Drains and pavement repairs
have been carried out

The team who came to carry out repairs to the drains and pavements did an excellent job and there should no longer be a problem with a sheet of water covering the road near the postbox during and after heavy rain.

Oxford Core Strategy 2026

1)  JSLA has endorsed concerns expressed by the New Marston Wildlife Group regarding the lack of protection for biodiversity and wildlife corridors offered by this latest version.  

The JSLA comments are based on a detailed submission (about 10 pages long) on behalf of the New Marston Wildlife Group, prepared by Dr Curt Lamberth and Dr Susan Mallett, which indicates shortfalls in protection and highlights incidences of non-compliance with current legislation.

The JSLA comments (form signed by Dr Peter Sargent, Chairman) can be seen  by clicking on the two links below:

Page 1      Page 2

2)  JSLA has supported a joint submission by several residents' associations in Headington and St Clements of additional comments on the Core Strategy, as invited by the  Inspector at the Pre-hearings Meeting  on 2 June (the minutes of this meeting are available via a link from the City Council's website).

These comments relate to the development of Oxford Brookes University - to read them, click here.

Following criticism from the Planning Inspectorate, an earlier version of the Core Strategy (submitted by the City Council in November 2008) had to be revised.  Consultation on the Proposed Changes closed on 15 May 2009.

The amended version is now at the Examination phase.  The Planning Inspectorate has appointed Mr David Fenton MSc DipTP MRTPI as the Inspector in this case. Full details, including representations made by individuals and residents' associations regarding the proposed revisions (see section 'Proposed Changes to the Submission Core Strategy) can be found on the City Council's website, click here

Oxford Brookes Gipsy Lane Campus Change of plan
for new Student Centre

Application 09/00695/FUL

As a result of concerted opposition put forward by Headington residents' associations, Brookes has now offered to reduce the height of the proposed building by one storey, which would take about three metres (10 ft) off its height.  A basement would be added to compensate for the loss of the top floor.  See front page articles in The Oxford Times 18 June and 4 June.  Also Oxford Times article on the protest petition signed by over 1,000 residents - 11 June.

However, as was clear from  addresses made by representatives of residents' associations at a meeting of the East Oxford Area Committee on 17 June 2009, concerns relate not only to the size of this specific building but to the extent of Brookes's expansion over the last 10 years and the effect of vastly increased student numbers on the local community.

Brookes invited representatives of local residents' associations to a presentation of the revised plans on Thursday, 25 June.  In response to concerns raised at this meeting about the university's expansion, Vice-Chancellor Rex Knight said that student numbers had grown by 10% since 1999. 

He said some of the statements published relating to the university's expansion had been based on ‘a misleading use of figures’.  He also said that a decrease had been forecast in the number of 18-year-olds wanting to study at university, partly due to demographic reasons,  partly as a result of the recession and restraints imposed on public expenditure.   However, as the number of UK students declined, there would be some growth in the number of the university's overseas students.  Growth overall would be mainly in post-graduate study.

There is quite a lengthy article on Brookes's development and its plans for the new student centre in the current edition of Private Eye (No. 1238, 12-25 June 2009, page 14).  The author is very critical of the design for the student centre. 

The design was produced by the Winchester-based firm, Design Engine, whose principal partner is Richard Rose-Casemore of the post-graduate department of Oxford Brookes's School of the Built Environment and who, the Eye points out, is also a South-Eastern representative for the Commission for the Built Environment (CABE), one of whose 'Regional Partners' is the Government-funded South East England Development Agency (SEEDA).

The author of the 'Eye' article ('Piloti') does not feel that the development proposed by Design Engine is in keeping with the surrounding area and refers to it as an 'overweening, anti-social project'.

Meanwhile, the architect Lord Rogers, who, according to The Eye, is Mr Rose-Casemore's former employer,  is also in the headlines following Prince Charles's objections to his plans for a series of modern glass and steel blocks on the site of the former Chelsea Barracks, a £1 billion project of the Qatari Royal Family.

Headington Hill Residents' Association had visualisations prepared illustrating the very large size of the proposed building compared with the surrounding houses.  

To see the letter sent on behalf of JSLA objecting to the original application, click here.

Actor Simon Callow voiced his opposition to the original plans: see Oxford Mail article from Thursday, 30 April.

Horse Chestnut trees felled
 in Jack Straw's Lane

On 22 May 2009 two chestnut trees were felled in Jack Straw's Lane.  They were both affected by the moth Cameria ohridella (as shown in picture) and by bleeding canker.  The moth, although it causes damage resulting in premature leaf fall, does not in itself kill trees.  However, bleeding canker, a fungal infection, does.

For photos of trees being felled click here. 

The link is to a Flickr slideshow.  Click anywhere on a photo in the slideshow to turn the captions on or off (not every photo has a caption).  To 'pause' the slideshow, keep the pointer on the caption, then move it away to go to the next photo. Click on the 'Options' tab to change the speed of the slide show. 

Confirmation of permitted development - installation of Vodafone base station on
St Michael's Church

A letter from Oxford City Council's Planning Control and Conservation Department (29 May 2009), has confirmed that this installation does not require planning permission. The decision therefore lies with the Parochial Church Council.  

However, it is doubtful whether the PCC will eventually agree to having a mast installed, as it is aware of local opposition to similar applications in the past.

The Vicar of St Michael and All Angels, the Rev Elaine Bardwell, has explained that the mast currently being considered would not be as powerful as the one that was proposed last time.

The church would receive about £6,000 a year, if the mast installation went ahead.  This money, the Vicar said, would be available for community projects.

A survey of residents' opinions in the lower part of JSL (ie nearest the proposed mast) has shown that two are against the mast on health grounds, two are in favour and two don't mind either way.  In view of the divergence of opinion among those who would be most affected, it was agreed at the JSLA AGM on 25 April that any opposition to the mast should be registered by residents individually on their own behalf.