Consultation: improving bus priority near Green Rd roundabout

Oxfordshire County Council is consulting the public on its proposals to improve bus priority in the vicinity of Green Road roundabout, Headington.

There will be a drop-in session from 4pm to 8pm on Thursday 18th July at Headington Quarry Village Hall (Jubilee Room – entrance in Margaret Road) where county council staff will be able to discuss the scheme in more detail.

They are also taking the opportunity to carry out a formal consultation on the proposed changes to the extents of the bus lane at the Thornhill Park and Ride site.

Want to see the maps? Then come along to our next Headington Ward Focus meeting on Wed 10 July from 6.00-8.00pm at the Headington Baptist Church Hall in Old High Street. We shall make sure we have copies on display

Please note that the closing date for this consultation is 25th July 2013.

Potholes and the Oxford £ up for debate at our next Ward Focus Meeting

Our guest speakers at our next WFM on Wed 10 July will be:

Shaun Hatton, Oxfordshire County Council Highways Dept who will speak on potholes and road repairs in Headington

Abi Adams and Peter LeFort, Community Action Groups Oxfordshire, who will speak on the Oxford Pound

 

Our next Headington Ward Focus meeting will be held on Wednesday 10 July at Headington Baptist Church Hall, Old High Street, from 6.00 – 8.00pm.  This meeting is informal in that you are welcome to drop in or out at any point in the evening.

Admission is free. There will be an open session for you to raise any issue. All welcome!

 

If you would like to contact your councillors for advice on any issue please contact David on 07980 894147 david.rundle@oxfordlibdems.org.uk or Ruth on 07789 368300 ruth.wilkinson@oxfordlibdems.org.uk

Next Headington Ward Focus Meeting is Tuesday 28 May

Our next Headington Ward Focus meeting will be held on Tuesday 28 May at All Saints Church House, New High Street, at 6.00 pm, where you will have the opportunity to talk to your new County Councillor Roz Smith. More details later!

If you would like to contact your city councillors for advice on any issue please contact David on 07980 894147 david.rundle@oxfordlibdems.org.uk or Ruth on 07789 368300 ruth.wilkinson@oxfordlibdems.org.uk

Good debate at Headington Ward Focus meeting last night

Another good turnout last night and lots of issues were hotly debated!

After informal surgery time, Ben Simpson spoke about the Neighbourhood Return scheme. This is a free service, using local volunteer searchers to help find people with memory problems, including dementia, who have gone missing or are ‘wandering’. He invited us to join a  database of local volunteers who are prepared to help find someone. If you would like to know more about the scheme, either to join as a volunteer or to register someone you know who has memory problems, please register on the website or get in touch with Ruth or David.

Robin Gill from our own Headington Cyclists’ Group explained the work that’s been done on signage for cyclists in Old Headington and we discussed wider cycling-related issues. Residents have asked us to invite back officers from the County and the City to a future Ward Focus Meeting to seek  to  establish a common plan for the next five years. Ten per cent of all those working in Oxford City are based in Headington. People felt strongly that cycle routes need to be identified to and from employment sites and the district centre, as well as routes from Thornhill to Oxford.

Mary Hope spoke about the annual OxClean event that is happening in New Headington on 2 March and various residents volunteered dates and times of oxClean events across the area. If you would like to know what OxClean events are happening in YOUR area, please click one the OxClean website here.

We found out the difficulty people had had in reporting an out-of-hours incident in the Park, and we found out there is inconsistency over what organisations and groups are statutory consultees and who are not in terms of planning applications. We’ll look into all that and report back next time.

Pete West alerted everyone to next week’s meeting to be held by Headington Action at St Andrew’s School next Tuesday at 7pm and this sparked off a lively debate – please do come along to that meeting and tell Headington Action what you want (and what you don’t want!) for Headington.

We gave a potholes update and discussed the possibility of investigating 7 years’ latent defects clauses in contracts – open sessions are great because your local councillors benefit from the knowledge and experience of our residents to get things done

Jill Cummings told us all about the exciting activities being organised by the Friends of Bury Knowle Park, and that in turn sparked off some views on current planning applications.

Lots to think about! And a well-attended and topical evening. Thanks to all who came along!

 

Diary date: next Ward Focus Meeting is Tuesday 19 February

What’s going on in Headington?

Is taxpayers’ money being spent on the right things?

What more can we do to support our vulnerable elderly neighbours ?

Come and discuss the issues with invited speakers and your local councillors!

Tuesday 19 February

6.00-8.00 pm

(first twenty minutes is informal surgery time)

Manor Hospital (Conference Room), Beech Road, Headington OX3 7RP

with guest speakers from Neighbourhood Return and Headington Action

All welcome. Admission free

Ward Focus meeting next Tuesday

What’s going on in Headington?

When will those London Road puddles be sorted out?

Is taxpayers’ money being spent on the right things?

Come and discuss the issues with invited speakers and your local councillors!

Tuesday 15 January

6.00-8.00 pm

(first half hour is informal surgery time)

Headington Baptist Church Hall, 78 Old High Street OX3 9HW

with guest speakers from Windmill House, Thames Valley Police and Headington Action

Ward Focus meeting with Council chief a hit with residents

Tuesday’s Ward Focus meeting at the NOC attracted a crowd of engaged and interested residents.

Mark Trumper, Director of Estates at the OUHT, outlined latest developments at the hospital sites, and gave us some very useful information about the proposed cancer research centre in terms of what work will go on there, how many visitors/patients it will attract, approximate timescales, and how it will be funded.

He answered questions about the overall master planning of the trust, he confirmed there is currently no plan to sell off the green space from the Manor House to Cuckoo Lane, promised to investigate the railings at the cemetery end of the JR site, and outlined the three markets for any potential housing that may be built on the Churchill site.

Peter Sloman, Chief Executive of Oxford City Council for 5 years, said that Oxford has problems arising from its own success. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the country, one of the cities with the youngest population, and one of the most diverse cities in the country

Major issues are:

– educational attainment in some parts of Oxford are among the worst in England
– transport constraints on growth
– housing to help employers recruit and enable our people to find homes

He answered questions on the  notification to residents of planning applications in their area, the difficulties in enforcing car-free development, support for Commonwheels projects by freeing up delays in negotiations with City officers, the value of neighbourhood planning (“a battle worth fighting”), planning enforcement with especial reference to a property in Old Headington, the management of green space and its insufficiency in Headington, building on allotment sites, the County Council’s Health and Safety decisions to prevent residents walking or cycling to Redbridge with material for recycling only to be told the site may be entered by vehicle only, and Oxford turning into Bin City.

We have notes of the meeting, so if you are a resident in our ward and would like a copy, please hit the Contact Us! button or drop us a line.

Better still, come to our next Ward Focus Meeting on Tuesday 15 January to make sure you’re up to date with the latest Headington news!

Oxford City Council boss is coming to tonight’s Ward Focus Meeting!

Peter Sloman

The Chief Executive of Oxford City Council has agreed to attend our next Headington Ward Focus Meeting which will take place on Tuesday 20 November.

This is YOUR OPPORTUNITY to give him your views on the council’s activities and to ask him questions

It’s a double bill next time as we have another guest speaker in Mark Trumper, the Director of Estates at the Oxford University Hospitals’ Trust. He will be updating us on the changes planned for the JR and Churchill sites.

Put the date in your diary now!

Headington Ward Focus meeting. Tues 20 November. 6.00-8.00 pm

Lecture Theatre, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Windmill Road

Ward Focus Meeting next Tuesday

Guest speakers from the Hospitals Trust, Dorset House and Green Square (Manor Ground development)

Come and hear the latest news and current events in and around Headington Ward!

Location: William Osler House, in the grounds of the JR Hospital off Osler Road OX3 9BL (turn immediately right inside entrance, keeping the wall to your right) See map

Date: Tuesday 16 October

Time: 6.00-8.00 pm

Tell us your views!

Call your councillors to account!

Admission free. All welcome! See you there!

Next Ward Focus Meeting tomorrow!

A quick reminder for all Headington residents that you are welcome to the next Ward Focus Meeting which will take place tomorrow, 19th June, at Headington School in its main hall. As usual, it will begin at 6pm with a very informal session, and with slightly more formal items from 6:20pm, finishing by 8pm at the latest. As is established practice with these events, we have arranged some speakers to report on the latest developments in our area, including the Director of the Estates at the JR, as well as representatives of the University of Oxford who will update on their plans for their Old Road site. In addition, this is, as always, a chance for you to quiz your local councillors, raise issues with them and hear report-backs on what has been going on locally.

Do come along and let your voice be heard!