Have your say on landlord accreditation

Landlord Accreditation is a set of standards, or a code of conduct, relating to the management and physical condition of privately rented accommodation. Landlords who join the scheme and abide by the standards are ‘accredited’.  

The overall aim of the accreditation scheme is to improve the condition and management of privately rented homes and reduce the need for intervention for the Council. It will also enable tenants to recognise private landlords and agents who are committed to providing good quality accommodation.

A possible problem is that the scheme is entirely voluntary so there is every possibility that bad landlords won’t sign up to it

The City Council would like your comments on the proposals, to complete a questionnaire please click on the website for the scheme. 

Dorset House latest

The campaign to save Dorset House from demolition was mentioned briefly in yesterday’s Oxford Mail , click here for the link.

Five residents from Latimer Grange and McMaster Court attended yesterday’s site meeting with the demolition company, along with the Latimer Grange manager and Ruth.

The project supervisor’s name is Eric and he will be present on the site at all times during demolition. The work is scheduled to start on Monday 8 June and the hours of work will be between 8.00 and 18.00 Monday to Friday, and 08.00-13.00 Saturdays, this was agreed with approval of residents.  It is scheduled to take 8 weeks and all access will be from London Road.

The dismantled materials will be recycled as much as possible – bricks, roof tiles, timber. In the unlikely event that contractors’ machines will damage the pavement outside (making it difficult for the elderly with buggies), the demolition firm will make good the damage.  Asbestos is present on the site but appropriate safety precautions are being taken. Some of the trees have a protection order on them and ‘crowd barrier’ style fencing will be placed around them with signs to warn demolition staff to keep clear of them.  A map was produced which shows which trees have TPOs and which not (the majority along the London Road boundary). There will be no burning on site.  Dust will be damped down as much as possible.   The site will be locked up as now during the project, and the side gate to Latimer Road may need to be strengthened.  Contractor parking will be on site.

Representatives from Quintain arrived towards the end of the meeting.  They said that they would shortly be approaching Oxford City Council for pre-application advice regarding development of the site but they didn’t know what would be in the application. (They withdrew their previous application four years ago which was for student accommodation)  One person from Quintain said that in his view there was only one tree on site worth keeping and that was a copper beech at the rear of the site opposite Latimer Grange, but that was diseased.  It also turned out that this particular tree is in the way of the demolition.  I rang the Tree Officer immediately to ask him to do checks on this, and also the Head of Planning Control and Development at the City Council. To be frank, I am concerned that trees may be lost, although there is no evidence to back this up, and I have already arranged that an enforcement officer keeps a close watch on the project

The local residents have been invited to visit the site at any time and raise any issues they may have with Eric the supervisor.  If any resident from Latimer Grange needs Eric’s contact number I suggest they contact Andrew the manager, and I have it too.

Latest on Dorset House

To follow up on Ruth’s posting, she and I are continuing to investigate all possible routes to persuade the owners that the original buildings on the Dorset House site are worth saving. We’ll keep you updated with news of those discussions. Some residents have contacted us asking to sign a petition to save the House. So, we oblige! If you look down the right of the screen, you’ll see our survey has changed. If you do want to try to save Dorset House, do respond to the survey, replying yes, and please provide your e-mail address. This is so that we can validate our response before submitting the on-line petition to the owners of the site.

We will also provide hard copy for those who prefer to sign it that way. But, also, to those who would prefer to see Dorset House go or who don’t care, do also vote in the survey. We do want to know the whole range of opinion out there.

What’s happening at Tuesday’s area committee (all welcome)

Here are some of the things we’ll be discussing at Tuesday’s area committee meeting at Wood Farm School at 6 pm.  Don’t forget that all residents can come along and join in the debate:

  • Roads on which there should be 20 mph speed limits
  • Improvements to Queen Street
  • Whether land at Court Place Farm should be leased to Oxford City Football Club (we’ll also consider an objection to this)
  • Planning application re land on the corner of Marston Road/Cherwell Drive
  • Change to Marston cycle route
  • Police matters relating to the area

See you there!

Improving Oxford City homes – latest update

Oxford City Homes Tenants and Leaseholders may be interested to click on this link to find out about the progress of the homes improvement work plan. Click on the link to the Homes Improvement Works Plan edition 2 December 2008 to access a document which tells you what work will be carried out in OCH homes in different areas of Oxford. In our ward, properties in the following roads are included:

  • Bury Knowle House
  • Gardiner Street
  • Headley Way
  • Laurel Farm Close
  • London Road
  • Mattock Close
  • New High Street
  • North Place
  • Old Road
  • Stephen Road
  • York Road

If you think your property should have been included in this work list, then telephone 0800 227676 to ask why it’s been missed out.

Do it yourself drop kerbs

Just a quick note to say please do not be tempted to cement in a DIY drop kerb outside your house and hope that nobody notices! Our attention has been drawn to a couple of these within the last month.

Council planners do become involved when consent is required for crossings
to commercial premises or properties fronting to classified roads. Applications are dealt with by the County Council from their Kidlington Office.

If a cemented in drop kerb results in clear ‘interference with the Highway’ then it is a criminal offence, and will be investigated promptly.

Ward walkabout with City Officers

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This afternoon, I walked round the social housing areas in the ward with officers from Oxford City Homes, City Works and the Area Co-ordinator to identify areas that need maintenance or upgrading. Here is one area we found in Mattocks Close, and we have asked the Works Dept to submit quotes for levelling this pavement to City Homes so that it can be upgraded. If you would like more details of this site inspection, please hit the comment button or contact us for more information.

Below is a picture of North Place, David and I have asked OCH to tell us when the properties will be double glazed, and we have asked them to investigate internal noise reduction too

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Your chance to comment on Oxford’s future!

Public consultation on Oxford’s CORE STRATEGY (2026)

The City Council is now inviting residents to make comments on its Core Strategy which outlines the pattern of development it would like to see across the City, and sets out revised planning policy.  This includes the development of housing, retail, leisure, transport and other areas of interest.

The consultation will run from Friday 5 September to Friday 17 September

Please click on the link if you would like to read through the strategy and/or send in comments as part of the consultation.  David and I would encourage as many residents as possible to make your views known – this is your last chance to influence the most important long term planning policy document that we have for Oxford, please take it!!

Calling OCH tenants and residents!

Last Wednesday and Friday mornings, I took the opportunity to work shadow our local estates manager, Adrian Stone, accompany him on a walkabout in the ward, and go with him on a series of visits to Oxford City Homes tenants and leaseholders.

He showed me how he runs off reports from his database to produce visit lists – the software automatically prioritises the frequency of visits needed to different tenants, and produces a list of the next 60 properties for him to visit. It’s important to make these visits as the information kept about tenants and leaseholders, like mobile phone nos. etc and personal circumstances, can change frequently, and it’s also a good opportunity for residents to tell him what needs repairing or updating in the property. If an elderly person is living on his/her own, then s/he will be allocated a higher priority for visits.

Councillors deal with similar types of issues so Adrian and I learned a lot from each other, things like liaising with Oxford City Works and the Crime and Nuisance Action Team. Adrian’s job includes notifying surveyors of work that needs doing like insulation and arranging for visits and quotes to be made, and ensuring that repairs are done.

David and I will be going on another walkabout in the ward at 2 p.m. on 18 September and are keen to identify areas near Oxford City Homes properties that require ‘sprucing up’ – we shall be accompanied by the officer with the appropriate budget for this. One area I’d like him to look at is an area in Mattocks Close where we’d like to have shrubs planted, and there is a stretch of uneven pavement there that needs attention. If you are an OCH tenant or leaseholder, and know of similar situations, please let us know and we’ll make sure we ‘walk about’ in a useful direction! If you see us about, stop and say hello!

Manor Ground development – watch this space!

Those brave enough to stay till the end of the North East Area Committee meeting on Tuesday will have noted that David and I pushed hard for action on the Manor Ground development scheme.  Beech Road residents have made it clear to us that they are disappointed that the promised affordable housing units have not yet been built and made available for use.

We have secured the Area Committee’s backing to call for a progress report from the Head of City Development.  Our Area Co-ordinator Angela Cristofoli is arranging a meeting between officers in Planning and City Housing/Development and David and myself to agree an action plan.  We will post up more news when we have it..watch this space!