Gridlock in Headington

 

There was traffic chaos in Headington this morning when Thames Water did not move off site by the time agreed with the County Council.

Permission had been given by the County Council’s street works supervisor for planned work to go ahead to install a new water supply to a flat above the shops in London Road (and install pipework for a second) so long as working time was between 7pm and 6am.

Thames Water arranged for a grab lorry to take away the spoil at 2am, but an emergency cropped up and the grab lorry was sent to another location instead.

The street works supervisor became aware of the problem when he started work at 5:45 and saw it on the cameras, and chased Thames Water. It was clear there were no Thames Water staff on site dealing with the problem, and it’s rumoured that traffic was backed up as far as the M40.

The County Council has made it clear to Thames Water that London Road must be clear by 6am (likely 4am) tomorrow morning otherwise a stop notice may be put on further work.

Apparently Thames Water is paid to put in new water supply connections by the developer.

Councillors will check this doesn’t re-occur tomorrow.

If anyone wishes to complain, we advise you to contact Thames Water Customer Services at customer.feedback@thameswater.co.uk

We are satisfied that the County Council had been given assurances that London Road would not be affected during the daytime. It appears that there was no second grab lorry available for Thames Water to clear the site.

 

Roz is re-elected with a greatly increased majority

 

Roz re-elected! Photo courtesy Oxford Mail

Congratulations to County Councillor Roz Smith on her re-election with 55% vote share last Thursday. She increased her majority over Labour from 31 votes in 2013 to 892 in 2017. Altaf and Ruth are delighted that Roz continues as a valued member of the Headington Lib Dem team and we look forward to lots more work ahead of us in the coming year.

You can find the full set of County Council election results here

Ruth comments: “Oxfordshire Lib Dems did well in the local elections, getting increased vote shares in every council division compared with 2013. We  gained two extra seats as well as retaining those we already held, and achieved some very good second places too. It’s important to have effective opposition parties for better decision-making at County Hall.

“We are waiting to find out who will make important decisions on the Access to Headington scheme and the 20MPH consultation in Windmill Road, as Cllr Nimmo-Smith lost his seat and the Conservatives are short of an overall majority;  there are a lot of negotiations going on at time of writing.”

 

 

Southern Gas Works in Franklin Road – inadequate notice given?

It appears that the notices which went out to residents in Franklin Road about impending utilities works went out later than they should have done. Some residents got home to find SGN contractors and equipment working outside their properties, but claim they had no prior notification.

We have chased this. Here is the response from SGN

 

I can confirm our letter to residents informing them of our gas works were sent out 25th April. Our letters explain that our works effecting residents are due commence on the 15th May 2017.

We are currently working at the junction of Headley Way and Franklin Road where we have just completed a gas connection as part of our works in Headley Way, unfortunately during this time a builder decided to operate a large crane blocking off half of the carriageway in Franklin Road adding to the disruption.

We have excavated 2 camera holes in Franklin Road as part of advance investigations but these will not affect gas supplies.

Prior to our works affecting customers in Franklin Road each resident will receive a visit and an explanation of what will happen and agreed date when supplies will need to be interrupted.

If you have any queries about this, please contact us as we now have the contact details of the project manager and can take action fairly quickly.

Next month’s events

  • Monday 1 May, May Morning, Magdalen Bridge, 5am to 7am. The choristers of Magdalen College choir will be singing Hymnus Eucharisticus from the Great Tower, which will be followed by the bells ringing out over the city for approximately 20 minutes. www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20035/events/559/may_morning_in_oxford
  • Sunday 7 May, Bike Oxford 2017, route through the city centre starting and finishing at Oxford University Rugby Club, 6.30am to 6pm. Bike Oxford, now entering its 4th year, is a day of marked rides of 25, 50 and 80 miles, taking in the best scenery of Oxford and the surrounding countryside. www.iconiccyclingevents.co.uk
  • Monday 8, 22 and 29 May, Sri Chinmoy Races, Cutteslowe Park, 7am to 7.30pm. Self Transcendence race series held every summer in Cutteslowe Park.https://uk.srichinmoyraces.org/races/oxford
  • Thursday 11 May, Mental Health Awareness Week, Bonn Square, 10am to 3pm. Oxford City Council and partners from Public Health, Aspire, Restore and OxSPA are coming together to promote Mental Health Awareness Week. www.oxford.gov.uk
  • Saturday 13 – Sunday 14 May, British Heart Foundation London to Oxford Trek, finishing at Oxpens Meadow, 2pm (Sat) to 4pm (Sun). From the Capital to the historic university city of Oxford, heart trekkers can walk 100 km through the day and through the night. www.bhf.org.uk
  • Saturday 13 May, OxHoli 2017, Cowley Marsh, 12pm to 4pm. Celebration of the Indian festival of colours, organised by the Oxford University Hindu Society.https://www.facebook.com/groups/2202237652/
  • Sunday 14 May, Town & Gown, route through the city centre finishing at University Parks, 8am to 12pm. Annual 10k charity road race through Oxford City Centre.http://www.musculardystrophyuk.org/
  • Sunday 14 May, Jewish Culture Fair, Broad Street, 2pm to 6pm. Event celebrating Jewish culture including music, art, food, history display and crafts.www.oxfordchabad.org

How to register for priority service in power cuts

Thanks to one of our residents for alerting us to Scottish and Southern Electricity’s Priority Service scheme.

The SSE website gives the following information:

Who is eligible to join our Priority Services Register?

You can join our Priority Services Register if you:

  • Are dependent on electricity for home medical care, for example a kidney dialysis machine or ventilator.
  • Have a chronic illness or short term medical condition; for example you are recovering from a major operation.
  • Are disabled.
  • Have special communication needs; for example because you are blind, partially sighted, deaf or hard of hearing.
  • Have children under 5.
  • Are over 60 years old.

We recognise some of our customers may need support in other ways during power cuts. If you have other needs and feel you will need extra help in the event of a power cut, please contact us to discuss. 

If you would like more information please go to www.ssen.co.uk/priorityservices/

 

 

 

Old Headington power cuts – latest

We understand the frustration of residents in the Old Headington area who have experienced a series of power cuts over recent months. We are liaising with SSE and they are keeping us up to date with developments.

There was a further power cut of around 2 hours last night. The software that they had put in at the substation to monitor this did work – it detected fuses blowing and replaced them one by one but couldn’t completely prevent the power from going off.

This matter has been escalated within SSE, it has been brought to the attention of the Head of Network Sustainability and head of customer services for the area.

The problem is that the faults happen intermittently and are underground. In these sorts of cases, if water seeps into a nick in the plastic casing around the cables in one place, the fault may manifest itself some distance away at a joint. The software is trying to isolate the fault to a stretch of road between two specific location points – once the stretch of road is identified, SSE will dig it up.

Once the likely site of the fault is determined, the process would be that SSE schedules the digging up of the road and gives 7 days notice to residents. In cases of extreme urgency (permanent rather than intermittent fault), SSE could invoke emergency procedures and give only 48 hours notice, but this is unlikely in this case.

If you wish to talk  to SSE directly, the number to ring is 0800 980 1395 and the reference is 31598

One extra piece of information we learned: SSE does offer ‘suitcase’ packs to households to ensure power can be maintained while works are carried out and the main power is turned off, this may be useful for anyone needing power supply for medical equipment etc.

We are keeping the Friends of Old Headington informed

Pedestrian crossing at Old Road/Gipsy Lane junction – change requested

Roz and Ruth have requested that a high level repeater can be put in at the pedestrian crossing in the centre waiting section in Old Road. Here is the email we sent to the Access to Headington team for discussion. The County Council officers are currently considering this request.

Residents have drawn councillors’ attention to the fact that groups of schoolchildren cross here when they get off the bus on the southern side of Old Road to reach Cheney School. This means groups of (anecdotally up to 30) students try to use the puffin crossing at the same time.
This also means that when there is a crowd of children immediately next to the red/green man box, and because there is no audible signal it’s not easy for them to see when the green man sign comes on because they are all squashed together.
Please would it be possible to find some money in the A2H budget to put in a repeater at a higher level so that everyone can see it? Roz and I think this would be a great safety improvement so near a school if this is feasible and affordable.

Service of dedication at the JR on Saturday to commemorate repatriations

In October 2016, 456 daffodils were planted at the John Radcliffe by ex-services and police personnel to commemorate the Repatriations that passed through the entrance to the hospital.  These daffodils are now in full bloom and, on Saturday 8 April at 11am, The Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, Tim Stevens, will unveil a plaque at the daffodils followed by a short service of Dedication.