Access to Headington: Highfield street event still going ahead

We asked the County Council to ensure the road diversions due to traffic works will not impede the Highfield Residents’ Association meze party and outdoor film showing on 16th September. Good news – the event will still go ahead – see letter to Lime Walk residents below. HRA had sought and been given permission to run the event well ahead of time, but that permission was given ahead of the date when the decision was made to facilitate construction works in Lime Walk and Old Road.

Dear Sir/ Madam

Re: Access to Headington – Churchill Drive, Old Road and Roosevelt Drive

We recently wrote to you to advise you that Lime Walk would be partially closed from the 11th September to facilitate the construction works on the Lime Walk Junction, Old Road and Churchill Drive. Due to the street party on All-Saints Road on 16th September we wanted to reassure you that the diversion route will be temporarily suspended that weekend to allow access and egress on the Lime Walk/Old Road junction via temporary traffic lights. All other elements of the works will remain the same.

We appreciate this work can be disruptive and we thank you for your patience throughout. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the project please contact our site project team at accessheadington@oxfordshire.gov.uk or you can call Oxfordshire County Council’s Customer Services team on 0845 310 1111.

You can find out more about Access to Headington and sign up the project e-bulletins at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/travelchoices

 

Oxfordshire County Council

What’s on in September

  • Friday 1 to Sunday 3 September, Foodies Festival, South Park, 11 am to 7 pm. Join Saturday Kitchen’s Matt Tebbutt and Great British Bake Off winner Candice Brown at the annual Foodies Festival. www.foodiesfestival.com
  • Sunday 3 September, Oxford Classic Mile Swim, starting at Donnington Bridge and finishing at the Christ Church Meadow river bank, 11 am to 1 pm. Second year of this open water Thames swimming event with one mile distance. www.swimoxford.co.uk
  • Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 September, St Giles Fair, St Giles, 11 am to 11 pm. One of the UK’s oldest fun fairs is back – this year with a licensed bar and street food traders!
  • Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 September, Oxford Preservation Trust – Oxford Open Doors, city centre. Celebration of the city’s heritage with free activities at hundreds of venues. https://www.oxfordpreservation.org.uk/content/welcome-oxford-open-doors-2017
  • Saturday 9 September, Vintage Bus Display, Broad Street (bollarded end), 10 am to 4 pm. As part of OPT Open Doors, the Oxford Bus Museum offers free rides with vintage buses through the city, and will have a vintage bus as an information point on Broad Street. www.oxfordbusmuseum.org.uk

St Giles Fair on Monday and Tuesday

St Giles’ Fair, held on the Monday and Tuesday following the first Sunday after St Giles’ Day (1 September), is one of the greatest and most prestigious in the country. This year, it takes place from 11 am to 11 pm on 4 and 5 September.

The fair dates back to 1625, when it was a parish festival to celebrate the feast of the patron saint, St Giles. Nowadays it features exciting fair ground rides, candyfloss and other food stalls, and carnival games.

Access to Headington: works affecting Old Road, Churchill Drive, Roosevelt Drive

Here is the letter sent to all residents in the area by the County Council

Dear Sir/ Madam

Re: Access to Headington – Churchill Drive, Old Road and Roosevelt Drive

We wanted to let you know that on 11th September we will begin work on Churchill Drive and it’s junction with Old Road.

The work involves installing traffic lights at the junction as well as re-aligning parts of the footway. We will also be doing small amounts of work at the Roosevelt Drive/Churchill Drive junction. The work is programmed to take 15 weeks to complete.

Over the first 9 weeks of the project we will be working mainly on Old Road under two-way temporary traffic lights. During this time Churchill Drive will be access only from Old Road, however emergency vehicles will also be able to exit onto Old Road from Churchill Drive. All other vehicles will be diverted via Roosevelt Drive.

Lime Walk will also be partially closed over the first 9 weeks. Vehicles will be able to access Lime Walk from Old Road but those wishing to exit onto Old Road will have to do so via Stapleton Road. We will be suspending 5 parking spaces on Lime Walk (spaces closest to Old Road) whilst we carry out the works around the junction.

We will be undertaking 1 weeks’ worth of night works (scheduled for week commencing 23rd October – subject to change) in order to carry out surfacing to the carriageway on Old Road. Night works take place between 8pm and 6am, though very noisy work will cease at 11pm as per our Section 61 agreement with Oxford City Council.

Once the work on Old Road has been complete, we will begin a short period of works to the junction of Roosevelt Drive/Churchill Drive. This involves some re-aligning of the kerbs as well as installation of cables under the road surface.

More information on this set of works and other sections of Access to Headington can be found on the Oxfordshire County Council website at the following address www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/accessheadington. You can also sign up to our regular e-bulletins at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/travelchoices.

The work will be carried out by Skanska Construction. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the project please contact our site project team at accessheadington@oxfordshire.gov.uk or you can call Oxfordshire County Council’s Customer Services team on 0845 310 1111.

We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause you and thank you for your cooperation.

Rise in charges for taking non-household waste to the tip

Here is the press release from the County Council about the rise in charges with effect from 1st October.

There will be an additional facility for recycling hard plastics.

Fly-tipping and waste/recycling collection are managed by the City Council in our area, but the County Council runs Redbridge.

From Bank Holiday Saturday banners and leaflets  will be on site at all seven of our HWRCs, informing local residents that there will be a change in non-household waste charges from the 1st October. We will also be raising awareness via social media and will be issuing a press release w.c. 28th August.

The existing DIY 1,2,3 for free scheme is being replaced by a small fixed fee per item of £1.50 for non-household waste from the 1st October. Tyres and plasterboard will also be charged for at an affordable rate. The existing scheme has been in place for 15 years and during this time there we have not increased the charge of £1 per item.

The council is not obliged to provide residents with a disposal site for non-household waste. However, in the HWRC public consultation carried out in summer 2016, 91% of responses indicated that residents would prefer to pay to deposit non-household waste as a way of saving money and protecting other council services.

Soil, rubble, hard-core, plasterboard (gypsum) other DIY type items are classified as construction waste, not household waste, and are expensive for the council to dispose of. We recognise that many householders carry out small DIY projects from time to time, and by applying a small charge this allows HWRCs to continue accepting these discretionary types of non-household waste.

Non-household or DIY items, as a general rule are materials created from the construction, demolition, alteration or repair of a home or garden. For example a sink, bath, kitchen unit, fence panel, bag of rubble etc. 

Residents can still dispose of all their household waste free of charge at any of the county’s HWRCs.

Also new in October 2017 will be a bin for recycling hard plastics. After a successful trial at Dix and Alkerton HWRCs, items such as plastic garden furniture and children’s toys will be collected and recycled from all sites.

You may want to remind residents in your area that all HWRCs are open until 8pm on Thursdays throughout the summer until 1 October 2017. We are encouraging people via social media to beat the bank holiday weekend queue by visiting their local site on a Thursday instead. 

More information about the changes is available online at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/chargeablewaste.

Up and coming events in Oxford

  • Until Monday 28 August, World Vision Charity – Journey of Hope, Bonn Square, 9am to 7pm every day. Journey of Hope is an immersive experience telling the story of eight-year-old Ayie from rural Sierra Leone. It also gives people the opportunity to sponsor a World Vision child. www.worldvision.uk
  • Sunday 27 August, Headington Five Mile Road Race, starting at Boults Lane Rec, 9.30 am to 11 am. Annual five-mile road running race around Marston and Headington.http://www.hrr.org.uk/h5m/
  • Wednesday 30 August, Recycling Roadshow, Hinksey Park, 10 am to 4 pm. This is to promote and engage residents with recycling by giving out free recycling advice, leaflets and recycled goodies.
  • Friday 1 September, Film under the Stars, Rose Hill Rec (behind the community centre), 8.45 pm to 11 pm. Outdoor screening of a family film. www.filmoxford.org
  • Friday 1 to Sunday 3 September, Foodies Festival, South Park, 11 am to 7 pm. Join Saturday Kitchen’s Matt Tebbutt and Great British Bake Off winner Candice Brown at the annual Foodies Festival. www.foodiesfestival.com
  • Monday 4 & Tuesday 5 September, St Giles Fair, St Giles, 11 am to 10 pm.  One of the UK’s oldest fun fairs is back – this year with a licensed bar and street food traders!www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20035/events/557/st_giles_fair
  • Monday 4 September, Recycling Roadshow, Cutteslowe Park, 10am to 4pm. This is to promote and engage residents with recycling by giving out free recycling advice, leaflets and recycled goodies.

Felling licence consultation – 24 trees in Christ Church meadow

Oxford City Council is being consulted by the Forestry Commission on an application for a Felling Licence that has been made by Christ Church. The Forestry Commission deadline for comments is 1st September 2017.

The application is to fell 24 trees (mixed species; predominantly hornbeam, but also including ash, hawthorn and sycamore) and replant with 22 lime trees (Tillia x europea ‘Pallida’) at Rose Lane Walk, Christ Church Meadow.

In response to the Forestry Commission consultation, officers recommend under delegated powers

  • to raise no objection to the grant of a Felling Licence;
  • to ask the Forestry Commission to impose a condition on any Felling Licence requiring 22 heavy standard common lime trees to be planted before the end of the first planting season in the year that the trees are felled; and,
  •  to ask the Forestry Commission to impose a condition requiring tree felling not to take place during the ecologically sensitive time of the year between 1st April and 1st October unless there is a clear over-riding justification.

Full details can be viewed on the Council’s website

Although this application does not affect Headington Ward, we appreciate that many of our residents will want to know about this consultation.

Up and coming events in Oxford

  • Until Monday 28 August, World Vision Charity – Journey of Hope, Bonn Square, 9am to 7pm every day. Journey of Hope is an immersive experience telling the story of eight-year-old Ayie from rural Sierra Leone. It also gives people the opportunity to sponsor a World Vision child. www.worldvision.uk
  • Tuesday 15 to Thursday 17 August, Rose Hill Play Ranger Sessions, Rose Hill Rec (behind the Community Centre) 10 am to 2 pm. Free play sessions organised by the Oxfordshire Play Association. www.oxonplay.org.uk
  • Thursday 17 to Sunday 20 August, German Village Festival, Broad Street, 5 pm to 11 pm. Traditional German fest with an outside area and beer tent – the first time in Oxford. http://oxford.bierfest.co.uk/
  • Friday 18 to Sunday 20 August, Hebborns Family Fun Fair, Cowley Marsh Rec, 1.30 pm to 10 pm. www.hebbornamusements.co.uk
  • Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 August, Oxford City Royal Regatta, Longbridges Nature Park, 7 am to 6 pm. Oxford City Royal Regatta is an annual rowing competition which has taken place on the Isis River since 1841. www.oxfordrowingclub.org.uk
  • Sunday 20 August, Oxford Women’s Softball Cricket Festival, Cutteslowe Park, 12 pm to 4 pm. Organised by Oxfordshire Cricket, this event gives women of all ages an exciting and inclusive introduction to cricket. http://www.oxfordshire.cricket/
  • Sunday 20 August, Film under the Stars, Rose Hill Rec (behind the community centre), 8.45 pm to 11pm. Outdoor screening of a family film. www.filmoxford.org
  • Tuesday 22 to Thursday 24 August, Rose Hill Play Ranger Sessions, Rose Hill Rec (behind the Community Centre) 10 am to 2 pm. Free play sessions organised by the Oxfordshire Play Association. www.oxonplay.org.uk
  • Sunday 27 August, Headington 5 Mile Road Race, starting at Boults Lane Rec, 9.30 am to 11 am. Annual 5-mile road running race around Marston and Headington.http://www.hrr.org.uk/h5m/

Better broadband in Headington Ward

The County Council has sent us the following information.

Superfast broadband coverage in Headington

The majority of coverage in Headington has been delivered commercially with the Better Broadband programme having enabled superfast broadband already to most of the areas not covered commercially.

There is a small element of commercial coverage remaining for completion, specifically covering premises in OX3 9BQ, OX3 9DZ and OX3 9FR. There is also some additional work under the programme due for completion by the end of 2017. There are very few postcodes where there is no (or minimal) superfast coverage. Therefore, if there are premises not able to order superfast broadband, we would direct residents to our website and in particular, the final 4% page for further information on options available. The Better Broadband programme has also launched the co-funding scheme, which is detailed on the website.

Within a postcode, there are instances where some premises may not be able to order a superfast broadband product due to distance from a fibre enabled cabinet.

What if my property is still unable to get superfast broadband?

Further information is available on the Better Broadband website, specifically in the section titled Final 4%. In summary, the options are:

  • self-funding
  • co-funding (with help from OCC)
  • wireless broadband (subsidy vouchers available, subject to eligibility)
  • satellite broadband (subsidy vouchers available, subject to eligibility)
  • 3G/4G mobile broadband
 You can check whether or not your property has access to super fast broadband on the Better Broadband website