David and Ruth are holding a drop-in session for students at Dorset House (reception area), London Rd on Monday 5 November from 18.45-19.30. We look forward to hearing your views on making Headington even more student-friendly!
Do you know how to say no to cold callers?
Here’s a quiz on doorstep selling, courtesy of the Office of Fair Trading. To have a go, click on Quickquiz1
City Lib Dems press for a City Deal for Oxford
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has announced that 20 cities and their wider areas will be given the opportunity to bid for radical new powers for growth, and the Oxford City Lib Dem Group is pressing for the City to work up an exciting and wide reaching bid.
The second wave of City Deals invites twenty cities and their wider areas to compete for deals that would see Government devolve powers in exchange for responsibility for delivering growth locally. Cities from the successful first wave of deals secured groundbreaking powers including the ability to ‘earn back’ tax from the Treasury, devolved transport budgets and control of the skills budget for their city.
Nick Clegg’s announcement is aimed at the next fourteen largest cities and their wider areas and the next six with the highest population growth between 2001 to 2010. Oxford is one of the latter six.
Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg said:
In the best English tradition we have witnessed a quiet revolution across the nation’s eight largest cities.
“From control over buses and trains and the freedom to plug skills gaps, to powers to ‘earn back’ tax and set up local investment funds to spend on local projects – the deals are unlocking the huge potential of our cities so they can go for growth.
“Now its time to free even more places from Whitehall control. I want these twenty cities and their wider areas to come up with ambitious and innovative proposals to help them make changes that will be felt by everyone across their region.”
City Deals are a key part of the Government’s objectives of rebalancing the economy and boosting private sector growth. The second wave of City Deals will accelerate the pace of decentralisation and unlock new and innovative ways to drive growth. Deals will represent a genuine transaction between cities and Government, with ‘asks’ and ‘offers’ from both sides.
Leaders in the wave two cities will be asked to work together across their regions and to put forward proposals designed to unlock the full growth potential of the area. These proposals will need to be ambitious, harness public and private sector resources, and demonstrate strong leadership in the local area. The cities with the strongest propositions will be invited to negotiate a deal with the Government.
Fall in City unemployment benefit claimants
A new chart has been published by the City Council showing a fall in Oxford residents claiming unemployment benefit. Please click here to view.
Grass cutting at Rock Edge
We have had several enquiries about grass cutting so here’s what we have found out about it.
The grass at Rock Edge is cut and collected for hay in July each year , there is a small amount of site mowing carried out each month at Rock Edge, i.e. footpaths. The cutting outside of July is normally not such a big job so there are fewer problems with “arisings” (cut grass) blowing about onto roads. This summer’s climate has led to the grass growing faster, so the quantity of arisings has increased
Please let us know if you notice cut grass on roads and pavements associated with cutting at Rock Edge and we will investigate
Latest Planning Decisions
Planning decisions made by officers in the week ending 21 September are now available. One application has been refused, the other was permitted. Please click on the Latest Planning Decisions tab at the top of your screen for more details.
Windmill School – should it expand?
An open meeting will be held at the school at 7pm on 20th September 2012.
This will be YOUR opportunity to ask questions and give your views on the proposals from Oxfordshire County Council:
We are planning to increase the school to three forms of entry, with an admission number of 90 on a permanent basis. The formal admission number for 2013 has already been published at 60, but if this proposal is approved the school will admit 90 children in 2013. The school’s admission number can only now formally change from September 2014.
If it is decided to permanently change the admission number to 90, there will be a need for more classrooms to be built. A detailed feasibility study has begun, which looks carefully at the school’s site and buildings to see how these additional classrooms and supporting spaces could best be provided.
We think that this is a very popular and successful school at the heart of its community, which should expand to meet local demand. We want to know your views about whether you are happy to see the school grow.
If you can’t get to the meeting, but you want to send in your comments as part of the formal consultation, you can do this by clicking on the County’s online consultation page here.
The full document is available here.
Alternatively you can write a letter to : Diane Cameron, School Organisation & Planning, Oxfordshire County Council, County Hall, FREEPOST or email a response to Windmill2012-manager@myconsultations.oxfordshire.gov.uk
Personal thanks
Ruth writes:
Thanks to all our residents who have sent condolences on the death of my father, I really do appreciate your support.
Problems with the waterworks
With your help, we have compiled a list of all the flooding and sewage spill-related incidents in Headington Ward over the recent past, and it’s clear that a number of incidents reported in Old Headington are interlinked.
The combined sewer at the lower end of Osler Road contains both floodwater and sewage in separate pipes that are located quite near to each other. This combined sewer is also located very near to a main sewer running from the JR Hospital.
The flow from the combined sewer does not continue down St Andrew’s Road to Stoke Place and Dunstan Road. Instead, it turns right and is pumped uphill towards Laurel Farm Close. However if the manhole cover above the combined sewer is forced up above the ground after heavy rain or when there’s a blockage, the floodwater and/or sewage runs down the hill towards Ruskin College, and causes a lot of distress to those living at the bottom of the hill. We are aware that the guide hall has been flooded and that several properties in Stoke Place have been invaded by sewage in recent months.
The meeting with Thames Water was very helpful. They are working hard to investigate whether there is any mis-connection elsewhere in the area which could cause a crossover between fair and foul effluent, and we’ve heard today that some progress was achieved only yesterday by Thames Water in trying to track this faulty connection down.
Thames Water have offered to give local councillors copies of ‘sewer maps’ of Headington Ward, and we think this will be very useful in trying to track down the source of these problems.
It’s clear that people get confused about who to report such incidents to – the city council? the County Council? Thames Water? Fix my street? to local councillors? to the Headington and Marston Forum? So one of the issues we are addressing is getting some leaflets printed up to give people clearer guidance.
We also discussed whether Headington’s infrastructure is fit for purpose both currently, and in the future when further planning applications are made by the universities and hospitals and other organisations in the area. Thames Water will investigate the capacity of sewers in areas such as Old Road, and liaise with the senior managers and planners at the city council once these results are known.
If you have experienced difficulties with sewage spills or storm water flooding in your area, and haven’t let us know, please do get in touch as we want to keep our files on this fully updated! That way, we can monitor Thames Water’s progress.
See related Oxford Mail article here
John Howson selected for Police Commissioner
Thames Valley Police & Crime Commissioner Candidate Announced
September 2, 2012 8:17 PM
The Lib Dems across Berks, Bucks & Oxon have selected a leading campaigner and magistrate as their Thames Valley candidate in the Police & Crime Commissioner election on 15 November – Professor John Howson.
John Howson knows a thing or two about crime. Businessman, Academic, Licensing Justice, and victim of crime, as well as a former government adviser.
Commenting on his selection, Professor John Howson said: “Although the Lib Dems were happy with the existing arrangements for scrutinising the police, the new role has become much wider than just its original intention of holding the Chief Constable to account. Commissioners will play a strategic role in the management of the fight against crime across the Thames Valley, and this embraces discussions with many different agencies as well as the police.”
He continued: “As a businessman and former university head of department, I am used to the scrutiny of budgets, and have written about concepts such as activity based costing.
“Policing in England is a matter of consent. Currently, too much crime is linked to addiction, whether drug or alcohol related. Helping to stop re-offending is the best way to keep down police spending in the future.
“As a victim of a classroom stabbing when a teacher, having experienced four burglaries in my adult life, and been involved in two road traffic accidents, I know the effects crimes can have not only on the direct victim, but also on others in the wider community.”
A resident in Oxfordshire for more than 30 years, he also knows the diversity of the Thames Valley police area having been involved with training teachers across the three counties for more than ten years.
Lib Dem Regional Chair and West Oxfordshire councillor, Liz Leffman, said: “We are delighted to have such an experienced campaigner, with an excellent knowledge of policing and crime, as our candidate for Thames Valley.”
Contact: Prof. John Howson tel: 01865 203270, mobile: 07958 702292 e-mail: JH4PCC@gmail.com
Notes
- John Howson served on the Lib Dems policy working party on crime and justice in 2008
- Fought Reading East in the 2005 general election, and has been an active Party member since going to university in 1966.
- In 1992 he was appointed to the Abingdon Bench as a Justice of the Peace, and has served as a magistrate for 22 years, now sitting on the Oxfordshire Bench from which he has taken leave of absence to fight this election. He is a Vice President of the Magistrates’ Association and a former Vice Chairman.
- Between 8-16 September John Howson is going to Kampala to attend the Commonwealth Magistrates and Justices Conference.