Street Surgery in Old Headington

Many thanks to all who came to our street surgery in Old High Street on Tuesday evening, we learned a great deal about the issues that concern the residents in that area, including cycle routes, concerns about poorly maintained properties, gardens, hedges and trees, interest in a new Friends of Bury Knowle Park group, the need for a noticeboard at the entrance to The Croft, speeding, the no. 10 bus route and traffic hold-ups in Osler Road, the need to re-design the entrance/exit at Somerfields, and the licencing conditions of local public houses.

The nights are beginning to draw in now, so an excellent suggestion has been made to hold a forthcoming street surgery in a local hostelry.  Watch this space for details!

Oxford Mail exclusive on the London Road lights

Residents may like to see the Oxford Mail coverage of our endeavours to get the crossing lights repaired in London Road, which was featured in our earlier post.

David and I would like to thank the Oxford Mail for helping us resolve this long-running issue, and also say a big thank you to Len and Audrey and Mrs Cox for assisting with our photo-shoot.

Safety worries at the Windmill Rd/London Rd junction

Following our street surgery in St Anne’s Road, we have reported residents’ concerns about near misses due from the traffic light sequencing to the County’s Safety Officer. Here is his reply:

As you will be aware, the changes to the traffic light phasing here were introduced in late 2007 to help improve traffic flows. We have been monitoring safety here very closely, and although there have been two reported accidents (one resulting in serious injury to an elderly pedestrian, and one resulting in slight injury to a pedal cyclist) neither appear to have been in any way related to the changes. It is nevertheless worrying to hear about the recent incidents; we are now working on the next phase of the London Road project covering the length between Osler Road and Wharton Road, and one objective will be to make the shopping area as friendly a place as possible for pedestrians, and an important part of this will be trying to achieve consistently low speeds on the approach to , and through the junction. We hope to consult on the proposals in the spring 2009, which will be an opportunity for all users to express their views and help shape the scheme.

Tree planting in Headington

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We have been in contact with the officer in charge of planting trees within the City, as a diseased tree was taken down in Latimer Road, and residents have asked if a new one could take its place.

We have had a promising response which I post below – maybe there are other locations in Headington suitable for tree planting requests? Please hit the comment button or use the Contact us button on the left hand tool bar if you have any ideas.

I have a number of trees available for planting this winter. I will
ensure an appropriate replacement is reserved for this location. 

London Road power loss – the saga continues…

Right. Where to start?

My latest information is that the controller that makes the crossing lights work was replaced last week and a call was put through to the utilities company to come and turn the power back on.

Unfortunately the utilities company now says it has no record of the call being made. A subsequent call has definitely been logged and the electricity company has indicated that employees will be on site today (or Wednesday at the latest) to sort this out.

Mike Collins, the Project Manager at the County end, is going to make a site visit this afternoon to ensure that work is progressing and to monitor what is going on.

We know that this is causing great inconvenience for everyone, particularly the elderly people living in Latimer Road who are unable to cross the road and get the bus to the doctor’s, the shops and church, and I assure you that David, Gail, Altaf and I are doing all we can to get this resolved as quickly as possible

I’m considering chaining myself to the crossing signal post tomorrow and dragging in the Oxford Mail photographer for a photo shoot if these signals aren’t up and running by the time I finish work, I may call on elderly residents to join me. Watch this space.

Getting to grips with York Road issues

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Pictured L – R: County Cllr Roz Smith with Ruth and David

As you can see from the state of our clothes in the photo, the weather was not very kind to us when we made a site visit to York Road but we received a warm welcome from residents. We are now taking action on a number of issues including assessment of pavement surfaces, rubbish collection, illegal parking, the cutting back of foliage and fly tipping. Other issues that we hope to to tackle but can’t be solved immediately are the use of the road by learner drivers and commercial vehicles, a review of resident parking zone timings and the possible introduction of a 20 mph speed limit. Interestingly, a number of residents were observed tidying up the areas in front of their houses and tidying away rubbish from off the street after we sent round a note saying that we would take photos of environmental problems in our impending visit. We’ll be back, and next time we won’t tell you when!

Desperately seeking…..Wooldridge Court

confused-streets.jpg   Where or what is Wooldridge Court?

This was the question asked by residents at our street surgery yet the answer was close by.  Wooldridge Court is a fairly new development situated on the left hand side of Margaret Road as you enter it from Windmill Road.  The reason no-one knew it by name was that ….. it has no street sign!  This must be very confusing for postal workers, couriers and pizza deliverers!

David and I have chased this up, and we have had a reply from the relevant officer:

I checked first  as to whether there is a reason why the developer should not be expected to put up a street name plate, as is normal.  She says the developer was told he has to, so I have emailed him reminding him of his obligations, with an offer to discuss the
specification and siting of signs.

Watch this space…….we’re on the case!

Margaret Road/ St. Anne’s Road surgery

Many thanks to all who came along to our street surgery on the corner of Margaret Road and St Anne’s Road on Thursday. Many issues were raised, including the need for a local Residents’ Association, the need for a Wooldridge Court street sign, the proposed mast on Rock Edge, residents’ parking zones, lack of progress on the Manor Ground development, bus routes and waiting areas, light pollution, street clutter, postal services, near misses caused by on-pavement cycle tracks, and cycling routes down Old Road. The sequencing of traffic lights at the Windmill Road/London Road junction was of high concern as two near misses had been seen last week, and a silver Mercedes car was seen speeding across the lights from Old High Street down Windmill Road which was highly dangerous (this has been reported to us previously by Old Headington residents). Lots of casework for us to be getting on with!

Residents in York Road would like to raise issues with us, and we shall try to fix a date for this so that a county councillor can attend as well

We valued all your comments, and are especially pleased that there is so much support for a new residents’ association to be set up in this part of the ward. If you live in the area bounded by Windmill Road, Langley Close, Margaret Road, York Road, and Old Road, including Gathorne Road, Rock Edge, Wooldridge Court and St. Anne’s Road, and you would like to be kept informed about the setting up of a new residents’ association, please let us have your contact details – we shall update you with developments!

London Road – traffic/crossing signals out until Wednesday

The signals have gone down at Gipsy Lane and there is currently no pedestrian crossing signal in operation near the junction of Latimer Road and London Road because of damage to an underground cable.

The County Council has called in the signals company to investigate the fault, and unfortunately repairs cannot be carried out until next Wednesday 3 September.

David and I have asked that this work is given highest priority.

Phone boxes on London Road

First it was thought to be a green box, and then it grew into a phone stand. Next to the junction of London Road with Old High Street, and next to the existing phone boxes, a new stand has been erected at right angles to the existing boxes.

The new stand — it can hardly be called a box or a booth — did not need planning permission, though its advertising did (07/02672/ADV, for those with a desire for detail). But the question now is: why are there three phones at that point, blocking up the pavement?

The answer is that, when they made their advertising application, BT said that the new stand is a replacement and that the others will be removed. But they didn’t say when. So, Ruth and I have chased to find out when the pavement will be freed up again. We are told that BT are waiting for the electricity to the old boxes to be switched off, which Southern Electric will do on the 19th September. The boxes will be removed soon after that point.