Planning applications re Starbuck’s

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.
 

Stagecoach bus services

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.

Stagecoach policy on family friendly fares

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.

Bus routes through the City Centre to North Oxford

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. “

Unoccupied dwellings in the City

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.

Bus services Barton-Headington- City Centre – N Oxford

bus-stop-times.JPG

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….

Appeal allowed – Headington School

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.

Improvements to Oxford’s play areas massively overdue

Cllr Alan Armitage, Chair of North Area Committee, by the recently improved play area at Aristotle Recreation Ground  (photography: Alan Armitage)

 

The Labour administration on Oxford City Council has announced significant new budget for improving and maintaining Oxford’s play areas, but the Lib Dems are asking who will lose out.

Said David Rundle, Lib Dem leader on the City Council: It’s all too true that refurbishing Oxford’s play areas is massively overdue. Under previous Labour administrations, they were left to rot. It was the Lib Dems in 2006 who highlighted the problem and started a programme of refurbishment.

He added: “What Labour has announced may sound good, but it would be wise to ask a few questions. It is claimed that more money will be spent but who will pay for it? Even on the most optimistic forecasts, there’s going to be at least £500,000 to be found. We know that Mr Brown has put the thumbscrews on local council and there’s no money to spare, so what’s going to be cut to make up the shortfall?

Lib Dems want to know how the communities are going to be involved in the decisions. Labour say they will consult – but, as the Conservatives have shown repeatedly at County Hall, consulting is not the same as listening. Much better than consulting is actually making the decision in the local communities which are affected.

Latimer Road surgery

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!