Franklin Road bus stops/shelters

Residents in Franklin Road have contacted David and me about the unexpected appearance of bus shelters in their road, despite the fact that they no longer have access to public transport themselves since the no.10 bus route was pulled from Headley Way

I made a site visit this morning, and David and I will investigate this today with Rye St Antony School and the county council. We shall keep residents informed of developments

UPDATE 23 April

David is arranging to meet the Bursar of Rye St Antony School to discuss this and other issues early next week

Latest on the Waitrose development and Old High St. Car Park

We have been informed that the developers have allocated an area for
disabled parking and can also confirm that they have cross hatched four
bays, allowing traffic to flow more freely around the car park.

We are waiting for an instruction to confirm that it is possible to remove a
section of the car park wall to allow access onto the footpath.  

The disabled parking could then be relocated
over to that area so customers with walking difficulties will have a
shorter distance to walk to gain access to Headington.

Over the last couple of days council officers have indicated that the general
situation does seem to be improving. This seems to be confirmed by a
reduction in complaints. Officers will be visiting the site again next
week to check on the progress made, and update us on developments

Old High Street car park latest

David and I are being updated several times a day on the situation with regard to the Old High Street (Waitrose) car park.

Signage is going up over the weekend which will help a great deal as motorists get to grips with the temporary relocation of disabled parking spaces and the recycling bins are moved to a temporary location. Officers have requested that Waitrose creates disabled access at the entrance to the car park, albeit temporarily until the usual disabled car park spaces are back in operation after the refit.

Many of the bulkiest delivery vehicles have now departed, the heaviest of these were delivering materials to construct and fill the compound near the store

A complaint was made by a resident that some of the contractors were parking in the car park spaces but were not displaying permits.  This was investigated and it was established that the builders doing this had paid by the Ring Go system, so payment for parking had indeed been made although a paper ticket was not displayed. We have requested that the number of car park spaces is monitored closely over the period of the refit; we are aware that three cars were queuing for places on Friday lunchtime at a busy period when some extra car park spaces were coned off temporarily to allow turning space for the larger lorries.

The City Officer responsible for liaising with Waitrose over the development is Andrew Bradfield-Barnes: he is away for a week’s holiday after Easter but if you have any concerns, please contact either David or myself, or Andrew’s deputy Jason Munro who is working on the Easter bank holiday weekend and all of next week. His office number is 01865 252489 and his email is jmunro@oxford.gov.uk.

Please copy David and myself into any emails you send Jason as we want to ensure that all complaints and concerns are receiving prompt attention, our email addresses are:

david.rundle@oxfordlibdems.org.uk

ruth.wilkinson@oxfordlibdems.org.uk

What do you think of the London Rd plans?

It was good to see so many people at the exhibition on Saturday morning! If you haven’t yet seen the County Council’s plans for upgrading the London Road, please click on this link

If you haven’t yet submitted comments/feedback on the new scheme, please do so online here

Please note: you will need to click on Next to complete the feedback form.  David and I are very keen that everyone fills this in.  Among the concerns that were brought to my attention on Saturday were the lack of attention given to cyclists, the narrowing of Old High Street at its junction with London Road in respect of the advent of Waitrose, safety concerns about the London Road/Windmill Road junction, and the removal of the subway at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds.  People were also concerned about the lack of planting in London Road

Result! Headington Hill and Northway by-election

 Here is the full result for Thursday’s Headington Hill and Northway by-election,
with percentage vote shares and change in shares since last May:

Roy A. Darke (The Labour Party Candidate)               548  38.3%  +2.0
Marc Anthony Borja (The Conservative Party Candidate)   443  31.0%  -2.6
Ruth Margaret Beer (Liberal Democrat)                   378  26.4%  +2.4
Katherine May Wedell (Green Party)                      62   4.3%  -1.8

 thumbs-up.jpg

This is a good result for the Lib Dems, as we increased our percentage vote share by more than the other parties.  It is interesting to note that the total votes cast increased, yet the total number of Conservative Party votes went down from last year’s total.

London Road improvements – Headington Centre

  The county council is planning to make improvements to London Road through the centre of Headington during 2010.  The scheme will include enhancements to the shopping area.

You are warmly invited to a public exhibition in Headington, where you will be able to view the plans, talk to planners and designers, and tell us your views

 

Headington Baptist Church, Old High Street, Headington

Friday 27 March, 12 noon until 8 pm

Saturday 28 March, 10 am until 3 pm

Relocation of bus stops : Gipsy Lane

Oxford Brookes and Stagecoach have confirmed that the Gipsy Lane bus stops have been moved due to the roadworks.  Wheatley bound, the stop is nearer the gates to Headington Hill Hall, and City/Harcourt Hill bound it is nearer the entrance to the new Buckley building .

Signs have been put up but passengers are still getting confused.  On a couple of occasions people have been seen jumping the orange barriers, this is not safe, and Oxford Brookes University has asked us to pass on this information to anyone we know who travels on the Brookes bus.