Thanks to everyone who attended yesterday evening’s surgery, Altaf and Ruth enjoyed meeting you and discussing your concerns

These included issues around road signage, parking, ways to improve traffic junctions, hazardous traffic light sequencing at the Windmill Road/London Road junction, a county council legal matter, damage to pavements by refuse collection lorries, proposed Ruskin developments, sewage and drainage problems, and the lack of cycle track along London Road

It’s good to hear that so many residents enjoy living in Laurel Farm Close

We shall update residents as we make progress with their issues

David and I are working hard to address the problem of illegal parking on the grass verge outside the parish hall in Dunstan Road.  It is wrong to park on this grass verge because:

• it ruins the grass in a beautiful conservation area
• there are yellow lines on the road at that point, and the verge forms part of the highway so parking here is illegal
• parking on a bend like this obstructs the line of sight of oncoming motorists

The Principal at Ruskin College is assisting us by ensuring that Ruskin users are aware of the regulations, and David and I are in touch with enforcement officers.  If you recognise anyone who parks their car on the grass verge please let them know that they are likely to be served fixed penalty notices. I will raise this issue with neighbourhood police at this morning’s Neighbourhood Action Team meeting in Old High Street

 UPDATE 8/5/09

There is some confusion over who owns this land and I am following this up with officers and with the Land Registry. In the meantime, the neighbourhood police team from Headington North has undertaken to patrol this area on a regular basis

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

David and I have had a meeting with the officer in charge of car parks in the City to discuss the future of the Old High Street car park with the advent of Waitrose. Many people have mentioned that they think there will be a pressure on parking places once the new Waitrose store opens in May

We have flagged up a number of issues which include the need for improved lighting, the provision of a shelter over the ticket machines, the location of recycling bins, access and egress from the car park by motorists and by pedestrians, and the provision of cycling racks.

It became clear that some of these issues relate to phase 2 of the London Road redevelopment, and lighting can also be an issue for consideration by the Crime Prevention team. To this end, David is organising a bigger meeting which will include relevant stakeholders e.g. County transport planners

We should like the main entrance to the car park to be re-modelled at some point, but it looks as though this would require capital funding.  Capital funding has been cut drastically this financial year so prospects of this are not great.

The car parks officer confirmed that blue badge owners will continue to park free for four hours in any 24 hour period.

David and I received notification of this today from the County Council

OXFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL (HEADINGTON CENTRAL,

1.      exclude the following properties from eligibility for residents, business and visitors permits:

·         Champneys Court (Flats 1-6) 88 Windmill Road.·         Edna Rose Court (Flats 1-5) 90 Windmill Road.

·         No 124A Lime Walk.

·         Lime Tree Mews (Flats 1-12) 2 Lime Walk.   

·         Wingfield House (Flats 1-5) 2A Gathorne Road

.  2.      include the following property as eligible for residents and visitors permits

• No 124 Lime Walk.

Documents giving more detailed particulars of the proposed Order are available for public inspection at County Hall, New Road, Oxford OX1 1ND from 9.00 am to 4.30 pm Monday to Friday and at Headington Library, Bury Knowle Park, Headington on Monday & Wednesday from 9.15am to 1.00pm; Tuesday & Thursday 9.15am to 7.00pm; Friday 9.15am to 6.00pm; and Saturday 9.15am to 4.40pm. Objections to the proposal, specifying the grounds on which they are made, and any other representations, should be sent in writing to the Director for Environment and Economy (ref. MJR/TRO) at the address given below, no later than 15 January 2009. The County Council will consider objections and representations received in response to this Notice. They may be disseminated widely for these purposes and made available to the public.  Dated:  18^th December 2008  Huw JonesDirector for Environment and EconomyOxfordshire County CouncilSpeedwell House

The contract for monitoring car parking in Residents’ Parking Zones has been transferred from APCOA to NCP.

The telephone number to contact NCP is 0845 337 1138. There are various
options to chose from such as

Help Line 0845 337 1138

Option 1 Payments
Option 2 Parking Shop
Option 3 Control Room (to report an illegally parked vehicle or to request parking information)
Option 4 NP (PCN queries)
Option 5 Oxfordshire County Council
Option 6 Suspensions

I will post this up as a sticky link on the left hand toolbar shortly

We have been asked several times about whether or not builders are allowed to park their vans in areas controlled by Residents’ Parking Zones without permits.  I had always assumed that everyone needed a permit but this is not so - here’s a response I’ve just received from the County Highways Dept.

There is a possibility for construction firms to be able to park against the regulations in some areas and for certain reasons. They must show a need for their vehicle to be parked there and not just used for bringing tools and equipment to the site, working and then loading the tools and equipment and going home. If a vehicle is not seen to be required apart from travel to and from, the permission would be revoked. We have to consider the area and the residents. Eventually there will be a Traders Permit that will come into place which will be chargeable and can be used for such instances as above.

So now we know!

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!