Pedestrian crossing at Old Road/Gipsy Lane junction – change requested

Roz and Ruth have requested that a high level repeater can be put in at the pedestrian crossing in the centre waiting section in Old Road. Here is the email we sent to the Access to Headington team for discussion. The County Council officers are currently considering this request.

Residents have drawn councillors’ attention to the fact that groups of schoolchildren cross here when they get off the bus on the southern side of Old Road to reach Cheney School. This means groups of (anecdotally up to 30) students try to use the puffin crossing at the same time.
This also means that when there is a crowd of children immediately next to the red/green man box, and because there is no audible signal it’s not easy for them to see when the green man sign comes on because they are all squashed together.
Please would it be possible to find some money in the A2H budget to put in a repeater at a higher level so that everyone can see it? Roz and I think this would be a great safety improvement so near a school if this is feasible and affordable.

Service of dedication at the JR on Saturday to commemorate repatriations

In October 2016, 456 daffodils were planted at the John Radcliffe by ex-services and police personnel to commemorate the Repatriations that passed through the entrance to the hospital.  These daffodils are now in full bloom and, on Saturday 8 April at 11am, The Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, Tim Stevens, will unveil a plaque at the daffodils followed by a short service of Dedication.

Headington Swap Shop needs an organiser

Many thanks to Kate Hart who has run the popular Headington Swap Shop for many
years. Sessions are held on the 3rd Saturday morning of every month at
Headington Community Centre in Gladstone Road. Kate is stepping down soon, and
so far no-one has come forward to take over.

Here are the jobs that need doing – there are already other volunteers happy to
carry on helping out but someone is needed to take on these responsibilities:
– count the cafe takings each month
– calculate and pay volunteer expenses annually
– collect the PAT kit from Orinoco the week before the swap and return it
afterwards
– compile and enter the stats on the CAG database each month
– put the banner up the week before the swap
– publicise the swaps on the Oxford Mail events page
– be the point of contact for queries and CAG news & updates, volunteer
coordinator, open up and lock the centre on swap days

You can find more information on the HSS at
http://www.lowcarbonheadington.org​.uk​/headington​-swap​-shop​.html

If you are interested, or you know someone else who would like to volunteer,
please let me know or get in touch with Tanya via the website link above.

It would be a real shame if this community resource has to close.

Underground electricity fault in Old Headington area

There has been a series of power cuts over the recent past from the substation next to the garage in London Road through a fairly large area comprising St Andrew’s Rd, St Andrew’s Lane, Laurel Farm Close, Osler Road, Old High Street (and we would assume) Larkins Lane.

The Customer Relations adviser at SSE says there is an intermittent underground fault which could be caused by a number of factors including subsidence, or a knock to the plastic casing of a cable or joint which has induced seepage of water.

When the fault occurs, a safety fuse blows in the substation and has to be replaced. SSE has put in some software to monitor this in the substation – it’s called a Kelvatek “bidoyng” and for those of you dying to know what that is, please click here (thanks to Alexandra for the link)

Apparently it detects a blown fuse, replaces it and also does a search of nearby lines to try and track exactly where the fault is happening. They have also carried out back feeding to try and identify the source. They have ruled out overloading though.

If we get any more details we will post them here. There is currently no guarantee that another power cut won’t happen again but it should be rectified much more quickly – SSE Community Officers have been out door knocking to give advice to their customers.

 

Beech House construction traffic – response from Planning Enforcement

As promised, here is the response from the City Council regarding the requests from us and from Highfield Residents’ Association for enforcement action regarding the change of access route for construction vehicles to/from the Beech House site in Latimer Road via Highfield residential roads.

I have reviewed the original planning permission, the Construction Traffic Management Plan and the information sent in by yourself and the local residents.

Whilst the Construction Traffic Management Plan does limit the access to the development from London Road, on to Latimer Road and into the site, having discussed the matter with a number of council officers and under the circumstances, it is the council’s decision that is not expedient to take any enforcement action against the breach of planning control in this instance.

The National Planning Policy Framework advises that “local planning authorities should act proportionately in responding to suspected breaches of planning control”. In this instance, the developers are not wilfully choosing to breach their planning conditions under normal circumstances but have been forced into a temporary deviation due to other unrelated works that affect access into their site. It would not be reasonable to prevent deliveries from accessing the site or stop the site from developing whilst the Hospital’s energy pipework is installed.

Even if the council did decide that enforcement action was expedient and proportionate, the amount of time it would take to prepare, serve a breach of condition notice and the time for compliance allowed to the developers would likely exceed the time the London Road/Latimer Road junction is temporarily closed for. Any prosecution the council tried to bring against the developers would likely be dismissed as the developers would have a more than reasonable argument as to why they couldn’t temporarily comply with the condition.

The council is working with the county Highway team and the developers to try to make the situation as manageable as possible during the road closure and ensure residents are impacted as little as possible.

During the temporary closure of the London Road/Latimer Road junction, issues of highway safety should be referred to the Highway team at the county council or to the local police force who have the jurisdiction to deal with such matters.

I appreciate that this is not a welcome decision for you or the affected residents but I hope you can appreciate the reasoning why the council have arrived at the decision we have.

Beech House construction traffic in Highfield

We have been contacted by a number of residents with concerns about the high volume of construction vehicles in various streets in Highfield. Residents have reported queues of construction vehicles in Latimer Road, a low loader in Stapleton Road, blocked access to driveways, use of a private road for construction vehicles turning and damage to trees.

The original construction access route approved with the planning consent specified entry and exit via London Road. London Road is now closed for three weeks for the energy pipe trench work. An application was sent to the City Council Planning Dept last week requesting alternative access to the site. There was recognition that this would entail the use of smaller vehicles. Councillors have not been sent a copy of this document so we don’t yet know the exact details.

The process for this type of variation application is for the planning officer to send out the revised scheme to County Council depts. for comment before making an informed decision under delegated authority.

The decision on whether or not to grant consent has not yet been made as comments are still being collated.

Until planning consent is given for a revised access plan,  we are advised that access to the site other than via London Road is technically a breach of condition of planning consent. It is possible to request investigation by the Planning Enforcement team if a breach of condition can be substantiated. In the light of the above complaints from residents, both Ruth and Highfield Residents’ Association have made a request for enforcement action.  We are awaiting a formal response from the City Council and will post it up on this site when we get it.

Ruth and Altaf have also written separately to the planning case officer to make sure that the impact on residents and particularly the safety of childen and families on their way to school is fully taken into account when the delegated decision is made on whether the revised plan should go ahead, and to ask for the County Networks Team to re-consider any comments they may already have made to reflect the experiences of today.

Frontier has sent the following statement following a full and frank discussion regarding construction traffic to/from the Winvic Beech House site.

We have spoken but to confirm I have spoken with our team and can report as follows:

The low loader that came today had not been booked and Winvic had no knowledge of its arrival. The vehicle has been removed and will not be returning to site and the contractor involved has been severely reprimanded.

There have been 2 lorries on Latimer Road and one is a stationary stud welding vehicle and needs positioning to carry out work. It will only be there today and will not be returning. The other deliveries are being called in as required.

Winvic are in touch with [redacted] at Oxfordshire and he is fully aware of what we have in place to manage construction traffic while the energy works are being carried out and the Construction Traffic Management Plan has been updated accordingly.

I can assure you that we will keep working to make sure our scheme runs smoothly with minimum disruption to the community. Please do let us know if there are any other issues.

Ruskin College licensing application

Here are the details of the licensing application from Ruskin.

17/01194/PREM

Ruskin College, Ruskin Hall, Dunstan Road

Application for a new Premises Licence: for an adult educational college applying for the following licensable activities:

Sale of alcohol (on sales only),Plays, Films, Indoor sporting events, Live music, Recorded music, Performance of dance, similar entertainment to music or dance:
Sunday to Saturday: 11:00 hours to 23:00 hours

DEADLINE FOR REPRESENTATIONS TO BE RECEIVED (All representations must be made in writing): 26-04-2017

ADDRESS FOR REPRESENTATIONS TO BE SENT:

The Licensing Authority, Oxford City Council St Aldates Chambers, 109 St Aldates, Oxford, OX1 1DS, or by email to: licensing@oxford.gov.uk

New Thames Valley Alert app launched by police

Thames Valley Police is delighted to announce that the Thames Valley Alert App has been launched and is free to download now.
The app, which is available on iPhone and Android, can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play and allows you to receive instant notifications to your phone on the latest policing alerts in your area (please note that you must enable push notifications to receive these).
The app can use GPS data to send you targeted messages according to your current geographical location and messaging preferences, sending you instant notifications to your mobile phone about specific information, warnings and advice relevant to that location.
The app offers a number of other features, including allowing you to quickly locate your closest police station, and also provides a feed of the latest Thames Valley-wide news on Twitter, so you’ll never miss those important Force-wide updates and breaking news. This facility is available on the app even if you do not have a Twitter account.
Please note that you do not have to download the app to get alerts; you can still choose to receive alerts via email, text or voicemail.
To download the app, visit the Apple store or Google Play and search ‘Thames Valley Alert’.

Abandoned vehicles service offered by the City Council

Abandoned vehicles have a negative effect on the quality of our environment in Oxford but the City Council has an officer dedicated to combat this.
 
He operates on behalf of the DVLA, using powers devolved from them, to report and remove untaxed/SORN vehicles from the public highway and other ‘off road’ areas.

He also acts on behalf of other Council departments such as Housing, Parks, and Corporate Assets, to investigate vehicles that they have concerns about and remove them. This is usually done through a 15 day notice, but if a vehicle is declared dangerous, it can be removed immediately.
 
This service is also offered to the private sector, such as housing associations, independent companies and private individuals.

All online and telephone enquiries are investigated, and he also tags and removes abandoned bikes. Most bikes are removed after bi-monthly inspection of the 186 racks throughout the city. Around 1,000 bikes a year are removed and these are offered to different charities or are recycled.

You can report an abandoned vehicle on the City Council website at https://www.oxford.gov.uk/homepage/122/report_an_environmental_problem

Up and coming events in Oxford

 

  • Saturday 1 April, World Autism Awareness Day, Bonn Square, 9am to 5pm. Charitable event to mark World Autism Awareness Day with a variety of family-friendly activities. www.afso.org.uk
  • Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 April, Oxford Art and Craft Market, Broad Street, 9am to 5.30pm (Sat) and 10am to 4.30pm (Sun). The annual Art Market is a partnership event between Boffy Arts Market and Oxford City Council and features approximately 30 -36 traditional market stalls. All of the work sold is handmade and selected for quality and all stalls are run by the artists or makers of the goods.www.boffyartsandevents.com
  • Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 April, Oxford Folk Weekend, city centre, 10am to 5pm. Morris dance teams are performing around the city centre, including Broad St, Cornmarket Street, The Covered Market, Blue Boar St, Bonn Square and Gloucester Green. http://folkweekendoxford.co.uk
  • Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 April, Quidditch UK, Development Cup, Horspath Sports Ground, 8am to 7pm. Inaugural sports tournament for Quidditch teams across the UK organised by Quidditch UK. www.quidditchuk.org