Name that street!

Residents will have the opportunity to suggest a name for a new road next Tuesday.

This is just one of the topics up for discussion at our next ward focus meeting!

HEADINGTON WARD FOCUS MEETING TUESDAY 16 JUNE
Come to our Ward Focus Meeting and find out what’s going on in your area!
Enjoy and take part in the open session – take the opportunity to air your views and call your councillors to account!
Tuesday 16 June, 6pm – 8pm,
Headington School Hall, London Road
with guest contributions from the University of Oxford (on its Park Hospital plans) and the Oxford University Hospitals Trust (re the JR)
No need to book.                                                                                   All very welcome!

Date for your diary – next Ward Focus Meeting

NEXT WARD FOCUS MEETING Tuesday 15 May
Come to our Ward Focus Meeting and find out what’s going on in your area!
Enjoy and take part in the open session – take the opportunity to air your views and call your councillors to account!
Tuesday 15 May, 6pm – 7.30pm
Headington Baptist Church, Old High Street
No need to book.
All welcome.
This meeting is free!

Whose roads are they, anyway? A lively Ward Focus Meeting

Thanks to all of you who turned up to our latest Ward Focus Meeting last evening. The main item was cycling and pedestrian issues and Ruth had done a grand job of organising some invited speakers — Ben Smith and Owen South from County, Headington resident Simon Hunt from Cyclox, and Sushila Dhall from Oxford Pedestrians’ Association. We were also fortunate to have Inspector Marc Tarbit from the police in the audience.

We certainly had a lively and wide-ranging discussion which encompassed particular problem spots like Cuckoo Lane and Old Road, as well as wider issues — from the lack of enforcement of 20mph to the problems of cycling appearing and then disappearing in several stretches of the area. A recurring theme was the issue of cycling on pavements and of ‘shared use’ where cycle routes are put on pavements; these got a general thumbs-down and it was suggested that, in some places, moving a bus shelter forward could create less of a conflict between pedestrian and cycle use. That’s one that needs to be thought about further. Cyclox particularly stressed the need for a dual network which recognises that cyclists are not one community but involve some who are confident and speedy while others are less so. The County could report on their aspirations for ‘quiet routes’ through Headington — these are at an early stage.

It was apparent that these were issues in which local people have a lot of investment and where an on-going dialogue will be important. There’s an open door with County officers and interest from the police, so Ruth and I are keen to encourage a working party to look at these issues, develop specific objectives and work away to see them happen. We already have some names of interested residents. Do you want to get involved? If so, do drop Ruth or myself a line.

Cyclists in Headington. Our next ward debate.

Many thanks to the 50 or so residents who came to our Ward Focus Meeting yesterday night to discuss the outcomes and implications of  planning policy decisions made at Full Council on Monday. We were delighted to see so many of you there and listen to your views.

Our Ward Focus Meetings are held in months of the year when there is no Area Forum. There will be an area forum at Brookes on Wed 11 January from 6.30-8.00 pm about youth provision in the North East of the City, so our next Ward Focus Meeting will be in February – details below!

SHOULD HEADINGTON HAVE SAFER CYCLE ROUTES?

SHOULD MORE BE DONE TO HELP PEDESTRIANS?
 
Come to our Ward Focus Meeting on cycling-related issues
Guest speakers invited
Tuesday 21 February, 6pm – 8pm,
Headington School, London Road

Meeting on Tuesday for up to date news on Headington planning!

Do you care about the future of Headington Car Park?

The future of Bury Knowle Library?

The future for Ruskin Fields?

The new housing development for Barton?

Then come along to our Headington Ward Focus Meeting to hear what decisions have been made over the last week!

  • Tuesday 20 December
  • 6.00-8.00 pm
  • Headington Baptist Church Hall, Old High Street

Further suggestions on ward spend – just received

42 I would like to see some sort of classes for adults in Headington(not Barton/Risinghurst or Brookes) that is accessible by foot to try to establish some sort of heart into Headington!
43 I would like to suggest that more trees(and metal surrounds) could be installed along side the roads. There are a number of gaps where trees have previously been, and have now been removed(for what reasons I have no idea) by the council.

More ideas on spending money in Headington!

Here are some further ideas sent to us electronically for open discussion next Tuesday at our Ward Focus Meeting (JR Lecture Room 1, nearest entrance: Osler Rd). Some great ideas here, please keep them coming! Even if we can’t afford them right now, they will inform community-led plans for Headington

Spend item Approx costs £ Notes
A week’s free parking.
Many gardens in public view are  bare, especially in rental properties – perhaps some money here would be a very cheap investment and produce good results, again particularly in the Cons Area where a lot of people walk Use of volunteers? Cubs/Scouts/Guides? Parks could provide bedding plants fairly cheaply
Where a 20 MPH sign and change IS required is on Headley Way near Headington School, having spent many mins waiting for the bus there and seeing school children cheerfully trying to kill themselves rushing across. Inform Bursar of Headington School/ County Transport Planners
Like to see the money spent on bringing back the hut on the Windmill school site back into service it cannot be used because of asbestos. It would make a good children’s a youth art club
“Landscaping” of the Waitrose car park See above re Parks
The money should be spent on something that will be of benefit to ALL Headington residents, rather than just a few residents of a specific road. Bring back “leafy Headington”:
– Plant more trees along pavements in areas where views will not be restricted
– Encourage residents to have green front gardens again, bushes, window-boxes, plants – e.g. £20 contribution for all who wish to participate		 Issue of trees along pavements leading to root heave. Discuss with Tree Officers
Set up Headington Residents Association with annual (?) social event / celebration of nationalities to develop an integrated community Discuss with Chair of CCoHRA (Co-ordinating committee of Headington Residents’ Associations) and Headington Action
Education campaign for dog-owners in Headington who do not clean up after their pets Discuss with Community Response Team
The £5,000 could be spent on creating and publishing our own Local Land & Sites Development Plan to inform the City & County Strategic Plans. You, as our Councillors, could brief a local architect to E-map the area and sites – with your knowledge of local preferred uses. This E-Map could be on your website & circulated to residents to affirm or counter propose; and a 10 year local-plan published. Car Parks, Student & Retirement Homes, Bus Services, Traffic Routes, Cycle lanes, Libraries, Parks, Pedestrian crossings and etc could all be marked. Eventually, through continuous circulation to residents, the Headington & Marston Decade Plan 2012-22 could become the official democratic strategy. We are keen to assist in the development of a community-led plan and have asked the Head of City Development to update us all on how this can be done most effectively – he will attend Tuesday’s ward focus meeting
Warning signs in Gypsy Lane that there is a school there and that traffic should take care. See the crowds of children crossing this busy road in the morning in a hap-hazard way together with the minority who are delivered by car and whose parent drivers make impromptu manouevres at various points along the road. Outside Headington ward
I noticed that there were a lot of pedestrian/vehicle safety-related suggestions.  We would much rather the money was spent in someway that helped the disadvantaged in the area (e.g. disadvantaged children, the disabled).  Perhaps a ‘wheelchair route’ around the bits of Headington people like strolling around?  For example you could connect up the hospital park area (next to Osler road) with the croft /St Andrews Lane and Bury Knowle.  You could ensure access, improve any bits of pavement that needed improvement and have 2 ‘safe’ crossings (one across St Andrews road, the other from the top of the Croft to Bury Knowle (i.e. across The Old High Street) .  A bit like the national cycle route idea. Involve Oxford Unlimited

These ideas are not yet costed

What do you want to spend your money on?

At our Ward Focus meeting next Tuesday 18 October at the JR Hospital, we shall be asking your views on how your money should be spent.

Many ideas have come forward from previous Ward Focus meetings and from email correspondence, and we have started to give each idea an approximate ballpark costing to help us all make the final decision on Tuesday. There is still time for you to come up with last minute ideas until then – please email them to us in advance of the meeting

Here is the amount we have available to spend in Headington ward:

Ward Budget for Councillors from City Council: £1500 p.a.

David + Ruth = (£1500+£1500) = £3,000

Localities Budget from County Council: £100,000 p.a.

Allocation for 6 months: £50,000

Number of County divisions: 8

Allocation for Headington and Marston division = (£50,000 divided by 8 ) = £6,250

Headington and Marston division comprises 3 wards: Headington, Marston, HH & Northway

Allocation to Headington if divided equally = (£6,250 divided by 3 )  = £2,083.33

So the total spend overall = £5083.33 though our County Councillors need to agree what is spent from the Localities Budget.  We can make the money stretch further if we can negotiate match funding with other groups and organisations in Headington.

Ward spend ideas Oct 11

Spend item Approx Cost £ Notes
Ramp access to All Saints Church Hall 1200
Painting of lamp posts in Old Headington Already in process
More 20 MPH roundels painted on main roads and side roads. 75 Each
Grant towards heating system in All Saints Church This may be funded from alternative sources
Education for cyclists More details needed
Watering of small trees in London Road
Equipment for youth and community groups More details needed
Grit bins inc St Andrew’s Lane 450 Each
More bins 500 Each
Road sign for approach road to JR 1000 this may be funded from alternative sources
Christmas lights Funded by businesses, underwritten by HA
Community skip for bulky waste £123.72

£171.01

£255.28

 3 cubic yards

10 cubic yards

12 cubic yards
Paint nos. on dustbins to save muddle in e.g. Horwood Close Could be done by Community Payback if there is a day’s work for 10 people!
Extra bollard in Beech Rd to stop parking abuse 450
Promo board for businesses/noticeboard in HCP 1000 City Works to do transparencies, businesses or match funding to provide graphics
Repair roof to shelter and improve pedestrian access to HCP 750
Improve lighting to BK Library
General road and pavement maintenance More details needed
Yellow boxes on roads 750 Per location, excludes Traffic Regulation Order costs
Spend item Approx Cost £ Notes
Illuminated speed sign to be shared on a rota basis across Headington. DIY traffic calming and speed indication devices 3000 Unipar are county suppliers. Another Ward also wants one
Maybe Business Headington needs some financial help to get properly up and running
Osler Rd bollards and signs 1000
Line painting 450 Min charge per visit for half days work
Re-locate notice board near Iceland, to inside edge of pavement. Surely only one side of the board is needed for display purposes, and the pavement space is needed! 450 Assume no underground obstructions
Meeting to instruct people on how the planning process operates, and review strengths and weaknesses of current format 0
London Rd cycle lane approx by Headington School to White Horse east-bound, then by bus stops near Dial House. Not clear at times what cyclists are meant to do. Signage More details needed
Monaco puddle In process
Improvements to Cuckoo Lane More details needed
Make the zebra near the Co-op more visible, either re-painting the lines on the road or making the beacons more visible. That zebra was a great idea, but there have been lots of near-misses 900 Outside the wardRepaint
London Rd cycle path between Bury Knowle surgery and Green Rd, east-bound:  increase the frequency of the cycle symbols. People joining part-way along are quite justified in not being aware there is a cycle path. 500 Outside the ward

Safety first: London Road bus gate

You will remember that we have been calling for the County Council to make the junction of Osler Road and London Road safer for pedestrians and cyclists. Following comments made by residents at a ward focus meeting, our colleague and county councillor Altaf Khan asked the county officer to conduct a further inspection.

County officers have responded that they want to highlight this risk without encouraging people to cross there.  They believe that the most practical way of achieving this is to apply white direction arrows on the road surface to emphasise the fact that there is two-way traffic beyond the bus lane.  These are commonly used symbols that people are familiar with and, although primarily there to guide drivers, they feel that the meaning should be clear to pedestrians too.
 
We are continuing to press for eye level signs to alert pedestrians to the need to look right when crossing from the central platform, but we welcome the implementation of  the directional arrows to see if they work. We’d welcome your comments on this!