Grants to help keep your home warm

 

Oxford residents affected by living in cold or damp homes are able to receive grants of up to £2,500 to help keep their homes warmer.

The Better Housing, Better Health scheme aims to reduce the pressure on health services, improve health and wellbeing for those living with cardiovascular disease or respiratory illness, and reduce fuel poverty.

The scheme, which runs until December 2016, provides:

  • Grants of up to £2,500 for energy efficiency measures for owner occupied homes where someone has a respiratory illness or cardiovascular disease. Measures can include installing insulation and draught-proofing, and replacing outside doors or windows
  • Free surveys to identify potential risks to health in owner occupied and privately rented homes where someone has a respiratory illness or cardiovascular disease.
  • Support with benefits checks, fuel debt mediation and switching energy tariff or supplier for anyone in need of support.

Oxford residents can quickly check if they are eligible by calling the Affordable Warmth Helpline on 0800 107 00 44.

The helpline, which also provides free and impartial advice about how to keep homes warm, is open Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm.

An email helpdesk is also available: awn@nef.org.uk.

For more information about Better Housing, Better Health, please visit www.nef.org.uk/bhbh.

Up and coming events in Oxford

  • Friday 26 February to Monday 7 March, Dancin’ Oxford 2016 – 10 Years of Dance.Check out the website for information on all the events and workshops.www.dancinoxford.co.uk
  • Tuesday 1 March, Dancin’ Oxford 2016 – Free Zumba Taster Session, Bonn Square, 5 to 6.30 pm. The aim of this free taster session is to enable people to stop and have a go at Zumba on their way home. A team of dancers will be on hand to help teach the moves, led by Rhiannon Lewis. www.dancinoxford.co.uk &  www.rhiannonlewis.zumba.com
  • Wednesday 2 March, Electric Violinist Kate Chruscicka for Cancer Research UK, Bonn Square, 9 am to 5 pm. This charitable fundraising event consists of an amplified violine performance and a street collection for Cancer Research UK. www.cancerresearchuk.org & www.KateViolin.co.uk
  • Sunday 13 March, Sport Relief Walk 2016, Cutteslowe & Sunnymead Park, 10 am to 12 pm. A 5k Walk along the park run route by Sainsbury’s. www.sainsburys.co.uk
  • Tuesday 15 to Saturday 19 March, Charity Link Fundraiser by CLIC Sargent, Bonn Square, 9 am to 6 pm. Direct debit fundraising campaign. www.charitylink.net/
  • Sunday 20 March, Oxford Sport Relief Mile 2016, Cutteslowe Park, 9.30 am to 1 pm. The Oxford Sport Relief Mile 2016 will consist of a 1, 3 & 6 mile fun run to raise money for Sport Relief.  The event is sponsored by Sainsbury’s and organisation of the mile is supported by a dedicated Sport Relief Mile team. www.sportrelief.com
  • Sunday 20 March, RSPCA 5k Fun Run, Horspath Athletics & Horspath Road Recreation Ground, 10 am to 3 pm. A charity fun run day for a mixed audience.www.rspca.org.uk/local/oxfordshire-branch/
  • Saturday 26 March, Oxford Bus Museum: Display of a Preserved Vintage Bus,Bonn Square, 12 to 9 pm. A preserved vintage single deck bus will be parked on Bonn Square to promote the Oxford Bus Museum and free vintage bus rides around the city centre on the same evening. www.oxfordbusmuseum.org.uk
  • Saturday 26 to Monday 28 March, Hebborn’s Easter Fun Fair, South Park, 1 to 10.30 pm. Annual Family Fun Fair, including games, rides and entertainment.  www.hebbornamusements.co.uk

Temporary closure of Bury Knowle Park play area due to tree works

We have just been notified that two Scots pines in the play area will be removed in the next month and this will involve the temporary closure of the play area (see works detailed below)

As soon as we have firm dates, we shall publish them here.

The City Council will replant in the Park for all trees removed, but this won’t happen till the tree planting season from Oct/Nov 16 – Feb/Mar 17. The replanted trees may be located in a different place in the Park and their location will be discussed with the Friends of Bury Knowle Park. If you have any views on this, please get back to us and we shall pass on your comments to the relevant officers.

 

 

Sgl/489 (348900) Scots Pine in play area 3MANP Parks – Three Man Team

GRIND Grind Stump
SEFL Section Fell to ground level

SPEC SPECIALIST EQUIPMENT signs and cones, close play area

 

Sgl/490 (348904) Scots Pine in play area 3MANP Parks – Three Man Team

GRIND Grind Stump
SEFL Section Fell to ground level

SPEC SPECIALIST EQUIPMENT
signs and cones, seal play park gates and close area (5 gates), land rovers only

 

 

 

Revised Access to Headington plans

Latest plans affecting traffic and roads in Headington have been published by the County Council. You can find them by clicking here

The Access to Headington plans have changed since the first consultation in response to comments from residents and councillors.

A critical issue for us is the adequacy of provision of additional parking spaces in side roads off Windmill Road and Headley Way. These are listed on the above website link and will impact on parking by residents in side roads too. Baseline data used by the County Council to come up with these suggestions can be made available but not on the website

We shall be attending all exhibitions held in relation to Access to Headington to listen to residents’ views before submitting a formal response. We want to consider the scheme from all perspectives – pedestrians, bus users, cyclists and motorists.  Our early reactions are:

  • we are pleased that trees will be replaced with no nett loss
  • we are delighted to see plans for a new pedestrian crossing point across London Road bus gate at the junction with Osler Road, for which we have been campaigning for a long time
  • we are concerned that no improvements can be made to the central crossroads but understand that this was not technically possible
  • we are disappointed that there will not be an additional pedestrian crossing point in Windmill Road near Bateman Street
  • we are concerned that the removal of on street parking in Windmill Road and Headley Way may lead to more speeding
  • we believe that affected house owners may decide to take down walls and concrete over gardens to maintain parking close to home
  • we welcome the news that Osler Road changes have been dropped
  • we note the proposed relocation of one of the pedestrian crossings in Old Road and need to consult neighbours on parking access
  • changes for cyclists look promising but we need to study how this would work in practice

We don’t want to comment further till we have consulted with residents.

The County Council consultation ends on 23 March and you can fill in either an online form or send in comments separately to

Access to Headington Project,
Infrastructure Development
Oxfordshire County Council,
Speedwell House (3rd Floor),
Speedwell Street,
Oxford,
OX1 1NE.

The contact email address is Traffic.Consult@oxfordshire.gov.uk

You can see the plans and talk to County Council officers about them on the following dates and times.

Saturday 27 February, 10am – 4pm
St Anthony’s of Padua, 115 Headley Way, Oxford OX3 7SS

Wednesday 2 March, 2 – 8pm
Wood Farm School, Titup Hall Drive, Oxford OX3 8QQ

Thursday 3 March, 11am – 6pm
Old Road Campus Research Building, Oxford, OX3 7DQ

Saturday 5 March, 10am – 4pm
St. Andrew’s Primary School, London Road, Oxford OX3 9ED

 

 

 

 

This week’s planning decisions

15/03232/FUL PERMITTED

Installation of extract fan (retrospective).

1 The Parade Windmill Road

 

15/03678/CPU REFUSED

Affecting a Conservation Area

Application to certify that proposed replacement of roof is lawful development.

7 St Andrew’s Road Oxford

 

15/03694/FUL PERMITTED

Affecting a Conservation Area

Alterations to existing car park including improved layout, upgrade to drainage, new lighting and re-surfacing.(amended plans)

Manor Surgery Osler Road

Planning matters

The application for works at the Black Boy 15/03259/FUL has been withdrawn:

Change of use of first floor to provide 5 en-suite guest bedrooms and a studio flat. New external door to replace existing window and new external fire escape.

You can find the latest planning applications by clicking on the Planning apps tab at the top of our home page.

Altaf and I have initiated a call in for the two planning applications relating to Wingfield House at 2A Gathorne Road, these will be determined almost certainly by East Area Planning Committee

 

Parking spaces in Bury Knowle Park: do we need more?

That’s our hot topic at tomorrow’s Ward Focus meeting – a senior manager from Direct Services at the City Council will be there to hear your views!

Date: Tuesday 23rd February

Time: 6:00 – 7:30 pm

Place: Headington Baptist Church, Old High Street. OX3 9HW

All this and Open Session for your comments too! Free of charge. All welcome!

Bring your councillors to account and raise any Headington issue in our Open Session. All welcome! Ward Focus meetings are run on a drop in and out basis and are free of charge. There is an open session where residents can raise issues of concern. There’s no need to book.

If you would like to contact your Lib Dem city councillors for advice on any issue please contact

What next for the energy pipe?

The planning officer has now rendered the energy pipe application invalid.

Why is this?

It’s because the applicant hasn’t sent in enough information.

  • There still isn’t enough information in the Construction Traffic Management Plan
  • A few small changes will need to be made to the route following further investigations
  • There are questions about the ownership of the land – it may be that the County Council does not own all of the land in the affected roads

So what needs to be done?

The applicant needs to send in all the missing information and provide evidence that either the County Council owns all the land or that it has served notice on all owners of the land.(this might be done by publishing a notice in the local press, for example).

Where do we go from here?

We recognise that everyone is getting frustrated with the current situation, and the sooner it is resolved, the better.

Once the above information has been submitted and accepted, the eight week determination period will start again. Fresh notices will be put up, and a full three week consultation period will start.

The planning officer will take into account all comments submitted to date. However if you have already submitted comments, and want to make further comments after you have seen the fresh information, you may do so, and those comments will be taken into consideration too.

Once the neighbourhood consultation date has closed, the officer will compile his report ready to go to the next meeting of the planning committee.

Given that essential information has not yet been submitted, it is looking more likely that the application may miss the April meeting, but it’s difficult to say for sure until the rest of the information comes in from the applicant.

If you have any more questions on process please contact Ruth or Altaf.

Ruth and Roz are planning to speak at tomorrow’s County Performance Scrutiny Committee meeting at County Hall, and we shall attend the Trust’s stakeholder liaison committee meeting tomorrow evening.