Action on Language schools

At our Ward Focus meeting, you raised concerns about language school students in terms of overcrowding at bus stops and slowness of boarding buses. People had also raised related issues about underage drinking and littering in the parks at our Neighbourhood Action Group meeting

Ruth attended a multi-agency meeting at the Town Hall on Monday which discussed these and other related issues. There were representatives from the City Council (Safer Communities team) including a member of the Senior Management Team, the bus companies, Thames Valley Police, the language schools and ward councillors.

We agreed that language schools made a significant contribution to Oxford in terms of its economy, its cultural diversity, and its international reputation.

Four major themes were discussed: crowding, alcohol and litter in parks, noise and low level ASB, and the vulnerability of the students themselves. A press release will follow.

Ruth will update residents at our next Ward Focus meeting .

JOIN RUTH & DAVID AT THE NEXT WARD FOCUS MEETING

These regular meetings are proving popular, with what one resident has called their ‘lively and neighbourly atmosphere’. So come along!

6pm, 18th October  JR Hospital, Lecture Room 1

Your views count! PCSO patrol patterns

A resident asked why PCSOs patrol in pairs at our last Headington Ward Focus meeting, and Ruth agreed to find out from our Neighbourhood Sergeant.

Sergeant Claire Grant has discussed this with Neighbourhood Inspector Marc Tarbit and they have made the decision that until 2100hrs the PCSOs should be single crewed (unless an operational reason necessitates them working together) as it makes sense to increase the visibility on the area as much as they can.

It’s good to know that our Neighbourhood team is responsive to the questions you ask. Don’t forget that you are always welcome to make suggestions for service improvements at our ward meetings; we promise to listen to what you tell us, and we do our best to take forward and resolve the issues you raise.

Have Your Say events September & October

The neighbourhood team from Thames Valley Police hold regular Have Your Say events at which they ask residents to fill in a survey about the area. This helps us identify what issues you are most concerned about. Here are details of forthcoming sessions:

Date: Monday, 19 September 2011
Time: 14:00 – 16:00
Venue: Starbucks, 71 London Road, Headington (outside if good weather, otherwise just inside main door)
Contact: PCSO Jason Martin

Type: Have Your Say Meeting
Date: Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Time: 12:00 – 14:00
Venue: outside main entrance (if weather good, or just inside Waitrose, Old High Street, Headington
Contact: PCSO Jason Martin

Have your say on the phone hacking scandal

The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has written to Lib Dem councillors to consult us on courses of action to take resulting from the shocking allegations of widespread phone hacking by the News of the World

There will be inquiries into both the original police investigation and also the behaviour of the British press, their practices and ethics – and the details of those inquiries will be agreed by the party leaders.

He will make it clear that the inquiries must be independent, open, able to access all information and call witnesses, and that crucially the inquiry dealing with legal issues (e.g. relationship between police and media) must be presided over by a judge.

David and I would be happy to feed back views from people in our ward – please let us have your comments by Friday 8 July and we will send them through to Nick’s phone hacking scandal team

Crime and safety in Headington

David and Ruth are meeting local Neighbourhood Inspector Marc Tarbit in mid-July to discuss issues relating to crime and safety in Headington Ward.

If you would like us to raise any issues with him, please let us know by using the comment button on this post or by contacting us direct

New Community Warden service in Headington!

The Street Warden service changes today and becomes the Community Response Team, with Community Wardens having a greater focus on tackling anti-social behaviour including environmental crime and enforcement.

The new contact number is 01865 252080.

The service will provide a rapid response investigative service for the whole of the city, focused on deterring, tackling and reducing anti-social behaviour.  Their main areas of work will be working with other Council teams and partners to reduce:

  • Interpersonal, malicious behaviour directed against an individual or group
  • Environmental damage
  • Behaviour that restricts use of public spaces

David and I can now bid for extra resource from us in any area of particular need or with specific tasking and operations, so please let us know directly if you have any concerns as well as phoning the above number.

NAG news – neighbourhood priorities

After extensive surveying in and around Headington, the neighbourhood team has identified three priorities:

  • Littering
  • Antisocial behaviour
  • Parking issues

A problem-solving session will be held at the next meeting (Wed 13 April at 18.00, at the Baptist Hall Old High Street) to inform our action plans for the summer.

There is a new neighbourhood inspector for the area called Insp Marc Tarbit, and we are also able to call on support from Oxford City Council Street Wardens who are now deployed across the City.

We also discussed a range of issues including the reliability of road accident statistics, the safety audit of London Road following the redevelopments, the Highfield traffic scheme proposals, and the behaviour of summer school and language school students in parks.

PCSOs have been issuing fixed penalty notices to people caught cycling on pavements in Lonson Road

If you would like to get involved in the Headington Neighbourhood Action Group and come to our meetings, please contact either David or Ruth. If you have a concern about any matter relating to your neighbourhood, please let us know