain from
walking in the road.

If you have concerns about this, and we know many of you do, please contact David or me, or ring the County Council on 01865 792422 and ask for Mike Collins!

Residents have reported a breakdown in the crossing lights at the end of Osler Road and a presence of live cables. We have investigated this, and are assured that the cables are safe. The officer in charge of the London Road redevelopment has been informed.

One delegated planning decisions have been made by officers this week at the NOC.

Please click on Planning decisions on left hand menu bar for more details

David and I get lots of emails and phone calls from residents concerned about safety issues:

• cyclists don’t feel safe because of buses
• pedestrians say cyclists on pavements are a nuisance
• elderly residents have “near misses” with cyclists
• cyclists say Osler Road and the Windmill Road junctions are death traps
• why do cyclists jump lights?
• why don’t cyclists get fined for riding on pavements?
• why do motorists cut up cyclists?
• why aren’t there more ‘joined up’ cycle lanes?
• Why isn’t there more training for cyclists?

If these questions and issues are of concern to you, then PLEASE come along to the North East Area Committee meeting on Tuesday 18 November at 6 p.m.   The venue is Sandhills School, Terret Avenue.  David and I have specifically requested that this item is debated openly. If you have a question you want to put to the County Council and City Council traffic planners, please please PLEASE come along to NEAC and tell us what you think!

     NEWS OF OUR CAMPAIGN!

Brookside 

David is attending a meeting with local residents and representatives of Thames Water and the Environment Agency to exchange information and monitor action taken in regard to the pollution of Boundary Brook by sewage flows.

Stoke Place / St Andrew’s Road 

Thames Water sent out their  network engineer to Stoke Place and St Andrews Road on Monday, he lifted the manhole covers and checked the flows in both the surface water and foul water sewers. There were no problems with blockages on Monday which was a wet day. He couldn’t find any definite evidence of a misconnection of foul water into the surface water sewer. The foul water sewer is a lot deeper than the surface water sewer. Thames Water will be cleaning the foul and surface water sewers in Stoke Place, St Andrews Road and Old High Street to try to prevent further blockages which caused the flooding in this area. This is scheduled to be done within the next month.

Stockleys Road and Saxon Way, Northway

I shall contact Thames Water further about the smells coming up from sinks in these areas, once I have authorisation from the tenants to disclose their contact details

Manhole covers in Old High St and Laurel Farm Place

It would appear that these can only be looked at when referred on from the Highways Dept so I shall contact them again with details and ask them to pass these on to Thames Water, this is an indirect route but it appears to be the correct way to get things done

Peter Claridge from Thames Water writes:

I would encourage the residents to call in to us when they have problems or
to contact our customer relations department if they want to write to us.
This will make sure that all the issues are recorded properly on our
systems and we can investigate fully.  Also, if the customers write to us
we are obliged under by OFWAT to reply to them within 10 days.

I am grateful to Peter for his help thus far

Residents have been asking David and me about the Lib Dems’ economic recovery plan. 

We intend to help families by cutting taxes for low and middle income households, stopping unnecessary repossessions, and taking action to cut energy bills. Click this link for more details Lib Dems’ economic recovery plan 

The Labour City Council has produced a Talkback Survey, being sent to about 1,000 residents, in which it is proposed:

• to charge for collecting bulky waste collections up to a rate of £20 for 1 – 3 items
• to charge £35 every year for renting a wheelie bin for garden waste

Not content with a hike in the unfair Council Tax, they are thinking up new taxes to impose on the residents of Oxford.

We know that, what with cuts in government funding to local councils and a miserly settlement from Labour for OAP bus passes, finances are chronically stretched at the City Council. But that shouldn’t be taken as a licence to hit residents with new taxes. They should sort out the back office before they start cutting front-line services.

Oxford City Council is now offering an online reporting service to further speed up the reporting of abandoned trolleys.

An online  form can be used to report abandoned trolleys within the city 24 hours a day at a time that is convenient to residents.  The forms go directly to Trolley Collection Services Ltd who are funded by local supermarkets to collect trolleys on their behalf.

Here is a link to the new reporting form 

This is a reminder to anyone involved in voluntary and community groups that there is still time to bid for grants of up to and including £15,000 from Oxford City Council. The closing date for grant applications is 21 November

There is a lengthy form to fill in if your group wishes to apply for a grant. Please contact Oxfordshire Community Voluntary Action (OCVA) for details on 01865 251946 or email info@ocva.org

Bidding is open for the following projects so long as they are not the primary responsibility of another statutory agency, not provided by another agency, and not funded significantly by another agency:

• local cultural, recreational and sporting projects, particularly for disadvantaged groups
• projects which protect and enhance Oxford’s built and natural environment
• training and skills projects aimed at areas of deprivation
• projects supporting people living on low incomes

The criteria under which you can apply for grants are really tightly set. I’ve been to a training workshop on how these grants are allocated and have used the criteria to assess an application. If you want advice or guidance on filling in the form, please don’t hesitate to contact me! (click on contact us in the left hand menu bar for my contact details)

Elderly residents have been talking to David and me about the Octabus Dial-a-Ride service that operates with a subsidy from the County Council. Here is a link to a leaflet which will tell you more about this service.

It is operated by Walter’s Limousines out of Forest Hill, it costs £3 for membership (which includes vouchers for two free single journeys) and it’s a door-to-door service for those who are unable to use, or find it difficult to use, public transport due to disability or infirmity.  Those with concessionary bus passes travel free, and so do their escorts, but you’re not allowed to use it for journeys to the hospital or to a County Council-run social centre - that’s because there are other transport schemes to cover this.

Do contact David or me if you experience any difficulties in ordering journeys as we want to monitor how over-subscribed this service is getting

We know there is a lot of interest and speculation about the County Council’s ideas to pedestrianise the centre of Oxford, and there have been a lot of hits on our previous post which summarises a briefing given to City Councillors by the County Leader and his Cabinet member for Transport

There’s been nothing tangible to report on this since then, but there is a lot of political to-ing and fro-ing behind the scenes. The chief concerns reported to us from our residents are that the east of the City would effectively be cut off from the rest under the Tory plans, and people who live in Headington and commute regularly to London are extremely concerned about the implications of the scheme for the Oxford-London bus route. David and I are speaking to the top people at both major bus companies and to bus users but cannot report back at present until more details are known.

There are also big concerns about the lack of identified cycle routes in the new scheme, but it would be fair to say that most people would ideally like to see the middle of Oxford pedestrianised, and this is something that Lib Dems would be keen to look at (and have done so many times over recent years).

Like most new ideas, some of what is suggested is worth consideration, and other parts of it appear to be unworkable. Please do contact David and me with your views; we would be interested in any alternative suggestions residents may have for maintaining the current quality of bus services between London, Headington and Oxford whilst reducing the number of buses passing through the City Centre itself.

Please press the comment button above to record your views, or by all means email David or me at:

david.rundle@oxfordlibdems.org.uk

ruth.wilkinson@oxfordlibdems.org.uk

There will be a Consultation Event on the re-development of Windmill House, 157a Windmill Road, Oxford at 6.30 pm on Tuesday 28^th October at the Seminar Room, Nuffield Orthopaedic Hospital, Windmill Road

Stonham is Home Group’s care and support business which operates the support service at the above property. Jointly, they are working with Oxford City Council to re-develop the above site. The proposal is to demolish the existing building and construct a new one to provide supported accommodation for young people and supported living units for individuals with learning difficulties.

Representatives from Home Group Development Team, Stonham and Oxford City Council will be in attendance to answer questions and listen to the views of invited local residents to ensure the development has minimal impact on the area. David and I will be there too.

Please click here to see the County Council’s plans to pedestrianise the centre of Oxford

I went to a briefing on this tonight. I get the impression that very few people have been consulted. This is

a vision, not a solid immutable blueprint (Keith Mitchell).

Their view of the City Centre is that there are too many buses, dirty
cluttered streets, and poor quality pavement materials

The exemplar of good practice they want to aspire to is the Castle redevelopment

They are aiming for:

• more pedestrianisation
• low-emission buses (trams are too expensive)
• optical registration of bus routes
• significantly reduced no. buses but the same no. passenger journeys
• smartcard bus ticketing
• cleaner streets
• better pavement materials

The buses from East Oxford via Cowley Road/Iffley Road/St
Clements/Marston Road will turn round at the Plain - that’s the
current thinking. But they will think about extending the route for
through buses from further out if this is not possible. From St
Clements? From Gipsy Lane? From London Road roundabout? From Park
and Ride? That’s all up for debate and the bus companies will have a
big role in sorting this out. But at present they are assuming the
buses from our end of Oxford will turn round at the Plain and will not
diminish in frequency. People will then change onto buses that run through the City Centre

Buses from North Oxford will turn round at a strange new turning place by
the Ashmolean short of the Martyrs’ Memorial, councillors are concerned
this will upset St John’s College

Mr Hugh-Jones (Env/Econ) mentioned talks starting about running a bus service
between Thornhill, the hospitals, and Peartree.

A bendy bus had been superimposed on the presentation slides, it resembled an airport bus for people to stand in, with very few seats. “What about the elderly? What about
people with luggage?” we exclaimed! But the type of bus has not been decided upon yet

Ian Hudspeth and Keith Mitchell seem to think the scheme frees up the options for London buses to depart from other areas of the City. I pointed out that 25%
Tube passengers get on the coach between the Plain and London Road
roundabout, that many Headington residents have bought houses here in
order to access the London buses, and that proprietors of bed and
breakfast accommodation and hotels in Headington had acquired premises
precisely because they were on the main route to London.
I pointed out that the bus companies would be hard to persuade that
their established routes should be changed as they stood to lose a lot
of money, at least initially.

They want to pedestrianise Broad Street and pave it with high quality
materials funded from developer money! (from where? Where can they
develop Broad St.?)

They have no budget for this at present. They are interested in
getting money from the Transport Innovations Fund and they think
they’d be successful, although this would not be enough

Bus stops would move from Queen St to Castle St. and New Road

They will do an audit of cycle racks, then decide where to site new
ones. Lots of concern about the need for cycle routes - The Plain may
become a death trap for cyclists? They would like a rent-a bike scheme as in Barcelona

Phase 1 is putting a non-stopping bus lane down the middle of Queen St
with pedestrian walkways either side.

The plans for consultation are not yet firmed up, but residents will be able to give their views via the County Council. There’s a lot to sort out before plans get as far as that!

I have a meeting booked on Monday with two representatives from Royal Mail concerning issues raised by residents about the collection of postal deliveries. The topics you have raised with me include:

1. the reinstatement of an undelivered parcel collection point in Headington
2. the inefficiency of the redelivery online service
3. the wait for telephone calls at the Delivery Centre to be answered
4. the seeming under-resourcing of the Delivery Centre in Littlemore

Other issues include misdelivery, the return of parcels and the physical state of the pavement outside the post office in Headington.

If there is any other issue you want David and me to raise, please leave a comment on this page by pressing the Comment button and typing in your views. We shall be talking to the manager of the Delivery Centre and to the area manager.

Thanks to everyone who attended the area committee meeting tonight, it was good to see so many residents willing to ask questions of the representatives from Thames Water, and I am really pleased we were able to discuss our issues with them.

I mentioned the complaints procedure to follow if you feel that an issue you have reported has not been dealt with appropriately or there has been a service failure. The first thing to do is to use Thames Water’s own formal complaints procedure - click here for details

If you are unable to resolve it, you can contact the Consumer Council for Water Thames - for consumers of Thames Water, Three Valleys Water, Sutton and East Surrey. Their address is

Fourth Floor (South), High Holborn House, 52/54 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6RL

Click here for details - their services are free

A survey is being carried out across the county, and you may be one of the lucky people to get a questionnaire through your letter-box! It’s part of a national Place Survey Programme which is asking residents aged 18 and over to comment on their immediate neighbourhood, public services, and whether they get involved in their community.

If you need any help in filling in the form or want to know more about the survey, please click here for details. Your comments are important to us - let the Councils know how happy you are with their local services!

Got a problem with Thames Water?

David and I have started up a campaign site called WaterWatch Oxford for any resident in Oxford to email us with reports of the issues they have with Thames Water utility services. We want to log how many issues there are across the City so that we ask Thames Water about them next Tuesday and continue to chase progress

If YOU have a problem you wish to report, please click on WATER WATCH OXFORD on the left hand toolbar and tell me

WHAT happened?

WHERE it happened?

WHEN it happened, and has it happened again?

WHO did you contact to get it fixed?

WHAT did they do to fix it?

In response to residents’ concerns, I have made several phone calls and sent a number of emails to staff at City Works about the possible confusion caused by refuse collections being carried out in Kennett Road on the same day of the week as the Farmers’ Market 

The flats whose access is into the first part of Kennett Road are London Road addresses and their scheduled collection is Thursday - the refuse collection vehicle will collect this waste from the London Road End.

The Kennett Road residents will have their refuse collected on Fridays. On the Fridays when the market is in operation, the refuse collection vehicle will reverse, using a bansksman, from Bateman Street as far as the “No Entry” signs at the far end

City Works believe that the refuse collection will not affect the operation of the Farmers Market.  They say..

The market organiser has in fact stated that there is sufficient room for our vehicles to turn around near to the market without affecting it if we so wish.

As far as other road users are concerned, these problems are faced daily: in other parts of the city and in roads that are considerably narrower. There is sufficient space in Kennett Road for other vehicles to pass the Refuse Collection Vehicle but do recognise that sometimes this may cause a delay to other road users but not normally more than one or two minutes.

One would expect all drivers to take note of all road and traffic
conditions and manoeuvre accordingly

Please let David and me know if there are any operational problems when the new scheme commences.

Today is the last date for residents to send in their views on introducing 20 mph speed limits to the County Council.  If you have not yet sent in your comments, please do so by downloading and completing the feedback form on the County’s website

If you have problems with flooding or sewage or you are confused about your water bills, then come along to the next North East Area Committee and make your views known to the staff from Thames Water ! The meeting is at Bayard’s Hill School, Bayswater Road (parking off Waynflete Road) in Barton on Tuesday 21 October at 6 p.m. Please make yourself known to me as well - I’ll be there to grill them too!

Over the last couple of months some residents in Oxford City have been victims of vehicle registration plate theft.
Thames Valley Police has a supply of anti theft screws which can be used as a deterrent to this type of crime. To fit these screws it is first necessary to remove just one of the existing screws on front and rear number plates and replace them with the anti theft device using a conventional screw driver. It is recommended that the new screw head is left uncovered so that it is obvious to a potential thief that the device is fitted.
If you wish to obtain a free supply of these screws they can be collected from the front counters at either St. Aldate’s or Cowley Police Staions on a first come first served basis.

A briefing meeting will be held by the Chief Executive, Peter Sloman, for all councillors next Wednesday 22 October to update us on the City Council’s financial situation

Councils across Oxfordshire are amongst at least 40 local authorities across the country that have been caught up in the current Icelandic banking crisis and are waiting to hear when their investments in three Icelandic banks will be re-paid.
The councils, which between them have budgets in excess of £1.3bn, have at any one time, cash flow balances which are invested within the banking sector.
In common with all councils, this investment is regulated to seek cash security and uses national bank ratings to ensure credit worthiness. Councils also ensure that risk is spread by limiting the maximum exposure to any one institution - this applies in financially stable times as well as in the current turbulent times.
The Icelandic banks have been highly rated.

The Oxfordshire councils have £28.5m invested with the Icelandic banks, which is repayable at different dates over the year. The situation with the Icelandic Banks remains unclear and has changed several times over the last 24 hours - the council’s are pushing the government for a clear statement on the position of these funds.
How is each council affected?
The breakdown of the funds invested across the council is: £m
Cherwell District Council 6.5
Oxfordshire County Council 5.0
Oxford City Council 4.5
South Oxfordshire District Council 2.5
Vale of White Horse District Council 1.0
West Oxfordshire District Council 9.0

For more details, please see the Oxford City Council website 

We are grateful to Martin Ford for alerting us to the Thames Valley Police newslink

We used the search term Headington and retrieved some useful updates on what the Police are doing to uphold safety in our community. We are attaching this link to our left hand toolbar so that residents can find it easily

Do you need a refresher course in cycling?  Do you have children who want to learn how to ride their bikes safely in Headington? Please click on this link for details of training courses … and even details of classes on how to fix your bike!

In a Thomas Hardy moment, Ruth joined Steve Goddard, the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for our constituency, and Catherine Bearder, the prospective MEP, in an impromptu rural adventure on Sunday. Click here to see more…

You may be interested in the 3 year schedule for replacing bus shelters in Headington. All will have seats, and there is a timetable as follows:

Year 1

Headington Road opp Brookes

Headington Rd outside 192/194

Headington Rd outside 214

Headington Rd outside Girls’ School

London Rd opp No. 25 Dial House

Year 2

Headington Rd opp South Park

London Rd outside outside 133/135 Allen and Harris

London Rd outside 137 Connell’s

London Rd outside 23/25

Windmill Rd adjacent Rock Edge (no existing shelter)

Year 3

London Rd outside 108/110 Marie Curie

London Rd outside 236 Drinks Cabin

The staggering thing I’ve learned about bus-related issues this week is that the County Council pays for the bus stop poles and the timetables, and the City Council pays for the bus shelters. So even though there is information space for the timetables (County) built into the new bus shelters (City), the timetables are still being affixed to the posts (County). Another piece of evidence to support the case for unitary authorities?

Just a quick note to say please do not be tempted to cement in a DIY drop kerb outside your house and hope that nobody notices! Our attention has been drawn to a couple of these within the last month.

Council planners do become involved when consent is required for crossings
to commercial premises or properties fronting to classified roads. Applications are dealt with by the County Council from their Kidlington Office.

If a cemented in drop kerb results in clear ‘interference with the Highway’ then it is a criminal offence, and will be investigated promptly.

David and I had a meeting with Martin Sutton from Stagecoach yesterday evening where we aired the issues you wanted to raise  relating to bus services in Headington. Here’s our report back to you.

• Buses from Headington to Summertown

Many of you have raised the issue of there not being a direct bus to and from Summertown. We have raised this, in particular suggesting a direct route, without going through the city centre, which would also have the advantaged of helping the residents on the top half of Headley Way to have a bus service again. Martin Sutton told us they have looked into this before and gave a guarantee that Stagecoach would look at this again.

In discussing this and other issues, he clarified some of the economics as Stagecoach see them. They calculate that each bus on the road costs c£180K a year to run, this equates to c£38 per hour, though clearly different types of buses incur different costs. They take as the key indicator for performance is the “average operating speed” of the bus - the higher this is, the higher the cost of the service. The average operating speed of the bus should ideally be between 12 and 18 mph. The average operating speed of the no. 10 has been recorded as low as 8 mph but its usage has improved since the service became more frequent.

• No 10 bus route

On this, it’s fair to say, there was not a meeting of minds. We explained our long-held concerns about buses going down Osler Rd, causing problems for residents and cyclists, while Headley Way, where residents need a bus, goes unserved. Martin said that previous figures had suggested very few people got on a bus on Headley Way, while taking the bus into the JR by Osler Rd was seen as essential to that service (even though, in our experience, very few people actually use that particular stretch). We’ve heard all that before but what we did get was an agreement that we will be provided with the passenger statistics for this (and other) routes. We have asked for ‘before and after’ figures with reference to the introduction of the National Bus Pass scheme. Residents have also told us that weekend U10 buses on the section from Headley Way to the JR are underused.

• London buses through Headington

This is a contentious issue locally: some residents have expressed the view that London buses should be re-routed so that they do not run through Headington; others are equally adamant that this bus service is one of the reasons to live in the area. We asked for information about the importance to Stagecoach of having a Headington stop. The latest figures suggest that nearly a quarter of passengers get on the London-bound Oxford Tube between St Clements and London Road  (60% of  passengers have boarded by the time buses reach the Plain, and 83% of passengers have boarded by the time buses reach the London Road roundabout). Clearly, the bus companies would be very reluctant to re-route their buses away from Headington.  What we need to focus on is making sure that they don’t block up the roads, as they sometimes do with the present road layout and some selfish parking by van-drivers.

• Bays on London Road

Our residents in Windmill Road had asked if the designated bus and taxi parking lanes could be swapped over to make it easier for buses to pull in next to Iceland without having to overtake vehicles. Martin is going to consult his staff about this. This was a helpful meeting for all of us, and we hope to meet again for further discussion.

• Other useful information

The bus company currently appealing the sum reimbursed to it by the City Council for passengers who are travelling with concessionary passes as part of the National Bus Pass scheme. If the rate of reimbursement is low, there is little incentive for bus companies to extend services in areas where there is a higher percentage of older passengers who use this scheme.

It is possible for bus companies to change routes and times of services providing they give 56 days’ notice to the County Council. It is possible for the County Council to write a condition into a contract for a subsidised route that can enforce two bus companies to tender fares in such a way that a joint ticket scheme can be administered, but problems can arise if the contracts for each of the two companies have separate expiry dates or if the ticket machines on the buses are not of a similar type.

In conclusion, the meeting provided a useful discussion and some helpful information. More importantly, it is part of an on-going dialogue where Stagecoach is left in no doubt of local feeling. We will work to make sure this achieves improvements for local residents over the longer term.

York Road residents showed us the poor pavement surfaces in their road when David, Roz and I held our site inspection there recently.  We have good news to report!  We asked the City Council engineering team to assess the problem for us and they confirmed today that improvement work will be done on the stretch of pavement from nos. 4-34 later on this week.  Together we have made it happen - thanks to all residents for your feedback!

We have a meeting with Martin Sutton of Stagecoach on Wednesday evening and we are hoping to raise a number of issues that have been reported to us by residents in our ward. If you have any specific concerns, please contact us (see left hand toolbar for details)

Issues so far include:

the number 10 service - change of route from Headley Way to Osler Road, whether some services should turn round at Cowley Centre, safety of cyclists and other road users in Osler Road and the lack of space for queuing at the Windmill Road bus stop (the latter is not an easy problem to solve);

the frequency of Brookes buses at weekends and in vacation;

the possible issue of joint-provider scholars’ tickets;

the resurrection of a through service from Headington to Summertown;

a possible switch of designated taxi and bus spaces outside Iceland

and more..

All views welcomed, including positive comments - I know some people have said how pleased they are with the buggy-friendly and disabled-friendly service provided by Stagecoach and we will make sure to mention this!

The County Council has given notice that it intends to provide additional disabled persons’ parking places and confirms others at the following locations in our ward. If you want to see the proposals in full, please consult them at Bury Knowle Library. The closing date for observations/comments is Friday 10 October, and they need to be sent to Mike Ruse, Traffic Regulation Officer, at Speedwell House, Speedwell Street, Oxford, OX1 1NE tel 01865 815700 email: mike.ruse@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Outside no. 13 Gathorne Road

Outside 70 Lime Walk

Outside no. 102 Lime Walk

Outside 8 Norton Close

ALSO

Old High Street - west side; from a point 2om north of a point opposite the southern kerb line of North Place, northwards for a distance of 6.6m. At the southern end of the residents’ parking bay

Sandfield Road - North-east side; from a point 60m north-west of the north-western kerb line of London Road, northwards for a distance of 6m

At times like this, I wish I possessed a compass!

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

Some of you might remember the White Hart’s licensing application to be able to use its garden for smokers. There has now been a decision on it, allowing the use but with limits placed on it. Specifically, the conditions are:

• The garden area shall not be used after 2300 hours except for patrons wanting to smoke in the designated smoking area. Drinks shall not be taken outside the premises by customers using the designated smoking area after 23.00 hours. 
• The designated smoking area after 23:00hrs shall be used by no more than 10 persons at any one time.

This is certainly a compromise solution. It’s to be hoped that it works for everyone involved, both residents and those using the pub. If any issues do arise, please do drop Ruth or myself a line and, as always, we’ll get onto it.

Residents may like to see the Oxford Mail coverage of our endeavours to get the crossing lights repaired in London Road, which was featured in our earlier post.

David and I would like to thank the Oxford Mail for helping us resolve this long-running issue, and also say a big thank you to Len and Audrey and Mrs Cox for assisting with our photo-shoot.

As those who attended the Area Committee last night will know, the email address for Headington South Neighbourhood Action Group has been withdrawn due to technical problems and David and I have been pressing for details of the new one.

There is now a new email address for this NAG and it is not yet on the NAG website.  The new address is

headingtonquarrywoodfarm@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

Don’t be put off by this address, this NAG covers a huge part of our ward too - all roads on the South side of the London Road including Brookside, Latimer Road, Lime Walk, New High Street, Kennett Road, Windmill Road, Stapleton Road, Bickerton Road, York Road, Rock Edge, St Anne’s Road, Old Road and all the interconnecting roads in between.

Do contact this NAG if you are aware of any antisocial behaviour in the area

Some of you will remember that there is a long history of planning applications for the area around and including 10 and 12 Stephen Road. It seems only a few weeks’ ago that a planning inspector dismissed appeals on two previous applications at this site. Now there is a new application for the same address. It is similar to the previous applications but the developers hope that they have found a way to overcome the concerns of the planning inspector. As there is history on this site, it is only right that this application is heard at a future Area Committee — if, that is, Labour have not abolished the right to have such cases heard locally by then — and I will be interested to hear both sides of the argument at that stage. That’s the point when I’ll make up my own mind. But if you want to form your own view now, do go to the Council’s planning portal and look under the reference number, which is:  08?01961/FUL.

That’s it. We’ve had enough. We are organising a press call and photo shoot with the Oxford Mail regarding the power failure of the crossing lights at the Latimer Rd/Windmill Rd junction

Ruth is calling the Oxford Mail Friday morning to arrange for a photographer to take photos of elderly folk from Latimer Grange who have had extreme difficulty in accessing the shops, church, and the doctor’s surgery, along with David as City Councillor. This is the last chance for the utility company and the County Council to address this issue before it goes to the press

Following our street surgery in St Anne’s Road, we have reported residents’ concerns about near misses due from the traffic light sequencing to the County’s Safety Officer. Here is his reply:

As you will be aware, the changes to the traffic light phasing here were introduced in late 2007 to help improve traffic flows. We have been monitoring safety here very closely, and although there have been two reported accidents (one resulting in serious injury to an elderly pedestrian, and one resulting in slight injury to a pedal cyclist) neither appear to have been in any way related to the changes. It is nevertheless worrying to hear about the recent incidents; we are now working on the next phase of the London Road project covering the length between Osler Road and Wharton Road, and one objective will be to make the shopping area as friendly a place as possible for pedestrians, and an important part of this will be trying to achieve consistently low speeds on the approach to , and through the junction. We hope to consult on the proposals in the spring 2009, which will be an opportunity for all users to express their views and help shape the scheme.

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. 

Right. Where to start?

My latest information is that the controller that makes the crossing lights work was replaced last week and a call was put through to the utilities company to come and turn the power back on.

Unfortunately the utilities company now says it has no record of the call being made. A subsequent call has definitely been logged and the electricity company has indicated that employees will be on site today (or Wednesday at the latest) to sort this out.

Mike Collins, the Project Manager at the County end, is going to make a site visit this afternoon to ensure that work is progressing and to monitor what is going on.

We know that this is causing great inconvenience for everyone, particularly the elderly people living in Latimer Road who are unable to cross the road and get the bus to the doctor’s, the shops and church, and I assure you that David, Gail, Altaf and I are doing all we can to get this resolved as quickly as possible

I’m considering chaining myself to the crossing signal post tomorrow and dragging in the Oxford Mail photographer for a photo shoot if these signals aren’t up and running by the time I finish work, I may call on elderly residents to join me. Watch this space.

Bad news everyone, this is the latest news relayed to me by the County re crossing signals at London Road/Latimer Road junction

The signal equipment has been repaired but to carry out the repair the
electrical supply had to be isolated (cut off). It is my understanding
that we are awaiting the electrical company to come out and reconnect
the supply. They had indicated that they would be out on Wednesday but
failed to show up.

Your City Councillors and County Councillors are pressing for urgent action to ensure the crossing lights are up and running without further delay

Pictured L - R: County Cllr Roz Smith with Ruth and David

As you can see from the state of our clothes in the photo, the weather was not very kind to us when we made a site visit to York Road but we received a warm welcome from residents. We are now taking action on a number of issues including assessment of pavement surfaces, rubbish collection, illegal parking, the cutting back of foliage and fly tipping. Other issues that we hope to to tackle but can’t be solved immediately are the use of the road by learner drivers and commercial vehicles, a review of resident parking zone timings and the possible introduction of a 20 mph speed limit. Interestingly, a number of residents were observed tidying up the areas in front of their houses and tidying away rubbish from off the street after we sent round a note saying that we would take photos of environmental problems in our impending visit. We’ll be back, and next time we won’t tell you when!

Last month, I wrote about an exciting possibility for one of Old Headington’s pubs. I didn’t mention the names of the potential landlords but I did meet with them to hear their plans and they are now happy to announce that they are hoping to take over the Black Boy at the end of this month. They are Headington residents and are called Abi Rose and Chris Bentham. I’ll let Abi introduce herself in her own words:

We have recently set up a brasserie and bar in Oxford called The High Table but have been looking for our own business for a while now, and this is perfect! We managed to earn our first AA Rosette in the first six months of opening. We are both long term residents of Headington and are aware of a little gap that needs filling. Our plan is to offer the entire Al a Carte under £10.00 whilst supplying freshly made bread, pasties and pork pies (all home-made) to be sold on and off the premises as well. We will also be offering daily specials and a weekly Sunday roast. We also plan to offer Sunday morning cookery classes for children and jazz once a week for the older ones, with a quiz night too.  Aunt Sally will be returning, although I confess my finesse at the game is severely lacking.
For  a brief run down of our history, we are both Raymond Blanc trained but I personally have some public house experience. We have been in catering for over 36 years between us (18 each) which hopefully explains why we are wise enough to not presume we know what our community needs, and the need to ask for advice.
The food range will be centred around modern english food yet incorporating home-made pizza boards as well. A children’s menu will always be running as an ancillary. All our products will be home-made. We will be increasing the bitter offering by two more and very slightly changing the decor until we have the full re-wiring done (at the moment it is running on an incorrect phase for the kichen equipment required.)
What we would love to know and hear, is what advice you could have to offer us to ensure we provide you with a place that is needed rather that one that is decided that you require.We would like you to be proud of your pub.

I know they are keen to hear from local residents — you can leave a comment here and I’ll forward it — and want to add to the local community. I will be liaising with them to help make them feel welcome in their new venture. I hope you join me in wishing them the best of luck!

Public consultation on Oxford’s CORE STRATEGY (2026)

   Where or what is Wooldridge Court?

This was the question asked by residents at our street surgery yet the answer was close by.  Wooldridge Court is a fairly new development situated on the left hand side of Margaret Road as you enter it from Windmill Road.  The reason no-one knew it by name was that ….. it has no street sign!  This must be very confusing for postal workers, couriers and pizza deliverers!

David and I have chased this up, and we have had a reply from the relevant officer:

I checked first  as to whether there is a reason why the developer should not be expected to put up a street name plate, as is normal.  She says the developer was told he has to, so I have emailed him reminding him of his obligations, with an offer to discuss the
specification and siting of signs.

Watch this space…….we’re on the case!

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

Thank you to all who regularly visit this website, we hope you find it useful.  During August, the website notched up 4,322 hits which exceeded our expectations!

If you have any suggestions or comments on how we can improve our website, please contact us.  We’d love to hear from you!  Don’t forget to hit the Comments button on a post if you want to see the comments sent in by other residents.  There are two comments attached to our item on postal services and collections

You may have read in the local press recently about a new project looking at providing a Hindu Temple for the county’s Hindu community, possibly in Oxford and possibly in the Headington area. I met last week two of the organisers of this new project to learn from them what their community wants and to see how we can work together in future.

It should be said that this project is at a very early stage, at the moment gathering support in the Hindu community across the county. In the first instance, the intention is to hold regular prayer meetings at an accessible location — the first occasion is in Kennington on 14th September where I hope to be to watch and learn about the ceremonies. In the longer term, there will be a fund-raising campaign looking to support a building and a priest. At that stage, they will be looking for a suitable site, which is in large part dependent on the location of those wanting to attend.

The Headington area, in its widest sense, already serves a range of faith groups, with a variety of Christain churches and, in Marston, the Sikh community represented. I am on record praising the cosmopolitan and open nature of Oxford and I would see a Hindu Temple as a further addition to that positive tradition. Equally, the help I’m giving to the project does not mean I want to tie them solely to my part of the city; I appreciate that there may well be other locations better suited to them than our area of Headington. My hope is that, in the fullness of time, they will find a site, in or near the city, best suited to them. I hope you join me in wishing them good fortune in their endeavours.

A series of public meetings will take place in Oxford for people to attend and register their point of view with the county council. Please see the County Council’s website for details of public meetings on this issue, and how to send in your views and comments electronically.

Local organisations will be contacted for their comments by the County. If you wish to air your views on this issue, then please come to the next North east Area Committee meeting on Tuesday 16 September at St. Andrew’s Primary School at 6 p.m.

Residents have asked about the extended bus service to Cherwell School which was expected to start in September. I have received confirmation from the County that this is going ahead and will start on Monday. Here is the email:

I can confirm the minor change to 700 that has been agreed with R H Transport, will take place as from Monday 1st September 2008

The existing 700 journey that currently leaves the J.R. Hospital at 08.05 and operates via Marsh Lane and the Northern By-Pass (i.e. the peak hour anti-flow route) will instead, from Monday, operate via Cherwell Drive and Marston Ferry Road (i.e. the normal daytime route). This will be just this one journey via this route at this time; the next Marston Ferry Road and Summertown routed journey is not then scheduled until 09.05.

Separate discussions are ongoing about a further extension of 700 to/from Churchill Hospital via Headington (London Road) and I suspect that the company was confused by this reference - hence the negative reply. The diverted 08.05 bus will, of course, still start from the J. R. Hospital bus terminus as now.

The company do offer a 10 jny multi-ride card (12 trips for the price of 10). Journeys are then cancelled as a when undertaken. The last 700 in the afternoon calls at the school at about 15.20 so later children will have to return on the Stagecoach 14 service in any case.

Following on from a number of enquiries from residents and via the eForum, I have received the following comments from the regional External Relations Executive that I though I would share with you. Please hit the comments button to register your views.

1. Inaccessibility to Ledgers’ Lane by public transport from Headington to
collect undelivered parcels.

I fully understand that for customers who do not have access to a car they
may find it difficult to travel to the new location. However, our
understanding is that there are bus stops (for the number 1, 5 & 5a bus
services) in the locale of Ledgers Close.

Perhaps it would help if I explained that there are various options
available to customers to avoid the need to travel to our East Oxford
Delivery Office to collect their undeliverable mail.

The options that are then available to the customer are:

Have the item re-delivered to their address or any other local address
free of charge at a mutually convenient date & time.
Local Collect Service - for 50p the item can be taken to their local
Post Office branch for collection.
Another person can collect the item on their behalf from the delivery
office upon producing the card and suitable ID for the named addressee.

The first two options can be arranged by telephone or via the Royal Mail
website.

Also some mail order companies will allow customers, at the point of
purchase, to nominate an alternative delivery address.

2. Concerns over the resourcing and management of the Delivery Office at
Ledgers’ Lane as there are often queues. Someone has been informed that
there is a shortfall of 17 staff there.

Following the move of Headington to East Oxford the weekday opening hours
of the Callers Office were extended to cope with the increase in customer
numbers, the opening hours are now: 07:00 – 17:00 Monday – Friday and 07:00
– 12:30 Saturdays. These extended hours have helped to spread the workload
on the staff working in the office and enabled them to offer a far improved
service to customers who have a need to visit or make contact with them.

We would like to apologise to our customers for the length of the queues on
occasions that is due to the extremely high number of packages at certain
times of the year e.g. Easter, Valentines day, Christmas etc. Our staff
always working very hard to serve people as quickly as possible. Again it
is worth referring to the other options available to customers that I
detailed in my response to point 1.

There are a number of vacancies in the office, however, the callers office
is always fully manned.

3. The popular suggestion that undelivered parcels could be collected from
Headington Post Office (I believe that this service used to be available in
Headington before a building was disposed of, so expectations are still
high that this service can be replaced).

There are several Post Office branches in the area, which we believe
includes the Headington branch, where customers can request for their item
to be taken to their local Post Office branch for collection for a nominal
charge of for 50p (Local Collect Service).

4. There are also concerns that there isn’t always a daily postal delivery
service to homes in the area - it would be useful if you could provide some
statistics on this!

As part of The Licence issued by the Postal Services Commission (Postcomm)
Royal Mail is obliged to provide a delivery service to all addresses within
the UK Monday to Saturdays, unless the receiving address has been
classified as a Universal Service Obligation (USO) exception. Any failures
have to be reported to Postcomm on a monthly basis.

The Delivery sector Manager has confirmed that deliveries are being made
daily to every house in Headington that receives mail that day.

I trust I have allayed your concerns regarding the issues above and we are
confident that East Oxford Delivery Office will continue to strive to
provide an exceptional service to all their customers.

However, if you feel it would still be beneficial for you to meet with both
the Delivery Sector Manager and local Delivery Manager please let me know.

Many thanks to all who came along to our street surgery on the corner of Margaret Road and St Anne’s Road on Thursday. Many issues were raised, including the need for a local Residents’ Association, the need for a Wooldridge Court street sign, the proposed mast on Rock Edge, residents’ parking zones, lack of progress on the Manor Ground development, bus routes and waiting areas, light pollution, street clutter, postal services, near misses caused by on-pavement cycle tracks, and cycling routes down Old Road. The sequencing of traffic lights at the Windmill Road/London Road junction was of high concern as two near misses had been seen last week, and a silver Mercedes car was seen speeding across the lights from Old High Street down Windmill Road which was highly dangerous (this has been reported to us previously by Old Headington residents). Lots of casework for us to be getting on with!

Residents in York Road would like to raise issues with us, and we shall try to fix a date for this so that a county councillor can attend as well

We valued all your comments, and are especially pleased that there is so much support for a new residents’ association to be set up in this part of the ward. If you live in the area bounded by Windmill Road, Langley Close, Margaret Road, York Road, and Old Road, including Gathorne Road, Rock Edge, Wooldridge Court and St. Anne’s Road, and you would like to be kept informed about the setting up of a new residents’ association, please let us have your contact details - we shall update you with developments!

There is one current licensing application in the Headington Ward being processed by the Licensing Authority week ending 29 August 2008

08/00734/PREM White Hart Public House, 12 St Andrew’s Rd.

Please click on Licensing applications on the left hand tool bar for details

The signals have gone down at Gipsy Lane and there is currently no pedestrian crossing signal in operation near the junction of Latimer Road and London Road because of damage to an underground cable.

The County Council has called in the signals company to investigate the fault, and unfortunately repairs cannot be carried out until next Wednesday 3 September.

David and I have asked that this work is given highest priority.

David and I have received quite a few enquiries lately about licensing applications concerning premises in the Headington area.  If you want to find out more, please click on the Council’s licensing application search link

I shall make a link to this search site from the left hand toolbar so that you can reach it quickly at any time 

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.

Further to our earlier post about opening times of public conveniences, the Area Manager would find it helpful if details of early closures are reported to
the Contact Centre on 01865 252900 or by e-mail to
streetscene@oxford.gov.uk in order for remedial action to be taken.

I have been asked why the planning applications made by Starbuck’s are no longer on the Council’s planning website. This is the information I have been given by planning officers.

The original Starbuck’s planning applications have been made invalid.

The original applications were served on the owners of the building but
incorrect details were quoted.  When this was realised, Starbucks
withdrew the applications, and submitted new ones with the correct
details.  These are currently being processed by planning officers and will be added to this week’s list

This means that the applications get logged all over again  and won’t come up before North East Area Committee till November.  

Important notice for residents who have sent in comments about the original applications

You will need to send in new letters quoting the new applications. 

Letters quoting the old applications will not be considered with the new applications.
 

David and I have been invited to discuss local Stagecoach bus service issues with the managing director of Stagecoach in Oxfordshire.

Do get in touch with us with any issues, suggestions for improvements, or problems with bus services, and we will include these in the discussion.  Please add your comments to this post, or contact us directly - our contact details can be found by clicking the Contact us link on the left hand bar.

I am also contacting all residents’ associations in the ward to ask for their views.

The re-routing of the no. 10 service from Headley Way to Osler Road will be on our agenda.

At the Central and N Headington Residents’ Association meeting, a local resident asked me to investigate Stagecoach’s policy on family friendly fares. Here is their response.

 “We are very keen to attract families and therefore offer group/family fares on all our services.  An Oxford adult Dayrider ticket costs £3.50 for unlimited number of journeys for up to 24 hours.  The family version costs £6.50 for up two two adults and three children.   To put this into context at day return to the city centre from Blackbird Leys in £2.80 for an adult and £1.40 for a child.  We offer rduced rate passes for travel to.from schools and colleges and, to encourage wider use by young people, last summer we extended their validity to allow travel at weekends and duting school holidays.  On Oxford Tube, children travel free when accompanied by an adult.  We are mindful of the requirements of families and are working on a number of other ideas an initiatives to make our services as “family friendly” as possible. “

Further to our earlier post about the Oxford Bus Company bus routes through the City, I now have a response from Stagecoach to share with Headington residents, as follows:

“We split the direct service between Headington and Kidlington last in April last year, principally because it was impossible to run it reliably through the city centre. If delays occurred on one leg of the route, they would inevitably have an impact on the other. the effect of the Green Road roundabout reconstruction was disasterous for reliability, and, in the knowledge that other schemes were on the horizon, we decided that the only option was to split the service in two. Whilst I realise that this has caused inconvenience to many people and regret this, there is little prospect of restablishing the though service.

There are major road works schemes on both London Road and through Summertown at present together with work in St Aldates. The Westgate development, when it goes ahead, will cause further disruption to services. I regret to say that, whilst I would not rule out the prospect of a return to a through service at some point in the future, there is little prospect for one at present. “

At our recent street surgery, David and I were asked a very good question by a ward resident: does the Council know how many flats above shops in Headington are empty, and what steps are being taken to offer them to homeless people?

I have asked officers to investigate this, and this is underway. In the meantime, I have been sent a briefing note on empty dwellings across the City that contains some interesting figures that I thought you might like to see.

Unoccupied and Council Tax Exempt as from 1.07.08

Class Description No.
A Recently built or uninhabitable due to work (time limit of 12 months) 218
B Empty and owned by charities (up to 6 months) 122
C Vacant (empty and unfurnished) (up to 6 months) 434
D Left empty by persons in detention 1
E Left empty by patients in hospitals or care homes 61
F Left empty by deceased person (for up to 6 months after probate) 155
G Unfit for habitation (where occupation prohibited by law) 9
H Unoccupied pending use by a Minister of Religion 1
I Left empty by people receiving care 10
J Left empty by people providing care 6
K Left empty by students where the students remain liable 3
L Unoccupied where the mortgagee is in possession 16
Q Responsibility of a Bankrupt’s Trustees 0
R Unoccupied caravan pitch or house boat mooring 9
T Unoccupied Annexe not capable of separate occupation (e.g. ‘Granny Flat’) 2

All properties falling within the above Council Tax exemption classes would also be exempt from intervention by the Local Housing Authority under the Housing Act 2004 (empty dwellings)

Total empty dwellings 1724
Total exempt empty dwellings for purposes of empty dwelling legislation under Housing Act 2004 1047

Therefore, of the 1724 empty dwellings, 677 may not be exempt from intervention by the Local Housing Authority. However, that figure includes 44 dwellings owned by Oxford City Council which are empty pending demolition, disposal or refurbishment, at least 35 small Housing Association flats which are to be demolished and redeveloped as family accommodation, and numerous other properties which the owners intend to redevelop, remodel or re-let.

In a city of Oxford’s size, and with such a high proportion of transient residents (students, tourists, academics, medical personnel etc), it is inevitable that there will be a constantly shifting body of properties standing empty for various periods of time.

There is, however, a small number of properties (officers believe there are less than fifty) which are and have been empty for considerable periods of time, and where the owners, for one reason or another, have no intention of bringing the properties back into use. It is on these properties that the Council concentrates its efforts of persuasion & enforcement, through the work of the Empty Homes Officer, the Planning Enforcement Team, and officers of Environmental Development.

Here is a case study to show the sort of work that council officers undertake, acting on this data.

A landlord owned two properties in different parts of the city. Both were run down and in need of substantial works. One had suffered an arson attack. The owner had insufficient funds to commence work on either property, and could not sell either without making a substantial loss because of their condition. The Empty Homes Officer met the owner, and arranged for a Planning Officer to visit the burnt-out property. The Planning Officer gave the owner an informal view that the property was suitable for redevelopment into three flats. This enabled the owner to interest a developer, who eventually bought the property at a much better price than the owner had previously been able to ask. This, in turn allowed the owner to carry out remedial work on the second property. The redevelopment went ahead, and there are now four habitable properties where previously there were two pretty derelict buildings.

I recently received an email from Manager Stefan Soanes of the Oxford Bus Company concerning an issue raised by a Headington resident about the difficulties faced by elderly people and those with mild mobility problems who find it awkward to transfer buses in the City Centre when travelling from Headington to Summertown.

I’ll post this reply up because it explains the rationale behind the move to split the former no. 2 route, and because it is interesting to note the statistics that he quotes:

“Traditionally the service from Barton/Headington to Oxford was linked to
the service that operated between Oxford and Kidlington, which was
numbered 2 and provided a through service from the North to the
Headington/Barton area.

The pedestrianisation of Cornmarket Street meant this service no longer
had the direct path through Oxford city centre to get from the High
Street to St Giles. Instead, the service made it’s way around the bus
priority system to the south and west of the centre before heading
north. This added additional time and mileage into the service.

I am sure you do not need me to tell you about the traffic congestion
leaving Oxford along the London Road through Headington. This increased
to the point that we could no longer operate a reliable service between
Oxford and Headington/Barton. However, the knock on effect was that the
‘linked’ part of the service to the North of the city would also be
adversely affected.

The route from Kidlington to Barton traveled through many traffic
hotspots and we were faced with the need to add more resources to the
route just to stand still and combat such traffic congestion.

Therefore, in order to operate as reliable service as we possibly can to
both areas the decision was taken to curtail both services in the city
centre with no through facility. We did not take this decision lightly;
survey work prior to the change found only 6% of passengers made the
through journey.

The outcome of this is that the residents of both Headington and North
Oxford have a more reliable bus service as congestion on one leg does
not affect the other service. Indeed the service 7 was curtailed in the
same way due to a further worsening of congestion since our service 2
was split.

I think as with most things, changes will affect some more than others.
It could be said that the benefits of having a reliable bus service for
94% of our passengers outweigh the fact that there is no through service
for the other 6%. However if there is a social need for public
transport that cannot be provided by commercial operation, the County
Council is empowered under the 1986 Transport Act to offer a tender for
such a service. It may therefore be worth approaching Allan Field at
the County as to whether this could be viable. ”

All comments welcome, just press the Comment? button above….

News just in: a few weeks ago, Highfield residents and myself defended a planning decision concerning 16, Stapleton Road. The issue at stake was whether parking permits should be allowed for the flats. The application had been rejected, against the advice of officers, because the original application had envisaged a car-free development and this would clearly undermine that. At the appeal, the developer’s agent not only argued vehemently against the decision but also caused for the Council to pay costs to the developer for having acted unfairly.

The inspector’s decision has come through today: no costs against the Council and, what’s more, the appeal has been dismissed.

In reality, this is a small issue but an important decision. If it had gone the other way, it would have made it all the harder to be able to ensure that future small developments were car-free and thus reduced the number of vehicles in our area. That’s not to say there are not problems with car-free developments, with tenants often not realising they are not supposed to have a car and getting understandably upset when they are belatedly told that. But that’s not a reason not to try to make such a system work — and it’s very good news to have the inspector agree with us. I’d like to thank the residents of Stapleton Road who worked with Stephen, Ruth and myself to get this result: well done!

The Planning Inspector has allowed Headington School’s appeal against refusal for floodlighting for their new sports pitch bordering London Road. This will be a disappointment to the residents nearby who have been concerned about the possibility of light pollution as well as the ugliness of the lights. The North East Area Committee rejected the application when it was discussed and Cllr Chris Scanlan (LibDem, Barton and Sandhills Ward) represented the Council at the appeal.

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!

I am about to join a review panel on antisocial behaviour which will have a remit for scrutinising facts and figures on how “antisocial behaviour” or neighbourhood nuisance is tackled by the City officers and the agencies with they work in partnership.

The scope of this panel is being drawn up currently - if you have any ideas about what this should be, or if you have any comments about the way in which antisocial behaviour is tackled across the City, please let me know soon - by Thursday 7 August, or at the street surgery in Latimer Road on Thursday night from 6.00 pm-7.30 pm. I would welcome your comments on this.

I have proposed the following amendment to the core strategy for discussion at full Council tomorrow, and thought I should explain a little about why I’ve done it. The amendment is:

I would like to propose that the following paragraph is inserted into the document just above Policy CS16

“Some existing residential areas currently have poor or infrequent public transport accessibility to key local services (such as a District centre), relative to other parts of Oxford. The City Council will work with its partners to improve bus services to such areas, particularly where this will support regeneration or social inclusion.”

There is already some mention of improving bus links between the proposed district centres, and this will strengthen our case for improving bus links between Headington and Summertown. However, having served on the North East Area Committee and having canvassed across the North East of the city, I recognise that areas like Risinghurst get a poor deal when it comes to bus services in the evenings and at weekends.

Another reason for proposing this amendment is to make sure that areas like Iffley, with a high percentage of elderly residents, stand a chance of getting a regular bus service out of the village. It will also help estates like Rose Hill get a regular bus service to its local primary district centre Templars Square - the new district centres will offer employment, amenities and shops so it’s important that residents in outlying estates with high levels of socio-economic deprivation have public transport to these key local services.

There has recently been lots of email traffic between councillors about the times at which public toilets are closed, and in my experience this sometimes happens (at Bury Knowle Park) before the shops finish trading, which seems to me to be rather a disincintive for people to continue shopping in the late afternoon. I have received the following instruction from a Works Manager which may be of interest to Headington residents and users of the Bury Knowle toilets who come to Headington to work, shop or study.

All public conveniences should be open between 08.00 and 17.00 daily and the supervisory team at City Works have been instructed to ensure that this is complied with.

Gloucester Green conveniences are opened at 07.30 by the car parks security team and are closed by this team at 23.00

There are also 24 hour facilities at Gloucester Green, Westgate Car Park, Magdalen Street East (Ladies) and Market Street

I would be grateful if you would pass on our apologies to anyone that may have been inconvenienced by some early closures.

It seems to me that when Headington is enshrined as a district centre in the new core strategy, one of the minimum service level agreements should be that there is one 24 hour public toilet facility in each district centre. Do let me have your views on this!

If you would like email alerts each time news is added to this site, please click the orange RSS feed button on the right hand side of the address bar

There will be a meeting of Full Council next Tuesday 5 August to discuss “Oxford 2026: the Oxford core strategy”. This is a very important document as it outlines the planning vision for Oxford over the next 18 years, and discusses, among other things, the proposed development of Headington and its infrastructure. If you would like to see this document, please click on the website link and select the section you want to view under item 4.1.

The document will be formally published on 5 September 2008 and there is still time to contact either Cllr David Rundle or myself if you want us to raise any associated issue at full Council. Any planning policy changes in the future are likely to refer back to this document, so we need to make sure it reflects the views of our Group and our residents. Please let us know if you have concerns about anything in this document.

I have been contacted by residents to ask about the degree to which public consultation has taken place with regard to the prospective application to install a mast at Rock Edge. Please click on the planning application website to view this application and quote planning reference 08/01162/CPU. This is the reply from Planning Officers.

There are three types of proposal for telecommunications:

1. Permitted development notifications
2. 56 day proposals ( up to 15 metres)
3. Full applications.

For all three we notify neighbours within 100 m and schools within 200m,
although blocks of flats will get just a notice put up in the foyer.

In addition for those:
For category 1 above the letter advises that this is permitted
development and neighbours should write to the company not us.

For category 2 we also put up 4-5 site notices on community notice
boards and other strategic sites in the area

For category 3 as well as the site notices we also put a formal notice
in the local press.

This application falls under permitted development. It
appears from the system that the 100m ruling was applied in this
instance.

**********************************************************************I

If you are a resident living close by this development (i.e. within 100 metres) and you feel you should have been consulted about the application but this has not happened, please get in touch with me via phone or email or via this website and I will investigate this further.

The planning officers have been working on a consultation guide outlining the extent to
which they should consult on all types of applications received by Oxford City Council’s Planning Dept. A copy will be posted on the Council’s website as soon as it has been signed off, and I will post a link to it from this website as soon as this has been actioned

The next meeting of the Headington North NAG (Neighbourhood Action Group) is taking place on Wednesday morning. If you live in Old Headington or in the area between the JR and Headington shops and you would like me to convey your views to our neighbourhood police officers and parks officers about issues relating to crime, anti-social behaviour, roads, or open spaces, please contact me by email or phone, or post a comment above.

I talked to Chief Inspector Olly Wright from Thames Valley Police about involving more residents in NAG meetings. It is tricky to get a balance between just having one or two local representatives from Residents’ Associations at NAG meetings, or making NAG meetings essentially ‘open house’ (which could get unwieldy). He is currently writing a constitution for NAGs which he is hoping to introduce across the whole of the Thames Valley Police area in order to make NAGs more consistent. Some residents don’t attend Residents’ Association meetings but still have a view on the way their area is policed or have concerns about one specific issue, and I worry that these people’s views don’t reach the authorities. I would welcome views from residents on this.

As you know, I have given some presentations on resident involvement in NAGs to NAG chairs and members of Thames Valley Police. Recently, following on from this, I was asked to write a short script and do a piece to camera for a police training video on tackling anti-social behaviour. The experience took me out of my safety zone as it was the first time I had embarked on such a project, and I was duly equipped with microphone, a Mastermind chair, brilliant lighting and an autocue machine, complete with a team of sound technician, cameraman, autocue operator and script editor, at the police training HQ in Sulhamstead. The filming will form part of a DVD for duty officers new to an area who are called upon to deal with anti-social behaviour, and will be used for training purposes from October. I think it’s really encouraging that the police trainers are involving members of the public in developing their training materials rather than doing this solely in-house. That’s got to be a good thing.

You may well have seen that the bus shelter on London Road near Sandfield Road has suffered repeatedly from vandalism. As was explained on this site earlier in the month, the shelter itself is in line to be replace soon, and your LibDem councillors have ensured that a notice is placed on the shelter to make sure residents know what’s going on. All the more importantly, we have followed up this and other incidents with the police, encouraging them to increase patrols, in particular on Friday and Saturday nights. We are delighted to say they have now done so and that it is being promoted in the local press.

I have just been informed of the following improvement brought about by successful lobbying of the County Council by the parent of a Cherwell student who lives in Headington.

RH Transport, who run the 700 between the JR and Water Eaton have agreed to run the 0805 service from the JR via Summertown, i.e. along Marston Ferry Road, to reach Cherwell by 0820. This should help those pupils who come from Headington and Marston to Cherwell. Until now that service has used the ring road instead to avoid congestion – but this should not be such a problem in that direction at that time.

The County Council says it will carry out regular reviews of residents’ parking zones. One has just been completed in West Oxford.

Isn’t it time that our RPZs were reviewed in Headington? That’s what residents in New Headington are telling David and me.

We shall be working with residents’ associations to push for action on this.

Why should residents have to pay to park their cars outside their own homes?

Why are some zones 24/7? Is this unfair for residents living in busy areas?

Why should residents in 24/7 areas have to pay for passes for every visitor to their homes?

Tell us what you think!

The Inspector has dismissed two appeals for refusal of planning
permission for:
At 10 ~Stephen Road: Demolition of existing building comprising of 2
flats, garages and lock up storage. Erection of 4×3 bed houses, 1×2 bed
flats and 3×1 bed flats. Retention of existing single storey unit at
rear for commercial use. Provision of on-site car parking. (Amended
plans and description).

And at 10 and 12 Stephen road:
Demolition of existing property divided into 2 flats, garages/lock up.
Erection of 5 x 3 bed terraced houses and 2 x 1

The original decisions by City Council were by North East Area Committee overturning
the planning officer recommendation to accept.

So both appeals have been dismissed, meaning neither has been given planning permission.
This decision is final and can not be appealed. The developers can put in another planning application; if they do so, they will have to overcome the reasons for refusal as expressed in this decision.

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 .

Three planning applications have been lodged in our ward during the week 30 December - 5 January, they are in St. Anne’s Road, Windmill Road and Dunstan Road (Ruskin College). If you want to see these in full, please click on Planning applications in the centre tool bar.  All three have been delegated to planning officers. Last date for comments/objections is 30 January