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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’s happening to the car park on Old High Street? Several of you have noticed that it’s been taken up by lorries and contractors’ vehicles today. Here’s what I know is going on:
Waitrose are re-fitting their shop and the vehicles belong to their contractors. They came to an agreement with the City Council that, for the period of the re-fit, which will take a month, they will have use of a small part of the car-park. 70 out of the 110 spaces should still be available for users and it is anticipated that that will be sufficient for the expected usage. (Waitrose, by the way, are paying the going rate for using the car-park). The recycling bins are also being moved to near the Bury Knowle wall for the interim.
Obviously, what happened today wasn’t in line with the agreement: most of the car-park was taken up and one observer has called the scene ‘organised chaos.’ Council officers have been promised by the contractors that this was happening because it was the first day; I have asked them to provide firmer reassurances that this is a one-off and that they will be keeping to the agreement. They have also been reminded that they need to put up notices explaining what’s going on and, in addition, to provide disabled access, as the usual route next to the shop is going to be closed. When we hear more, we’ll keep you informed.
I have also more to report on Waitrose’s plans so keep looking for the next post!
Please see information attached that relates to a Temporary Speed Restriction for the London Road, Headington, commencing 20 April 2009 and lasting for 5 weeks. This will be introduced while carriageway resurfacing works take place.
Leon Jolly from Enterprise Mouchel confirmed the following locations and estimated timeframes for delivery.
Phase 1: 19 Apr – 30 April, Headington Campus to Gipsy Lane
Phase 2: 1 May – 12 May, Gipsy Lane to Headley Way
Phase 3: 13 May – 22 May, Headley Way – Osler Road
It’s not clear from the information that we have received what this temporary speed restriction will be in terms of miles per hour, but it’s pretty unlikely that it will be breached given our experiences of the last few weeks
Recently, it’s been hard not to notice the poor state of Dunstan Road: the road humps have become so delapidated to be dangerous. We have raised this issue with both Councils. As you may have seen, just over a week ago, the humps were patched up by the City Council helping deal with the immediate problem. But this isn’t enough: we do need more large-scale work to be done. For that, we will need the co-operation of the County. As yet, they have not committed anything to deal with this problem but, be sure that we will pursue it!
Oxford’s bus companies want to work together to eliminate the need for buses in Oxford’s Queen Street |
Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council Lib Dems want plans to remove bus stops from Queen Street in central Oxford later in 2009, to be delayed, and bus company proposals to reduce the total number of buses in the centre of the city, to be brought in first.
Cllr Roz Smith, Shadow Cabinet member for Transport, said: “The Liberal Democrats have long been calling for improvements in Oxford city centre to help both pedestrians and bus users. But the Conservatives’ half-way house for Queen Street is just not the way to do it. The idea that the bus stops can be removed but not the buses doesn’t make sense. People will have all the disadvantages – and potential dangers – of having buses mingling with pedestrians, but none of the advantages of being able to actually get on a bus.
“Instead we will just get more congestion and air pollution in St Aldates immediately, and we know that the bus stops removed from Queen Street will eventually be moved again in later phases of the Transform Oxford scheme. In addition, re-surfacing Queen Street now, only to resurface it again in a year or two when the buses are finally relocated fully, is an outrageous waste of taxpayers’ money.”
Cllr Zoé Patrick, Leader of the county council Liberal Democrats added, “‘The Conservatives say they want to work with the bus companies but show little sign of rolling up their sleeves and getting on with it. Instead of complaining about the bus companies, they should be sitting down with them to create a proper partnership. This will enable joint timetabling and joint ticketing, and hopefully then reduce the number of half-empty buses coming into the centre. And this will then make room on the other roads to remove buses completely from Queen Street and allow it to be properly pedestrianised.
“This Partnership needs to be set up urgently now. The aims of ‘Transform Oxford’ cannot be delivered until the bus companies can work together. I am surprised at the slowness of the County Council in doing this.”
Note:
The 2008 Local Transport Act allows bus companies to discuss routes and introduce joint ticketing, without being accused of running a cartel, but only if the Transport Authority – in this case the County Council – is involved in the process, acting as “honest broker”, in what is called a Bus Quality Partnership.
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
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
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.
[Ruth writes…] I am taking a group of potential councillors to Birmingham on Monday 30 March to a ‘Be a Councillor!’ workshop (19.00-21.00). If you would be interested to go to this, give me a call on 07789 368300
Some excellent advice has been sent out by City officers on how to deal with debt and mortgage worries. Please click on Debt and Mortgage Help on the orange centre toolbar to view this