Shark

HEADINGTON NEWS: Tuesday 21 May, 2013

Local elections, 2 May 2013

County council election (four new divisions)

An election was held in all the redrawn county council divisions of Oxfordshire on 2 May 2013. Just one county councillor now represents each of the four new county divisions that cover the Headington & Marston area, namely:

Barton, Sandhills & Risinghurst: Glynis Phillips (Labour)
Churchill & Lye Valley: Liz Brighouse (Labour)
Headington & Quarry: Roz Smith (LibDem)
Marston & Northway: Mark Lygo (Labour)

City council By-election in Churchill ward

Susan Brown (Labour), who served as city councillor for Churchill ward until 2006, was re-elected on 2 May 2013 in place of Joe McManners, who had resigned.

Headington Neighbourhood Plan
Public meeting on Tuesday 21 May

Tuesday 21 May at Oxford Brookes University, Gibbs Building, Room G116, Gipsy Lane, OX3 0BP at 7pm:

Second Neighbourhood Forum meeting, everyone invited

At a packed meeting at St Andrew's School on 26 February 2013, around 120 people voted that Headington should go forward with a Neighbourhood Plan.

Ways to find out more:

Licence application

Londis on the London Road has submitted an application for an extension to its licence so that it can sell alcohol for consumption off the premises 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

29 Old High Street

Derelict house, Old High Street

Martin Young at last gained planning permission relating to 29 Old High Street, but submitted a new application on 10 April 2013: 13/00880/FUL

 

 

Full saga of 29 Old High Street

OAYP now in Bury Knowle coach house

Oxford Association for Young People (OAYP) moved from Garsington to the upper floor of Bury Knowle Coach House in April 2013: picture. This charity offers support, education, and activities to youth groups in Oxfordshire, and it also hosts the Oxfordshire Youth Awards.

Oxford Furniture Warehouse

The Oxford Furniture warehouse moved from Abingdon Road to the former Today's Local drink store at 85 London Road on Monday 8 April. It sells new and secondhand furniture, plus fancy-dress clothing.

Blockbusters now closed

Headington Blockbusters closed down on 20 March and it is understood that the shop is likely to reopen as a branch of Morrison's.

Headington's congested roads

The Slade and London Road were named in March 2013 as two of the most congested roads outside London at rush hour, but the measuring appears flawed.

Crown & Thistle

The estate agent Sidney Phillips confirm that there were seventeen offers for the Crown & Thistle in Old Road. The new owner Shinder Pal Singh "intends to consider alternative uses for the property".

New development at Northway: plans online

Two planning applications have been submitted for the £18m regeneration project in Northway and Cowley, headed by Kevin McCloud and to be built by Haboakus (McCloud’s development company Hab in partnership with the housing association GreenSquare):

  • 12/03280/FUL Demolition of existing buildings. Erection of 47 residential units (9 x 1-bed, 14 x 2-bed, 15 x 3-bed, 4 x 4-bed, 5 x live/work units) plus community centre in 5 blocks on 2, 3 and 4 levels. Provision of 78 car parking spaces, 102 cycle parking spaces and landscaping
  • 12/03281/FUL Demolition of existing building. Erection of 21 flats (14 x 1-bed, 7 x 2-bed) on 3 floors, together with 21 car parking spaces, 56 cycle spaces and landscaping.

Deadline for comments has been extended to 11 March.

Oxford City Council is providing land in Northway for developers Haboakus, who in return plan to rebuild Northway community centre, and provide 41 affordable homes in Dora Carr Close and 28 flats in Westlands Drive. The Emmaus Charity furniture store will move to Cowley.

“Focus on Northway” page
Thornhill Park & Ride expansion

Work on creating the 500 new spaces at Thornhill Park & Ride commenced in January 2013 and is expected to be finished in August. The number of parking spaces will rise from 850 to 1,356.

Before work starts, grass snakes had to be relocated. The site is to the east of the existing site (see plan), not as originally stated in the Oxford Mail.

London Road east

Following the public meeting in November 2012, Councillor Ruth Wilkinson posted the following update:

Transport grant for Headington

The county council is spending most of Oxford’s £5m transport grant from the Government on the Headington area. Its original plans were:

  • To expand the Thornhill Park and Ride by the addition of 500 spaces (£1.8m)
  • To create a new outward-bound bus lane on London Road in Headington towards the ‘hamburger’ roundabout (£500,000)
  • To establish two new low-carbon bus services connecting Thornhill Park and Ride with the John Radcliffe and other hospital sites, and the city centre (£1.2m)
  • To set up a “Boris bike” cycle hire scheme at the Thornhill Park & Ride (funded by part of the remaining £1.5m, which will also be used to promote the county’s car-sharing scheme).  Cycle hire will also be adopted at the city’s four other Park & Rides if it is successful.
New entrance to JR: change in plans

The John Radcliffe Hospital obtained planning permission in September 2012 to build a new “welcome centre” costing £3m to £4, bridging the gap between the main hospital and women’s centre and including shops and a café. A second application submitted in 2013 has now been approved: this is to vary condition 2 of the permission to include a reduction in height and scale, change of material and a reduction in the number of retail units

Barton West will be built around this sub-station. Ruskin Fie... on Twitpic

Barton West

Barton West has been approved by the full city council, and an outline planning application will be submitted in the spring.

For background and more detailed news, please see the separate page:

Barton West development

University of Oxford developments on Old Road

Park Hospital site

The outline planning application submitted by the University of Oxford relating to the integration and development of the 28-acre Park Hospital site (which it now owns) with its Old Road Campus in Headington was approved at the East Area Planning Committee meeting on 8 January 2013.

The application comprises the following:

Demolition of existing buildings on application site. Outline planning application (fixing details of access) for the erection of 48,000sqm of class D1 research floorspace and ancillary facilities on 2 to 5 storeys over 5 building plots as an extension to University of Oxford Old Road Campus. Provision of 459 car parking spaces, cycle parking, hard and soft landscaping and boundary treatment.

Existing Old Road campus

On 3 August 2011 the city council’s East Area Planning Committee approved an earlier planning application by the University of Oxford for a new £57m development on its Old Road campus. The decision was called in to be reviewed and was again approved on 31 August 2011, and work is now well under way.

Holy Trinity Church

Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry will not proceed with the proposed extension, and are looking at other plans:

Recently approved planning applications for the church are 12/01594/FUL (Laying out of tarmac drive with resin bonded surface between churchyard and Quarry Road) and 12/02031/CAT (Felling a larch tree in the churchyard).

Coppock Close

Another outline planning application (12/03053/OUT) relating to the area to the rear of 1–9 Coppock Close submitted in November 2012 has been refused. This is for “Demolition of two garages. Erection of 2 x single storey, one bedroom detached dwellings with provision of private amenity space, 2 parking spaces and cycle and bin storage.”

Outline planning permission to demolish the block of eleven garages to and erect three single-storey one-bedroomed bungalows was refused in March 2012 (11/03287/OUT) .

New development in Bury Knowle Park

The planning application for ten flats at the former city council depot site at Bury Knowle Park was approved on 16 April. This is in addition to the new homes planned on the old barn and stables site.

Cancer Research Centre for Headington

A new £138m cancer research centre will be built near the Churchill Hospital.

Bury Knowle Park: Stables & Barn

Bury Knowle Stables & Barn are now under offer (offers in excess of £450,000 were invited):

The East Area Planning Committee approved plans on 6 September 2012 to convert these buildings into three two-bedroomed dwellings: 12/01605/CT3. (An earlier application was withdrawn pending a decision by English Heritage.)

The buildings belong to Oxford City Council, which is currently selling off its redundant property.

Stephen Road

Nos. 10 and 12 Stephen Road and adjacent garages have been demolished, and eight new homes are being built. Planning permission was granted in December 2008 (08/01961/FUL) for: “Demolition of existing property to create 4x3 bed houses, 3x1 bed apartments and 1x2 bed duplex apartment. On plot car parking. Retention of existing commercial unit and parking at rear.”

Planning application 12/01926/FUL for a new house at 7 Stephen Road was refused on the grounds that (1)  it would be a discordant and contrived feature in the street scene and (2) there has been no field evaluation in respect of the Anglo-Saxon cemetery near the site.

Headington Hill Park: Dairy Lodge,
and adjacent buildings

This group of buildings comprising (1) the house called Dairy Lodge, (2) the adjacent barn and former public toilets; and (3) the workshop and garage have been sold for development, following the granting of the planning permission detailed below for the latter two. The whole site was marketed by Kemp & Kemp at a price of £1,150,000.

Dairy Lodge

This was owned by the city council until 2008, when the widow of the last tenant was forced to move out in order to “secure Dairy Lodge as a public asset”, which was sold shortly afterwards to a private individual:

Dairy Barn and toilets

Plans to convert Headington Hill Park’s toilet block into a studio apartment and the adjacent old dairy barn into two one-bedroomed properties (11/00283/CT3) were approved at the Area Committee meeting of 17 March 2011. The site was then sold by the city council for £200,000.

Workshop and garage

Portico Property were granted planning permission (12/00155/FUL) in 2012 to convert the workshop and garage of Dairy Lodge on Headington Hill to form 1x1 bedroom dwelling and 1x2 bed dwelling.

All Saints Road developments

Depot on All Saints Rd/New High St corner

This city council site has been sold for £150,000, and planning application 12/01112/FUL for the erection of a two-storey building comprising three flats (2x1 bed 1x2 bed) with ancillary amenity space at was approved at the East Area Planning Committee meeting on 14 August.

Outline planning permission for the demolition of the existing building next door to 70 New High Street and the erection of two two-bedroomed flats was approved in 2011 (11/00774/CT3), after an original plan for three flats was withdrawn.

All Saints Road/Lime Walk corner

The house at 73 Lime Walk has been renovated and sold, but the old buildings in its back garden (facing All Saints Road) and the large warehouse behind (accessed from Lime Walk) were demolished in January 2012. These buildings were the former Burton’s dairy shop (which once housed Highfield Post Office) and its loading shed.

They are being replaced by two x 3/4-bedroom houses fronting Lime Walk and a two-storey office building fronting All Saints Road. This relates to planning application 11/00648/FUL by C. G. Burton and E. L. Woodhead for 73–81 Lime Walk. In April 2013 amendment 13/00174/FUL to that permission was approved

Headington Hill Conservation Area Appraisal

The public consultation on the draft appraisal closed on 24 July 2012 and the revised draft was approved by the City Council’s East Area Planning Committee on 10 December 2012.

Bayard’s Hill Primary School

Redevelopment

Planners “raised no objection” application 12/01542/CC3 for the demolition of the existing teaching wing, gym, kitchen and circulation to the west of the existing school hall and the construction of a new single-storey admin and kitchen extension, a new music entrance, a new two-storey KS2 infill block, a new KS1 extension, and a new foundation-stage extension.

In addition there would be a new pedestrian access on Bayswater Road. Altered pedestrian and cycle entrance on Waynflete Road, a new pedestrian and cycle entrance on Waynflete Road adjacent to the vehicular entrance, a new parking area for the Schools Music Service utilising the existing vehicle entrance, and the creation of a new hard games court adjacent to the playing field.

Academy?

Bayard’s Hill is one of the ten named primary schools likely to be turned into sponsored academies because they have consistently fallen below government standards.

Social housing on Manor Ground site

Feltham Construction started work on building 27 flats on the Manor Ground site in week beginning 16 January 2012, and a year later they are ready for occupation.

At the Headington Ward Focus meeting on 19 June 2012, the suggestion of Blackburn Close for the new development was agreed. Mrs Blackburn (the mother of Mrs Barbara Woodhouse) lived nearby at Sandfield (now the site of Horwood Close).

The hospital planning application for the Manor Ground site that was approved back in 2001 included social housing, but originally the developer only built the “unsocial” flats. Approved planning application 10/00952/FUL was finally submitted in April 2010 by the Greensquare Group Ltd for the social housing element (27 flats with 20 car parking spaces in two three-storey buildings).

Other approved planning applications
  • The Crown Group newsagent at 99 London Road has been granted planning permission (12/00681/FUL) for “Erection of single-storey rear extension to provide additional retail space, store and staff facilities”.
  • Flats & office at Dring’s. The application for “Renewal of planning permission 08/01282/FUL for the erection of a 3 storey building providing 2x Class B1 (business) units at ground floor with 2x2 bedroom flats, 1x1 bedroom flat and 1x3 bedroom flats with shared amenity courtyard” by Neil Richens for the old Dring’s bus garage site was approved on 8 August 2011. These plans were originally approved in August 2008, but planning permission now expires after three years. B1 is office (other than financial services) use, with a permitted change to B8 (storage and distribution) use. (Two earlier sets of plans for the site which included more flats were rejected.) Richens Mobility occupied the site until 22 July 2006, when their workshop suffered a severe fire. They moved to the Roundway, but now appear to be closed.
  • Jacobs and Field: Planning application 11/01013/FUL by Jacobs & Field at 15 Old High Street for “Demolition of rear storage area and construction of A1/A2 unit, with 2 flats (1x2, 1x1 bed) above” was approved on 26 May 2011.
  • New Guest House: Planning application 12/00950/FUL to turn 228 London Road into a guest house has been approved.
  • The Black Boy at 91 Old High Street has been granted planning permission (12/01801/EXT) to extend the time limit for application 09/01218/FUL, approved in July 2009, for “Change of use of first floor to provide 5 en-suite guest bedrooms and a studio flat. New external door to replace existing window and new external fire escape”.
HMO legislation now in force

Since 24 February 2012 Oxford City Council regulations have required hat a house with just three or four unrelated occupants is licensed as a House in Multiple Occupation.

This is in addition to the prerequisite that such a house must have C4 planning permission, which is unlikely to be granted in side-streets saturated with student housing.

All landlords should have registered by now, and the city council is currently surveying small HMOs prior to granting licences. These are awarded subject to modifications being made within six months (e.g. a cooker now has to have a work-surface on each side; there must be a wired in smoke-detector on each floor and a heat detector in the kitchen; the kitchen area must be fitted with a fire door; and where the front door can be double-locked, a box with key and hammer has to be attached to the wall).

Phone mast applications

Headington has numerous mobile phone masts, and the link below shows all recent applications.

“Charity” clothes collections

Despite having so many charity shops, central Headington has since 2006 been targeted by commercial firms asking people to give all the spare clothes they have for them to sell to the poor.

Some charities have now linked with these commercial firms, but they only get a proportion of the proceeds.

Directory of Headington & Marston websites

Headington city council ward

City councillors David Rundle and Ruth Wilkinson have a website with news relating to the central Headington ward. As their ward includes most of the central shopping area, it will also be of interest to people in other parts of Headington.

Bike repairs

Bob Williams, formerly of Headington’s G. H. Williams, is still doing bike repairs from home in central Headington: tel. 01865 762664 or mobile 07962 896 663. He has fifty years’ experience of repairing bikes and is strongly recommended.

Computer repairs

Bridus Computing are strongly recommended: they arrive on a motorbike (so fewer parking problems) and do the work in the evening.

Public art in Headington

Public Art Map

Oxford City Council listed the following in Headington on their Public Art Map, published in 2011:

Horspath Driftway Sculpture

A £6,700 bronze disc-shaped sculpture has been approved for land at the corner of Horspath Driftway and Blackstock Close.

   

Twitter

For up-to-the-minute information:

follow @HeadingtonNews on Twitter

Events in the near future

Radio Oxford Big Tour is in Headington
Monday 20 to Friday 24 May 2013

The Radio Oxford Breakfast Show, Phil Gayle and Friends, has stories from Headington every day between 0700 and 0900

Malcolm Boyden will be doing his show live from the Farmers' Market from 1000 to 1300 on Friday 24 May.

arrowSee Events page for
full details (times/venues)

Tuesday 21 May: Second public meeting about a Neighbourhood Plan for Headington: everyone invited

Friday 24 May: Headington Farmers' Market (with Radio Oxford)

Sunday 26 May: Celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of the ordination of Rev. James Cocke, Vicar of All Saints'

Tuesday 28 May: Headington Ward Focus Meeting

The 2013 Headington Festival is in Bury Knowle Park on Sunday 2 June: book your stall now

The C.S. Lewis Festival is in Headington Quarry in September: events booking has started

Headington welcomes Abacus College

Office entrance

Abacus College (a small independent school, which also includes the Oxford Language Centre) has taken over the two floors of offices at Victory House (above Londis at 116–120 London Road, with entrance in Windmill Road) for educational (D1) use. These offices had been vacant since November 2010.

Abacus College was based at Threeways House in George Street from 1992 to 2012. It was founded 40 years ago as St Aldate’s College and is part of the David Game College group. It has between 120 and 150 students, two-thirds of whom attend at any one time.

Barton Road Cricket Ground planning application

Thomas Homes have submitted a planning application for the Cricket Ground in Barton Road: this is for the erection of 30 residential units (8 x 4 bed houses, 17 x 3 bed houses, 2 x 2 bed flats and 3 x 1 bed flats) together with access road, 51 car parking spaces, 60 cycle parking spaces, public open space and landscaping

As soon as the draft plan had been agreed by the city council in December 2011 Thomas Homes announced its hopes for the Barton Road Cricket Ground (which it wrongly described as being in Barton Lane):

Windmill Road flats

Another planning application has been submitted by Ivor Rhys Ltd on behalf of Haseley Homes Ltd for the rear of 82, 84 and 86 Windmill Road, next to Norton Close. This time it is for “Erection of 2x3 bed dwellings and 1x2 bed dwelling (Class C3) in terraced block with associated bin and cycle stores”.

Their appeal against the refusal of their former plans for a two-storey block of five flats and three terraced homes was dismissed on 21 January 2013.

Cartridge World: Appeal launched by William Hill

William Hill has launched an appeal to the Secretary of State against the City Council's refusal of planning permission for the former Cartridge World shop at 106 London Road for “Change of use from retail unit (Use Class A1) to licensed betting office (Use Class A2). Alterations to side elevation and shopfront”.

William Hill have also put in two planning applications for:

The shop has been closed since June 2011 and was available to let with Liggins Thomas for £30,000 per year.

In 2012 Costa Coffee was refused planning permission for mixed A1/A3 use at this shop in 2012 because it was contrary to Policy RC4 of the Oxford Local Plan:

Notwithstanding this refusal, two other applications from Costa Coffee for physical changes to the shop were approved:

  • Two sets of internally illuminated fascia lettering: 11/03205/ADV
  • New shop front: 11/03106/FUL
    Including new doors, and windows facing Kennett Road

Work to increase the floor size from 77sq.m to 126sq.m. by extending over the yard at the back, (following the approval of the earlier application 11/02506/FUL submitted by the landlord) came to a halt early in 2012.

Windmill School to expand

Oxfordshire County Council has agreed that Windmill Primary School will have a three-class entry, making it the largest primary school in the county.

The consultation on the County Council's proposal to expand Windmill Primary School closed on 6 February 2013:

Repatriation tributes in Headley Way

Members of the Royal British Legion always hold tributes outside St Anthony of Padua Church as the funeral cortège passes along Headley Way, and members of the general public are welcome to join them.

Since March 2008 war dead from Afghanistan have passed through Marsh Lane and Headington on their way to the John Radcliffe Hospital (which houses the special armed forces department of pathology). Headington has held 130 repatriation tributes for 272 members of the services who have died.

There is a campaign for a memorial to be put on the roundabout at the Final Turn to the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Sign up on the official Oxfordshire County Council website to be notified of repatriation dates and times:

Public Art at EF in Pullen’s Lane

EF’s application 11/00034/VAR to to vary the requirement (under the granting of planning permission 07/02499/FUL) that they must provide public art was refused on 7 March 2011.

They then submitted application 13/00284/VAR to legitimize the delay and to reveal their design for a marble seat inside their grounds (the former Plater College). The former part of the application was approved on 12 April, but the public art shown on the plans was not approved.

Warneford Meadow

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has expressed an interest in buying Warneford Meadow, and has pledged that if it gains control of the site it would honour a deal that allows the Friends of Warneford Meadow to maintain it.

This public land (which is now a Town Green and protected from development) was first put up for sale by the Department of Health in mid-2012.

Armed raid at Lloyds TSB Headington

Police called for witnesses to an armed raid at Lloyds TSB Bank in Headington at 9.53am on Monday 21 January 2013.

This is the Greggs pigeon (about to be shoo'd out again)... on Twitpic

Pigeon at Greggs

The pigeons roosting on top of the charity shop next to Greggs are causing a problem: at least one of them regularly enters through its open doors, and each time this happens the shop has to close and throw away food.

Click on picture for larger version

Radio Oxford story

Oxford Mail, 25 January 2013:
“Pesky pigeon puts food store in a flap”

Former Caffe Corsica (Pizza) shop

The Caffe Corsica (Pizza) which opened in August 2012 in the former Caffe Toscano shop at 113 London Road closed in  January 2013. The shop and flat above are now for sale.

This shop (which is classified A1 retail) was empty from October 2011. The former leaseholder was planning to sell the business to Martin’s estate agents, but the city council planning department told Martin’s that they would have to apply for planning permission for change of use, and that previous applications for A2 (office) and A3 (café) had been refused: 11/02344/PDC.

The shop was formerly the Chef’s Pantry, followed by La Plaza (which closed in 2004 when it failed to get a certificate of lawfulness (04/00942/CEU) authorizing its A3 café use); the Copacabana Café; and latterly the Caffe Toscano (which, despite its name, was deemed to be retail by the city council).

Headington centre’s shops in 2013

New shops in 2013

  • Da Root Afro-Caribbean groceries moved into the former Africare hairdresser at 5 Simon House, Windmill Road near the end of 2012
  • D. L. Hancock Ltd opened in February in the former Laura Loves Flowers shop at 126 London Road. They are the only independent family-run funeral directors in Oxford, as S. & R. Childs were taken over by Dignity earlier this year.
  • Oxford Furniture Warehouse opened at 83 London Road on 9 April 2013 in the former Today’s Local shop, which closed in October 2010.

Shops currently vacant

  • Caffe Corsica (Pizza), 113 London Road closed in January 2013
  • Cartridge World, 196 London Road, closed on 9 June 2011. It is to let again, following the refusal of change of use to a coffee shop, and a planning appeal by William Hill bookmaker's is awaiting a decision
  • Oxford Design (122a London Road) closed on 22 October 2012 and is to let
  • Ripples Bathroom Showroom (138/140 London Road) is currently closed as the franchisee has given up the business
  • Blockbusters at 73 London Road closed down on 20 March 2013, and it is likely to reopen as a branch of Morrison's.

Retail shops and the Local Plan

The Local Plan is designed to protect the Headington shopping centre. No café or takeaway (A3/A5) use should be granted until the number of A1 (retail) shops at ground-floor level rises above 65%. Hence planning applications by coffee shops (A3) and offices (A2) are being turned down.

The link below gives further details about recent applications and appeals as well as similar applications in the past:

Sites and Housing Plan

The Sites and Housing Plan was adopted in February 2013

The Consultation on the Sites and Housing Development Plan ran from 10 February to 23 March 2012:

Although this plan no longer included Headington Car Park, there are still another 21 Headington sites on the list.

C. S. Lewis Jubilee Festival 2013

Holy Trinity Church in Headington Quarry is holding a festival to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of C. S. Lewis in September 2013

Bury Knowle House/Library

The county council has approved the renewal of its planning applications for an extension for wheelchair access to Bury Knowle House: R3.0005/12 on 2 April 2012 and and R3.0004/12 on 18 October 2012. This follows the approval of the associated city council applications 12/00064/CC3 and 12/00063/CC3.

Meanwhile the city council’s leisure department is moving out of Bury Knowle House, where it occupied the first floor.

Student rooms for Cavalier pub site

Demolition of the Cavalier pub at 148 Copse Lane started in week ending 27 April 2012: picture. This pub was built in 1957 to serve the Northway estate.

A planning application by property developers I & O Ltd for “58 ensuite student rooms with shared facilities and warden’s room on three floors” was approved in 2011 (11/01681/FUL). This does not include the shop that was part of the earlier approved application (10/03215/FUL).

Profiles, interviews, and articles

Howie Watkins

Oxford Mail profile of Headington’s Howie Watkins
(former Really Wild Show presenter now in charge of Orinoco)

Jacobs & Field

Social Pantry interview with Jacobs & Field

LYE VALLEY

Article by Judy Webb about Lye Valley

All Seasons Guest House cannot expand

All Seasons Guest House in Windmill Road has been refused planning permission for “Change of use of outbuilding (use class B8) to form guest accommodation and alterations to existing guest house (use class C1) to create 8 bedroom guest house (use class C1) with ancillary works including parking and cycle provision”.

Google StreetView for Headington

If you go to GoogleMaps you will find that there are new StreetView images for Headington that were taken over the summer of 2012 (month of image varies and is given at the bottom of the screen).

Recycling bins in Headington Car Park

Oxford City Council has replaced some of the larger bins in Headington car park near Waitrose with smaller ones to make more room. There are now 14 recycling bins there, some of them provided by charities.

Jack Straw’s Lane to become “bicycle street”

The County Council has agreed on a £70,000 scheme to make the section of Jack Straw’s Lane between Doris Field Close and Staunton Road the first bicycle street in Oxford, with a line down the middle separating two wide cycle lanes. Drivers are expected to wait behind cyclists instead of overtaking them. Work is expected to take place in November.

Closure of gap in A40 near Risinghurst

Oxfordshire County Council started an experimental closure of the crossover gap in the central reservation of the A40 London Road dual carriageway at its junction with Collinwood Road on 21 May 2012. This will last for 18 months .

See more details in the notice of the Order in the Oxford Times of 17 May 2012, p. 204, and documents with full particulars at Bury Knowle Library or County Hall.

EF Academy in Headington

The EF International Academy, based at Cotuit Hall on the west side of Pullen’s Lane, is a school for 16–18-year-olds on two-year residential courses studying for A-levels and the International Baccalaureate. (It should not be confused with the older EF Language School on the east side of Pullen’s Lane.)

At the moment Cotuit Hall is used only for teaching, but it will be expanded to accommodate 350 boarding students in 142 bedrooms (with between one and three students per room). West Waddy unveiled their plans to redevelop the Cotuit Hall site at two open community events on 2/3 March and 20/21 April 2012, and planning application 12/01106/FUL was submitted in May 2012 for “Erection of 3 new buildings on 3 floors plus basement to provide teaching, residential and ancillary accommodation, together with underground common room to frontage. Refurbishment of existing Marcus and Brewer buildings, including alteration to existing elevations. Provision of new pedestrian footpath from Pullens Lane”.

A Headington Hill Umbrella Group (HHUG) has been formed by local residents:

EF bought Cotuit Hall (which previously housed 102 Brookes students) from Oxford Brookes University in 2011.

Headington Junior School

Plans for the extension of Headington Junior School were approved at the East Area Planning Committee on 3 April 2012, and work is currently underway.

The plans (11/02528/FUL) comprise: “Construction of two-storey entrance foyer. Single storey extension to form kitchen. First-floor extension to provide store and teaching space. Two-storey extension to provide cloakroom. New entrance lobby at rear with canopy over library.”

Storybook Tree

The base of the Storybook Tree in Bury Knowle Park is rotting, and the sculpture may have to be put on a new base.

Islamic Studies Centre

The new Islamic Studies Centre on the Marston Road is now due to open at the end of 2013. More than £50 million has already been spent on the building, and another £25 million has now been found.

In 2012 the Centre for Islamic Studies made an offer to the City Council for Harcourt House on the Marston Road for student housing

Two new planning applications were approved in 2011:

  • Provision of five CCTV pole-mounted cameras (11/00818/FUL)
  • Display of 3 x freestanding flagpoles and 1 x flagpoles on wall bracket (11/00795/ADV)
Current building work at Brookes

On 18 March 2010 the full city council approved Oxford Brookes University’s revised plans for the redevelopment of its site. (The plans had been called in following approval by the City Council’s Strategic Development Control Committee on 24 February.)

The brief description of the plans is “Erection of new library and teaching building (NLTB) consisting of lecture theatre, library, teaching accommodation and social facilities, plus linked extension to the Abercrombie building and arcaded building to new entrance piazza to Headington Road” (09/02764/FUL).

Can’t find a news item?

Older news items are moved to separate pages. Links to news pages from 2001 to 2013 can be found at the foot of this page.