Jack Straw's Lane Association

 

  

 

 

Postal Strike - no further action planned before the New Year

 

Statements are posted on the Royal Mail website and updated by them on a daily basis.

 

A postman puts his point of view in an article posted on the London Review of Books website on 24 Sept 2009.

 

National Pandemic Flu Service

 

Useful links  Newspapers, TV, travel, free telephone directory enquiries, post code finder and a lot more.

 

Met Office weather forecast  for Oxford

 

All UK sunrise / sunset times

 

Oxford City Council
Oxford Airwatch

For information on current air pollution in Oxford, click here.

 

Marston Cycle Path flooding information: click here in very wet weather to see if cycle track is passable

 

Thames Valley Police: 

Marston & Northway Neighbourhood newsletter for September

There is now a single number to ring for all non-emergency contact with the police. 

Contact our Neighbourhood Specialist Police Officer for Marston, PC 5901 Jon Shaw on 0845 8 505 505.   Calls to this number will be immediately routed to PC Shaw, if he is on duty.  At other times calls may be dealt with by an ansaphone.

The local police e-mail address is:

MarstonNorthway@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk

You can provide the police with information anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. 

Crimestoppers are NOT part of the police.  They are an independent charity working to fight crime by passing on to the police information that's been given to them anonymously.   If you call them, you will not be asked for your name, address or phone number.   You will be given a code number to quote, in case you wish to call them again to give further information.  You will not be obliged to sign any kind of statement or appear in court.

 

Lost Dogs

 

Gas leaks

If you smell gas and suspect a leak, call National Grid, gas and emergency services on Freephone, 0800 111 999.  Keep a note of this number where you can easily find it.  You are advised to use a telephone outside your home, if the leak is inside your house.

Please do call this number if you suspect a leak.  

 

 

Headington Farmers' Market

 

History of
Jack Straw's Lane

Stephanie Jenkins has a page on the history of the Lane on her excellent Headington website - click here.  If you have any interesting information to add, Stephanie would be very pleased to hear from you.   She can be contacted via the link given on her JSL history page.

 

 

 

 

Last updated 6 Nov 2009

 

 

 
 

 

Friends of Warneford Meadow

The Friends of Warneford Meadow organise fund-raising events for their campaign (the next one will be on 19 November) and have also produced their own 'Apple' mugs, as well as Christmas cards. 

For details click here

 

New Marston Wildlife Group
Fungi foray - Sunday, 18 October

Ink Cap fungus

For details (with slideshow) of this event and of other activities of the Wildlife Group, click here

 

Public Meeting in All Saints Church Hall,
New High Street, Headington on 23 September

The hall was packed for this meeting, which provided a forum for discussion of the major concerns local residents have about the impact of Oxford Brookes University and other large institutions on local communities. 

For notes on the meeting, click here.

 

Oxford Brookes Gipsy Lane Campus
New Student Centre
Application 09/00695/FUL

Planning consent was refused at a meeting of the Full Council on 17 September 2009. For notes on this and on other meetings and articles relating to this application, click here.

 

Government Consultation on HMOs
 (Houses in Multiple Occupation)

Communities Secretary to tighten law

Following notification by another Headington Residents' Association of the above-named consultation (deadline for comments was 7 August 09), a letter was sent off on behalf of JSLA, asking for an amendment of the Use Classes Order 1987, redefining HMOs and subjecting them to planning permission.   Although this would not affect houses occupied by fewer than six people, it would, at least, impose controls on an increase in the density of the occupation of such houses.

Following this consultation,The Guardian reported on 11 September that Ministers were preparing new laws to restrict the 'studentification' of university towns by a change in the Use Classes Order referred to above and to cap and control HMOs by means of the local planning system.

The Guardian article states:

As many as 50 community groups in 30 different towns have been campaigning on the issue

 

 

Wildlife

has a separate page - click here

 

 

Refuse and Recycling
 

For details, including links to information on composting, see the

refuse/recycling webpage

 

BRITA waterfilter cartridges can now be recycled - drop them off at an Argos branch (but please DON'T put them into your blue box/wheelie)

 

The City Council now requires the collection teams to be stricter in applying the rules, so rubbish placed beside or on top of your wheelie will no longer be collected.

 

 

Next collections:

 

Wednesday, 4 November

Blue box/wheelie + green BAG(S)

 

Wednesday, 11 October

Green wheelie and green BOX

 

 

By 2010 Oxford City Council has to reduce the amount of refuse it sends to landfill by 60%; after that time, it will incur a penalty of £150 for each tonne over the new limit.

At present 60% of rubbish that goes to landfill could be recycled.

It takes 24 trees to make just 1 ton of newspaper.

 

New Cardiac Centre
at JR Hospital

 

Official opening on 29 Sept 2009


The new centre will house more than 90 beds and allow for an additional 2,000 patients to be seen each year (over 20,000 cardiac patients per year are treated at the JR at present).  The new unit will create 200 new jobs.

 

See Oxford Times article, 1 Sept 2009

 

New Community Hospital
for John Radcliffe site

 

A new £3 million, 20-bed, community hospital is to be created within the JR, taking up about half of the space on Level 5.
 

Those who have been campaigning for this provision claim that the 20 beds will not be enough to meet the needs of the city's growing elderly population.

 

The former community hospital on the Churchill site was closed last year after a series of outbreaks of the clostridium difficile bacterium.

 

A temporary 20-bed community hospital will open in October 2009 on Level 7 of the JR.

 

See Oxford Times article, 16 September 09.