Thanks to all who signed up to become Friends of Bury Knowle Park, we will be in touch with you shortly to let you know the date and time of our first meeting (probably 24 June)
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.
Site meeting at Dorset House
Details as follows for meeting re demolition of Dorset House
Site meeting: Dorset House
11.00
Led by project manager Terry Hawken tel 07973 210677
Andrew Galloway from Latimer Grange has kindly agreed to raise the
issue of the preservation order on the trees on my behalf, and is
going to alert the Latimer Grange residents to the change of date and
time. Neighbourhood police have also been asked to attend.
The following issues will be covered:
ask when work is at its noisiest and limit noise to specified hours of the day
clarify the number of times heavy traffic will need access/egress
to/from the site and ensure contractor parking is on site
explain method of demolition (not the trees!!)
give information re dispersal of dust or any burning
make sure the site is left secure at all times
explain timescale of work
The demolition will start first thing on Monday morning June 8, but for the first week there will be no heavy machinery as work will be surface stripping.
Where do I vote?
It’s the European and County Elections tomorrow. You will get two ballot papers and have three votes: one for a party in the European and two for County candidates to represent the area comprising Headington, Marston and Northway. Your two County Councillors are presently part of the LibDem team and one of those, Altaf Khan, is standing for re-election. Alongside him, Barry Crossman who works on the University research site on Old Road, is standing hopefully to join Altaf. I am hoping that our team will remain at full strength as only that way can we best represent the people of Headington. I see that the Tories’ slogan is ‘Vote for Change’ — and considering the Conservatives have run the County for the past four years, introducing residents’ parking charges, cut budgets for traffic maintenance, messed up the buses in our area etc etc, I certainly hope that Headington will vote to send the County Conservatives a message that we need a change of Council!
Enough of the soap-box. Here is the public service announcement. Where to vote between 7am and 10pm:
- if you live between London Road and Old Road, between Windmill Rd and Brookside (and also including the Rock Edge area), you vote at the old Scout Hut on Perrin St in New Headington
- if you live in Old Headington, between Dunstan Rd and Larkins Lane, or between Osler Road and Old High Street (including North Place), you go to the Baptist Church (NOT, please note, the Viking Sports Centre — you go there if you live in the area bounded by Barton Lane and Barton Rd)
- if you live around the top half of Headley Way, from Franklin Rd over to Sandfield Rd, taking in Beech Rd too, you vote in St Antony of Padua Church Hall, just below the entrance to the JR
As the area covered by the County division extends beyond Headington, it might be useful to give the other polling stations as well:
- if you live around the bottom half of Headley Way, including the ‘Lakes’ area and Copse Lane, you vote at New Marston First School on Copse Lane
- if you live in Northway, you vote in the Community Centre, just next to the old school which Labour want to flog off and demolish
- if you live on the north side of Marston Road, including Crotch Crescent, Lynn Close and the Jack Straws Lane, Haberton Mead area (but excluding Moody, Pritchard, Peacock and William St), you vote at St Michael’s Church, at the bottom of Jack Straws Lane
- if you live on the south side of Marston Road, from Ferry Road over to Wadham Park, or in one of the streets north of Marston Road excluded from the Jack Straws Lane polling district, you vote at the Scout Hall, at the corner of William St and Marston Rd (note this new location)
- if you live in the Croft Road estate or Ouseley Close, you vote at URC on Marston Road, just opposite the entrance to Croft Road
- if you live in the Carter Estate or in Old Marston Village, you vote at Mortimer Hall
Got it?! If you have any questions of if you want a lift to the polls, give us a call on election day on 01865 798777.
Dorset House destined for demolition
A demolition notice has been sent in by contractors on behalf of Quintain, the owners of the Dorset House site, to demolish all buildings on the site except for the three nearest the corner of Latimer Road and London Road. The demolition work is scheduled to take place week beginning 8 June. This came as a complete surprise to local residents.
This means that Dorset House itself is set to be demolished, along with 1A Latimer Road, and the newer buildings to the rear of the site facing Latimer Grange.
Residents are perplexed about how the owners can simply announce demolition when the City Council has previously recommended the retention of the old buildings as being of local interest. In fact, five years ago, David and Stephen Tall called for extra protection for the House and the buildings were put on what’s called ‘the Local List’. But that’s not the same as a nationally listed building and the site is not within a Conservation Area. In legal terms, when there are no other safeguards, an owner has a right to demolish their own property. That means that the Planning Department, to everyone’s frustration, can’t just stop the demolition happening.
There are, though, other aspects to the issue. We have also found out that there are various trees on the site that have preservation orders on them, and we have requested the planning enforcement officer to contact the demolition project manager to make this clear to him
There are also parts of the site which would not be a loss, in particular the newer buildings at the back of the site. We know that Latimer Grange residents are keen that the demolition of those buildings takes place as soon as possible, to stop the chance of anti-social behaviour on the site. We are setting up a meeting between them and the project manager to discuss issues around dust, noise, parking, access and egress, and, most importantly, security.
Got something to say to the Police?
Do you live in the Central and North side of Headington?
Are you concerned about something the Police can help with?
The neighbourhood team is holding local drop-in surgeries
If you don’t tell them your problem, they won’t be able to tackle it
For details of Headington North neighbourhood surgeries, click surgeries-09.pdf
Licensing application for the White Horse
A licensing application has been made for the White Horse (Hungry Horse) in Headley Way and the deadline for representations is 4 June 2009. If you wish to know more about this application, please click Licensing Applications on the central orange toolbar.
David is willing to hold a meeting with local residents to explain the procedures if you think this would be helpful? Please comment here or email either David or me if you would like us to organise this
Litter near Windmill Road bus stop
We have been trying to sort out the problem of litter in the area next to the bus stop in Windmill Road.
Here is an update on progress. The environmental development officer has written to the owners of the land and discussed the siting of the bus stop and the height of the retaining wall and advised them who to contact regarding this.
As the problem is continuing, he will seek to serve a litter clearing notice on the owner of the land and arrange for concentrated litter enforcement in the area
Lib Dem candidates for the county council election
The two Lib Dem candidates for Headington and Marston Division are Cllr Mohammed Altaf-Khan and Barry Crossman.
Altaf has been your local County Councillor since 2005. He has lived and
worked locally with his family for more many years and is currently
finishing a course in labour economics and law at Ruskin College in
Headington.
Altaf has always been at the heart of our community and led the campaign to
retain the IT hub at Northway community Centre.
As a City Councillor, Altaf is also a member of the local neighbourhood
action group and is a trustee of the charitable trust of Old Marston.
Barry works in Headington as a Clinical Trials Co-ordinator for the
University of Oxford – making life saving medicines available to the wider
public.
He has been actively involved in campaigning to retain and improve sports centre facilities and he helps to represent leaseholders in the City. He is keen to involve Headington and Marston residents in developing local plans and amenities
Got a gripe? Tell us about it!
David and I are re-starting our popular open air street surgeries in June, and look forward to meeting you in a place near where you live
9 June 18.30 – 20.00 Informal street surgery outside St Andrew’s Church, St. Andrew’s Road. All residents in Old Headington are welcome to come and share their views and concerns with David and Ruth.
30 June 18.30 – 20.00 Informal street surgery in All Saints Road by the community noticeboard. All residents in Highfield and New Headington are welcome to come and share their views and concerns with David and Ruth.
There is no need to book in advance, just come along, we’d love to see you!
If you need to speak to us about any issue, our contact details are at “Contact us” on the central orange toolbar