New High Street is a ONE WAY street between London Road and Bateman Street junction

sign_one-way

We are concerned at the number of reports we are getting about people driving their cars the wrong way in New High Street. This has caused near misses with some of our elderly and more vulnerable folk.

We have asked the County Council to check the signage but this cannot be improved any further.

We have asked the police for advice. They say:

[We] cannot be on the spot in case someone breaks the law.

With the many like restrictions throughout the County we cannot possibly target everyone. Signed only restrictions such as these are a nightmare, and with limited resources and ever increasing demand placed on our staff it is true we cannot police them all effectively .

I am sure if patrolling officers witness contraventions  they would take the necessary enforcement action .

Any permanent solution to this problem has to be through engineering but I accept that may not be possible .

There are insufficient resources at the County Council to pay for any new buildout work, so the only thing we can all do to stop this is to report careless drivers to our local police and spread the word to drivers in the area to behave with greater consideration for others. We shall contact the taxi and minicab firms with this advice too.

 

Want to do up and sell your house? On TV?

We have been contacted by Channel 4 who are looking for people selling houses.

I’m a Jr Casting Researcher for Channel 4’s Selling Houses with Amanda Lamb and we are we filming 2 episodes in Oxfordshire next week.

I wanted to get in touch with you as I think you might be able to help get the word out there, you may even know of someone who is looking to sell and would like the opportunity to come on the show.

We’re looking for people whose houses are on the market, and what we do is have our property guru Amanda Lamb come in and give them advice on anything they might be able to do to make their property just that wee bit more appealing to potential buyers. We then give them £1,500 to put towards a mini-makeover of sorts, it’s up to them how they use that money.

At the end of the week we bring in a buyer whose already looking at buying in the area and show them the properties that have just had their mini-makeover. This person could then end up making an offer if they see something they like.

We’re looking to get in touch with people who might be interested as soon as possible, so if anyone does cross your mind then please do not hesitate to have them get in touch with us, we would love to chat with them and answer any questions they may have.

 

Do contact James directly if you are interested!

James Heath

Junior casting researcher

020 7539 2017

07971 743893

 

Planning appeal against refusal dismissed

The following appeal against refusal to grant a lawful development certificate has been dismissed by the Inspector, but interestingly he comments that

I am satisfied that the Council’s refusal of the application is well-founded, although not for the reason given by them.

Appeal Ref: APP/G3110/X/16/3149388
2 Piper Street, Headington, Oxford OX3 7AR

 

Old Road Campus – extension to temporary buildings consent

Here is a copy of a letter that has been sent to residents in Old Road by the University of Oxford explaining its reasons for asking to retain temporary consent till 2018 or later

Dear Neighbour,

You may be aware that the University has previously obtained temporary planning permission for a number of buildings on the north eastern part of the Old Road Campus site, including a pre-fabricated building, a 3 storey research building, catering building, security hut and ancillary development which includes an electricity substation, footpaths, bicycle parking, CCTV poles/cameras and lighting.

This development was approved under planning consent 14/01494/FUL and was required as enabling work to allow the implementation of the first phases of development for the wider Old Road Campus site as approved under outline planning consent 12/02072/OUT.

The development was required to provide temporary accommodation for staff and services which had to vacate buildings that were demolished to allow construction of the Big Data Institute (BDI) Building. The existing permission granted temporary planning permission for these buildings for a period of 3 years from the date of the permission or until occupation of the BDI Building at which point the buildings should be removed. The BDI Building is due to be occupied in January 2017, however, the temporary buildings currently contain uses that will be relocated into the approved Amenities and Bioescalator Building (approved under reference 15/00996/RES) and not the BDI Building.

The University is therefore submitting an application for the retention of the previously consented temporary works for further periods of time while the Amenities and Bioescalator Building is being constructed which is due to be completed in July 2018. This will not involve any changes to the buildings already on site.

The application will seek consent that the temporary buildings and ancillary works including substation and switch gear will be retained for a temporary period of three years or occupation of the Amenities and Bioescalator Building, whichever is the sooner.

There is also a temporary footpath to the north of the site, which provides safe access to and from the car park for the nursery which operates within the adjacent ‘Triangle Building’ on the Campus. The nursery use has a temporary consent (reference:14/03540/FUL) for a period up to 21 May 2020 and as such, the application will also seek to retain the footpath connecting the nursery and car park until 21 May 2020 to tie in with the temporary nursery consent, beyond the occupation of the Amenities Building.

At the end of the relevant periods the buildings, ancillary development and path will be removed within a period of three months of the uses having relocated. The land will be grassed over once the buildings are taken down.

This letter has been sent to inform you that an application for the temporary retention of the buildings is due to be submitted to Oxford City Council in the near future. There will be an opportunity for you to submit feedback on the planning application via Oxford City Council’s website at http://public.oxford.gov.uk/online-applications/ upon submission of the application. If you have any queries regarding this proposal in the meantime please contact public.consultation@admin.ox.ac.uk.

Re-lining in Bickerton and Stapleton Roads

We have followed up suggestions from the Highfield Residents’ Association for changes/improvements to the re-lining scheme and here is the advice (in blue) that we were sent by the County Council.

Arbitrary painting solid white lines in the road between houses where there is a gap but too narrow for a car, or not asked for by the owners:

  • Between nos 10 and 12
  • Between nos 20 and 22
  • Between nos 23 and 25
  • Between nos 44 and 46
  • Between nos 48 and 50

As you are probably aware the Highway Code tells motorists not to “obstruct” dropped kerbs. Since marking a parking bay across them seemingly contradicts this rule, we need to provide something to indicate the presence of an access and deter any obstruction. As the access protection line (APM) is only advisory and cannot be routinely enforced, it should not have a great effect on residents’ parking. Unless the access owner complains to the police that they are obstructed. However, this can only occur when they are trying to use it.

Consequently those who have the sole right of access can park over their own access/APM since they cannot obstruct themselves. In cases where the access is not owned by the driver, they would need to ensure that those with the right of access agree. Similarly with joint accessways both owners would have to agree.

I would also add that in addition to the access owners’ agreeing any parked car would also have to abide by the control in the parking bay (i.e. displaying the appropriate permit).

I also appreciate that the gaps between houses might be too narrow for most modern cars but there are other vehicles which might require and have the right of access. 

 

 

Continuous double yellow lines extended unneccessarily to include width of front of house

  • Outside nos 21A and 21
  • Outside no 37
  • Outside no 51

Yellow lines are not being extended at these locations. We are unable to make changes to the parking controls since this is only a maintenance scheme which does not involve any changes being made to the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) which defines the controls.

Adjustments to existing double yellow lines:

  • Between no 28 and 30 there is an adjustment to the double yellow lines, yet the householder has asked for them to be removed  as the gap is too narrow for use and a parking bay inserted instead 

This corrects an error in the original markings. 

Existing double yellow line that should be removed:

  • Outside the being built 17A has no parking entitlement, so presumably the old double yellow lines and dropped curb will be removed?  Not marked as presumably builders’ lorries were parked there when the road was being marked up 

This length of yellow line is not marked to be refreshed since it is not defined in the TRO.

 

 

 

 

 

Up and coming events in Oxford

  • Sunday 9 October, Oxford Half Marathon, Route through the city centre starting at Broad Street, 9am to 2pm. Oxford will welcome thousands of runners over race weekend for what promises to be a very special day! The Race Village will be in University Parks. www.oxfordhalf.co.uk
  • Thursday 13 October 2016, Circus Starr, South Park, 4.45pm to 6.15pm and 7pm to 8.30 pm. Circus Starr is a touring circus boasting world-class, professional artists from across the globe. It provides free seats for disadvantaged, disabled or vulnerable children, whilst helping to raise much needed funds for local charities. www.circus-starr.org.uk
  • Saturday 15 October, The City of Oxford College Open Events Promotion, 9am to 12.30pm. http://www.cityofoxford.ac.uk/
  • Saturday 15 October, Chiltern League Cross Country – Round 1 2016, Horspath Road Rec Ground and Shotover Country Park, 7am to 5pm. Cross country running races organised by the Oxford City Athletic Club. www.oxfordcityathleticclub.com
  • Sunday 16 October, Oxford Food and Drink Festival, City Centre with a trail from Gloucester Green to The Covered Market via St Michael’s and Cornmarket St, 11 am to 4 pm. Celebrating the best of Oxfordshire with stalls for food and drink, retail, samples, food demonstrations, recycling, sustainability, twinning activities and live music.www.oxfoodfest.com
  • Sunday 16 October, Walk for Parkinson’s – Oxford Walk 2016, route across Oxford starting at Cherwell School, 9.30am to 4pm. This is a walk to raise money for Parkinson’s UK with three routes to choose from – 1.3 mile, 4 mile or 8 mile.www.parkinsons.org.uk/walkoxford
  • Monday 17 to Sunday 23 October, Sukkot Celebration – Festival of Booths, Broad Street, 8am to 6pm. A Sukkah will be placed on Broad Street in celebration of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot – Festival of Booths. It will be used as a place for Jewish students and visitors as well as the general public who would be interesting to visit and celebrate the holiday. www.oxfordchabad.org
  • Sunday 23 October, Oxford University Cross Country Cuppers, South Park, 10am to 2pm. Two cross country races with approximately 100 competitors in total as part of the university intercollegiate cross country league. www.ouccc.org.uk
  • Monday 24 October, Oxfordshire Mind Wellbeing Roadshow, Broad Street, 9.45am to 3.15pm. To share simple messages about looking after our mental wellbeing.www.oxfordshiremind.org.uk

Parking bays to be re-painted

Following fierce lobbying by councillors over non-enforceability, the County Council has found the money to re-paint parking bays and double yellow lines in Bickerton Road and Stapleton Road

  • signs for “no parking” will appear next week
  • the work will be done in sections to maintain some parking in each of the roads
  • the work is likely to take 3 days
  • the work is scheduled for 3rd-5th October

It’s good to know that this will be done before the energy pipe works in adjacent roads.

Public exhibitions of Access to Headington Plans

There will be three opportunities for those who live, work and study in Headington to see the plans for the first set of roadworks and discuss them with the transport planner:

  • at the Headington Ward Focus Meeting on Tuesday 27 September from 6:00-7:30 at Headington Prep School Theatre, 26 London Road.
  • at the Cheney School Community Centre  on Friday 30 September between 4pm and 7.30pm
  • at the Cheney School Community Centre on Saturday 1 October between 10am and 1pm

The County Council expects work to begin on the first phase on Monday 17 October 2016 at the Old Road, Roosevelt Drive, Warneford Lane and Gipsy Lane junction. Traffic in this location will be managed under four-way traffic lights and there will be some evening and overnight road closures. Noise disruption will be kept to a minimum after 11pm. It will provide additional information closer to the time.

You can see the plans here at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/accessheadington

Visitor permits link for those affected by energy pipe works

The link is now live on the County’s website for those people wishing to request visitors permits in advance of energy pipe work outside their houses. You can find it here

You will be prompted to choose which CPZ area you would prefer.

HE covers Central Headington from Lime Walk  – New High Street and all points east

HB covers Highfield – Latimer Road and Stapleton Road and all points west

HA covers the area north of London Road around the Sandfield Road area

Your application will go straight to the County Parking Team in Kidlington where a dedicated member of staff will be able to help you and fast track your visitor permits back to you. Information to this effect will be included in a leaflet posted through your letterbox two weeks ahead of the works.

We have made sure that the change of pipe route has been taken into account.

We expect details of timings of each phase of the works to be published next week – this has had to be revised following publication of the Access to Headington works phase 1 in Roosevelt Drive