Fill up on washing liquid at the new Fair Trade Shop!

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 It was a great privilege to attend the opening of the Fair Trade Shop in London Road this lunchtime and to thank all those concerned for their dogged hard work and enthusiasm in bringing us this exciting new venture.

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I was particularly interested in the Ecover containers of fabric softener, non bio laundry liquid, and washing up liquid available – at last, there is no need to buy plastic containers full of washing up liquid, just bring in your old ones and fill them up in the shop! What a great idea, and one that I know will appeal to many Headington residents who are concerned about their environment


 

 

 

Nat West pavement issue

Many of you have let us know that you are unhappy with the appearance of the area in front of the Nat West Bank in the London Road, which has been fenced off with orange and white boards for quite some time.  Having talked to the Manager, it would appear that there is an ownership issue between the bank and its landlord; which of the two owns the land that is affected? We have discussed this with the manager of the Nat West Bank and he has kindly agreed to contact his Legal Dept. and let us know the latest. Watch this space for further information!

Waitrose’s plans for Headington

The arrival of Waitrose in Headington is a key development for our area. There are a lot of benefits it could bring, helping revitalise the district centre, but there also possible difficulties. So Ruth and I have been keeping a careful eye on how things develop. I met with a regional manager from Waitrose this week and he outlined their plans for the store. They formally took ownership of the store on Thursday — if you’d been there on the previous days, you’ll have seen the clear-out sale which left Somerfield looking like a Soviet-era supermarket. The shop is now closed for a re-fit, with the plan being to open on Thursday 7 May. No great fanfare is planned: they intend to start trading quietly and iron out any teething problems they have (pardon the mixed metaphors!).

They are up-beat about the prospects for this store. If it does go well, they have plans for a small extension. There have been rumours about their taking over the former Threshers store and they are indeed looking to lease that site. They would also be interested in re-locating the sub-station next door — which would remove a real eye-sore — but it is unlikely Southern Electric would agree to that. If Waitrose did take over the Threshers site, they would apply to knock it down and replace it, but that is some way off. In the short term, they would lease out that site.

There have also been rumours about their closing the Old High Street entrance: I’m told that this is highly unlikely. In fact, they seem to see that entrance as very significant as it’s the closest they have to main road frontage.

They are also interested in discussing the future management of the car-park off Old High Street. I’ve made it clear that this car park is used by a range of local people and must remain public. But if Waitrose are willing to work with the Council to improve the look of the car park, I’m sure we would all see that as positive.

The issue of parking relates, of course, to the big question: the traffic impact of Waitrose. There are understandable worries about this in the area and potential problems for residents of Old Headington if the village is used as a back route to the store. At this stage, we need to know what Waitrose’s own calculations have been about the catchment area of the store and the traffic generation they would expect. I have been promised this information. Only then can we work out how to work with our new neighbours to ensure that the impact for Headington is a plus, rather than a headache.

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

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

Old High Street (Waitrose) car park

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David and I have had a meeting with the officer in charge of car parks in the City to discuss the future of the Old High Street car park with the advent of Waitrose. Many people have mentioned that they think there will be a pressure on parking places once the new Waitrose store opens in May

We have flagged up a number of issues which include the need for improved lighting, the provision of a shelter over the ticket machines, the location of recycling bins, access and egress from the car park by motorists and by pedestrians, and the provision of cycling racks.

It became clear that some of these issues relate to phase 2 of the London Road redevelopment, and lighting can also be an issue for consideration by the Crime Prevention team. To this end, David is organising a bigger meeting which will include relevant stakeholders e.g. County transport planners

We should like the main entrance to the car park to be re-modelled at some point, but it looks as though this would require capital funding.  Capital funding has been cut drastically this financial year so prospects of this are not great.

The car parks officer confirmed that blue badge owners will continue to park free for four hours in any 24 hour period.

Waitrose building plans

I had a meeting on site yesterday with a representative from Waitrose and three officers from the City Council to discuss the building works which will take place in April. The Project Manager for the re-fit is Mark Sharkey and I have his contact details; he managed the Asda refit in Wheatley and has practical working experience with some of the sub-contracters on this project.

It was agreed that 30 car park spaces would be cordoned off for use by the Waitrose construction team for storing materials and for skips. Work vehicles will have sole use of the entrance nearest the London Road junction (next to the Audio shop) for access to the site. This will leave the main entrance accessible to the public. There will be a crane on site while they are working on the roof of the building. Cycle parking will be moved elsewhere on site during the re-fit as a temporary measure. Two trees that currently overhang the building are considered a hazard and will be trimmed back by the Parks Dept.

Waitrose are keen to relocate the recycling bins on the far side of the car park near the wall with Bury Knowle Park, this has also been suggested by residents. We are asking the City Works Dept. to advise us on the most suitable location.

Signage will be put up and Waitrose will re-line the car park at the end of the project. It is recognised that the lighting in the car park isn’t very good, Waitrose will paint the lamp posts in corporate colours (black and silver).

Timescale

It is likely that the project will run from 9/4/09-30/4/09
1 month before the start date, Waitrose will write to those in neighbouring properties, explaining what will happen and when, and giving contact details of the site manager and project manager

6/4/09-8/4/09 Allowed on site (busy traffic, setting up huts etc)
8/4/09 Last day of trading for Somerfield’s
9/4/09 Ownership transferred to Waitrose
16/4/09 Real work starts

Noise

We have specified that that noise is kept to a minimum (they are working 24/7) and also that that they should not be using noisy equipment after 20.00. They will keep the doors closed at all times while work is going on. The power will be taken off as part of the re-fit so there will be use of generators, the project manager is sourcing the quietest ones he can find.

Shoppers’ tickets

The officer in charge of car parks at the City is negotiating terms with Waitrose concerning ‘shoppers’ tickets’ i.e. a discount on parking for those who buy goods at Waitrose. More on this later!

Staff

I understand that it is Waitrose policy to retain staff from the existing Somerfields’ store, at least for twelve months, during which time they will have the opportunity to attend staff training courses and may be retained on a permanent basis after that date.

Plans

I don’t have the detailed plans yet but it would seem that there is a space allocated to on-site bakery!

Waiting for Waitrose

You may have seen in the press that Waitrose is coming to Headington. With the merger of Somerfield and the Co-op, the Co-op have decided to keep their London Road site and sell the Somerfield shop off Old High Street. Waitrose is buying the building and hoping to open there in May.

There’s been some lively discussion about whether this is good for Headington or not. The way I see it is that it demonstrates business’s confidence in our district centre as a viable location and could have beneficial knock-on effects. I stress ‘could’ – what we’d want to see happen is other, locally-run businesses opening up alongside Waitrose as the centre becomes more attractive to shoppers. But that depends on many factors and we certainly can’t be complacent.

In the first instance, Ruth and I are in contact with Waitrose in order to encourage them, with their John Lewis ethos of partnership, to become involved in the new Headington Business Association and an active player in the community. If that were to happen, it would certainly be something to celebrate.