Clarion Weekend, 19 June 2026

It is midsummer, and for your weekend reading pleasure here is our 'cheesiest' newsletter yet. But if local government re-organisation isn't your jam, we also have the latest on flags, potholes, and other bin fires, together with some incredible events for the sunny weekend and book recommendations for Independent Bookshop Week. Now read on ...

This week’s long read

Is Oxfordshire marching towards a three-council future? Not so fast. The Clarion’s Secret Cheesemonger asks if council reorganisation is still all to play for…

Reasons to be Cheeseful, Part 3

Is Oxfordshire’s local government reorganisation all over bar the shouting? The Secret Cheesemonger looks into his crystal ball of Edam… Predicting the near future is usually a losing game. Either you are right, and in retrospect everyone agreed with you and it was obvious all along, or you’re

Oxford ClarionClarion guest contributor

This week’s top stories

A new campus for mental health research is to go ahead at Warneford Park, Headington, after councillors rejected objections to the number of parking spaces. Campaigners claimed that the proposed 546 spaces, up from the current 360, went against Oxford’s Local Plan planning policies.

Oxfordshire Liveable Streets’ Siobhann Mansel-Pleydell said: “We wholeheartedly support the research centre. What we cannot support is the parking. Operational need has been used to justify commercial tenants’ parking. Three women cyclists have been killed at Headington junctions in recent years.” Cllr Nigel Chapman (Lab, Headington Hill) asked whether residential accommodation and biotech startups were “essential or nice to have, because they’re driving the parking increase”. Officers replied: “The research building is fundamental in the hospital’s case to HM Treasury and securing funding.”

For the developers, John Rhodes said “There is an onus on us to make sure the car parking is the minimum necessary to ensure successful functioning.” He said Oxfordshire County Council had pushed them to minimise car use, and as bus and active travel improved, parking could “reduce over time”.

The plans include cycling improvements such as a protected Cyclops-style junction, but Headington Liveable Streets’ Hannah Kirby noted: “The active travel improvements are limited to just outside Warneford Park. The trouble with Headington is that there are no good safe cycling routes to the site.” Cllr Ian Yeatman (Ind Ox Alliance, Cowley) queried the £5m active travel spend, saying “Are we happy that that is the most appropriate use of this funding?” New Green councillor Ahalya Bala (St Clements) said “It feels incredibly sad to weigh up mental health benefits against these 186 car spaces.”

The development includes a new mental health hospital, a research centre, and a new graduate college for the University of Oxford. After a two-hour meeting, the councillors of the Planning Review Committee voted in favour of upholding the development, with 7 for, 2 abstaining. OLS says the decision “signals that Oxfordshire’s ambitious policies can be negotiated away”.

Raise the Colours is being taken to the High Court by Oxfordshire County Council, in an attempt to stop “the continued unauthorised placement of flags on or near the public highway”. OCC is seeking a civil injunction, after it issued a formal legal notice in March. The hearing will take place on Tuesday.

Council leader Tim Bearder said: “We are proud of Oxfordshire’s diverse communities. We proudly fly the Union Flag and St George’s flag at County Hall, but there’s an important distinction between lawful expression and activity that puts people at risk or intimidates residents in their communities.”

Opposition Conservative leader Liam Walker queried the use of council funds. “Many people will struggle to understand why the council believes this is the appropriate moment to escalate matters through the courts. Residents will rightly be asking whether this is really the best use of public money.”

OCC says Raise the Colours has directed “abuse, intimidation and harassment” at both Oxfordshire residents and council workers. We looked at RTC and the criminal background of some of its Oxfordshire organisers in a long read in March.

Around the city

• While much of our reporting is on metaphorical bin fires, ODS are reporting an actual bin (lorry) fire, in Blackbird Leys, due to an item incorrectly placed in the recycling bin. Waste was emptied out over the road (and subsequently cleared) to prevent the fire spreading. No one was injured.
• Of course, the city’s largest bin fire was on Wednesday against the presence of a far-right agitator at the student debating society on St Michael’s Street. Scheduled for 8.30pm, the debate finally got underway at 10pm, with reportedly under 100 people staying in the chamber to the end compared with some 500 protestors at the peak. We are choosing not to give the society the publicity it desperately craves, but the sign above encapsulates our thoughts. We will say that the city felt very much like a tinder box and we were glad that the night ended peacefully.
• Tuesday is crunch time for the Bertie Park development in south Oxford. Oxford City Council’s OX Place arm wants to build 31 affordable houses on the current green space, off Abingdon Road. The car-free development would include a replacement Multi-Use Games Area, and access improved to an existing open space to the west.
       Thames Valley Police have objected, saying the new games area is too close to houses, and that the open space area lacks surveillance. But the main objections are led by a local group, Save Bertie, who argue “housing does not outweigh the need for a recreation ground”. They say the park is well used by local children: “It is often the first place that children are allowed to go on their own… It would not be safe to leave a small child on [open space] site B.” Their calculations suggest the playground area will be cut by 78%, in the face of growing demand from new housing nearby. The decision will be taken at Tuesday’s 6pm planning meeting.
• New rescue equipment and water safety signs are to be installed at six points on Oxford’s waterways by the City Council: Tumbling Bay, Longbridges, Hinksey Lake, Fiddlers Island, Wolvercote Mill Stream and Sunnymead Park. The signs will be installed by the end of this month. Deputy leader Cllr Anna Railton said: “Several injuries and deaths have occurred in recent years on Oxford’s waterways. There are risks from uneven surfaces, cold water shock, strong currents and submerged objects. I hope these new signs will help people to understand the dangers of wild swimming.”
• A proposed closure of Oxford’s gynaecology counselling service is “penny pinching of the worst order”, according to union Unite. It says that Oxford University Hospitals has been planning the closure since April, but that the consultation is now on hold. The service provides support to around 80 women each week. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This is a unique service operated by dedicated workers, which provides vital support to women in Oxfordshire.” It has asked people to write to OUH in support.
• From clean bodywork to clean power: BP is applying to take out the car wash at their Woodstock Road petrol station and replace it with four electric vehicle charging bays. The company says the charging hub will “reduce CO2 emissions from road transport, and oil dependency as a transport fuel”.
• The busy Oxford–Kidlington A4165 road is set for a redesign, with Oxfordshire County Council commissioning a study from consultants. Housing developments and OUFC’s new stadium are expected to increase pressure on the road, where cyclist El Len Tham was killed at the Oxford Parkway junction in 2022. The study will look at walking, cycling and bus provision between Kidlington and Cutteslowe roundabouts, as well as options for new development and placemaking, including a “highly investible future modern mobility hub” at Oxford Parkway. The Government-appointed Oxford Growth Commission identified Oxford Parkway as a site where parking could be “consolidated” (perhaps with a multi-storey car park) to release land for housing and commerce. OCC says the aim is “a coherent and consistent set of proposals for the corridor”.
• West Oxford for Affordable Housing will hold its inaugural meeting at West Oxford Community Centre on June 24 to call for the remaining land in the Botley Road Retail Park to be earmarked for affordable housing instead of labs and offices. The Environment Agency has classified the land as brownfield flood zone 3, where the City Council has agreed that some development can be acceptable. Housing would require an “exception test” to be approved. WOAH question why the city plans to build on green spaces instead of brownfield sites. Oxford City Council has already been forced to delay voting on its 2045 Local Plan by campaigners who obtained a High Court injunction to block building on Iffley Meadow.
• The Wolvercote and Wytham Midsummer Festival kicks off tomorrow with a circle dance which ''invites dancers to think about the thread that bind us all". Weekend events include the 'Scrufts' dog show & a summer serenade. It's far too busy for us to cover everything. But we do have to mention a fungi walk in Wytham Woods, a jazz kitchen, more dancing, several parades, houseboat tours, the Big Knit, and the relaunch of the Wolvercote Hub with a Big Hub Launch Party on Thursday evening.

• 60 young scientists from 13 Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire primary schools tested their curiosity and ingenuity at the Big Science Event at Science Oxford Centre, Headington on 16 June. They tested chocolate, parachutes, water filters, and flowers versus veg. The Big Science Event, in collaboration with the national Great Science Share for Schools, inspires children 5 to 11 to ask scientific questions, design investigations and draw conclusions. They proved that you are never too young to make a discovery. Head of Education and event lead Daniel Scholes said, “Seeing the science questions that pupils have about their world is always eye-opening, and observing teachers supporting them to find answers for themselves is truly inspirational. 

Around the county

• Botley West Solar Farm remains on track for a September decision, after the Government turned down a request from the developers for more time to answer queries. On 22 May, Photovolt Development Partners wrote asking for an extension so it could fully answer concerns about landscape and visual impact, particularly around Cumnor. The original deadline was 9 June. At the last minute on 8 June, the Government replied saying the developers had been given enough time already.
       With 89 new items of correspondence published in the space of a week, your Clarion writers can only apologise for skimming the surface. But our overall impression is that national bodies like the Environment Agency, Network Rail and Natural England have been largely contented with the assurances given by Photovolt, as has the University of Oxford. Local councils are seeking more reassurance, and Green Belt campaigners remain hostile. We wrote about Botley West in a long read as well as publishing a rebuttal from campaigners against the site.
• What's the best way to fix potholes? Oxfordshire County Council's highways contractor M Group has trialled 15 different repair methods along a stretch of Banbury's Wildmere Road industrial estate. Results will be monitored over the next two years. The Clarion team went looking in to potholes (and why this winter has caused so many) in a long read.
• With high-20s temperatures forecast this weekend, Abbey Meadows Outdoor Pool in Abingdon is opening a month earlier than planned. Operators Better are now taking bookings. It is the last of Oxfordshire’s municipal pools to open this summer.
• Tick-tock! Blenheim Palace’s famous Turret Clock is in for repair with specialist clockmakers the Cumbria Clock Company. Originally installed in 1710, the mechanism behind the clock face is being cleaned and repairs to the bells and pulleys made.
• A new £300,000 paediatric audiology facility, including a bespoke soundproof room, will open in Banbury’s Horton Hospital in October. Currently, children from North Oxfordshire travel to the JR for asessment and treatment.
• Police are appealing for witnesses after a young child sustained serious injuries after being hit by the rider of an illegal electric motorbike in a Banbury playground. Two men from Banbury, one aged 18 and the other 34, have been arrested following the collision in Ruscote.
  Although Thames Valley Police described the vehicle as an “electric bike”, the charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and driving with no insurance, imply an illegal electric motorbike. E-bikes are legally restricted to assistance below 25km/h and may not have a throttle.
  For Thames Valley Police, Joe Clamp said: “Any collision involving a young person is particularly harrowing, but I would like to thank those that came to the aid of victim at the time of the collision, including the South Central Ambulance Service.”
• ICYMI: Free Sunday morning park yoga sessions across South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse returned in May, with more than 2,200 participants across the last few weeks rolling out their yoga mats at 9.30 am in Abingdon, Thame, Botley, Didcot, Faringdon and Henley. The sessions are funded by the two district councils.
• 12 volunteers were honoured at OCVA’s Volunteer Celebration Awards during an “emotional yet uplifting” event. Jenny Bowley, Deputy CEO of OCVA: "These awards give us the opportunity to recognise and celebrate the extraordinary people who quietly give their time, skills and energy to support others." Read more about OCVA and volunteering in Oxfordshire in our previous article.
• Community wardens in Banbury now have the power to require anyone committing antisocial behaviour to leave the area for 24 hours. There were 140 reports of antisocial behaviour since the original Public Space Protection Order; wardens believe the problem persists because of street drinking groups. Cllr Nicola Borkmann said "Even low-level antisocial behaviour can be intimidating and distressing to witness. This latest step gives us an additional tool to tackle a small minority of persistent offenders, and protect our
  lovely town centre for the benefit of the whole community.”

Local government cheese news 🧀

Plans to create a Thames Valley-wide super-authority, sitting above elected councils, have collapsed after concerns from Oxfordshire County Council’s LibDem leadership that the scaled-down offer from the Government would have “substantially fewer benefits for local communities”. The authority would have included Oxfordshire and Berkshire, with the potential inclusion of Swindon remaining a sticking point.

The Government had originally proposed a Thames Valley authority with an elected Mayor, but in February downgraded the offer to a ‘Foundation Strategic Authority’ without direct elections – positioned at “a stepping stone towards mayoral devolution in the future”.

Tim Bearder, the new LibDem leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: “I support giving local communities more control over their own destiny. What I do not support is Whitehall dictating a geography that makes little sense and then telling local leaders it is our decision. The offer has been downgraded to a Foundational Strategic Authority with very limited powers, very limited funding and no meaningful answer to the question of how it will improve the lives of Oxfordshire residents.”

Another LibDem leader, Bethia Thomas of Vale of White Horse, said: “There is a risk that such an arrangement would add a layer of complexity to local government, without making a meaningful difference to our area.” She was backed by South Oxfordshire and Windsor & Maidenhead. The LibDem leaders of West Oxfordshire and Cherwell district councils, however, have dissented and said they still support a Foundation Strategic Authority. 

Labour said the LibDems were “delaying much-needed local investment”. Oxford City Council leader Susan Brown said: “The County Council has overturned 18 months of work on a whim. It’s disgraceful.” Her counterpart in Reading, Liz Terry, said “Our residents are at risk of missing out on investment that would have been transformative for the region.”

Meanwhile, county councils lobbying for ‘single unitary’ councils – where district and county services would be combined into a single authority for the whole county – are threatening legal action against the Government for overruling its own advice. In Essex and Norfolk, civil servants reputedly warned that splitting the counties into smaller authorities would be less sustainable, but Secretary of State Steve Reed chose the smaller model anyway – with the Times writing that “his preferred boundaries would increase housebuilding around cities”. 

Sixteen county leaders have now written to the Government questioning “the integrity of the decision-making process”. Oxfordshire is not one of the signatories: the decision is due in July and, again, a three-way split is thought to be the frontrunner.

(If you're new here and puzzled either by the cheese metaphor, or indeed the entire local government reorganisation, your rabbit hole starts here.)

Walking, cycling and boating

• The Oxford Canal was closed to through navigation this week at Thrupp, near Kidlington, after a “vehicle incident” at the lift-bridge which gives to the popular Annie’s Tea-Room. The Trust says that, each year, it has to fund £1m of repairs to historic canal bridges “after they’ve been damaged by reckless drivers… in most cases these are hit-and-runs, leaving the charity unable to recoup its cost from drivers’ insurers”. It now uses AI-assisted CCTV in some locations. The Thrupp bridge has now reopened.
• Hundreds of children took part in the family ride for Thame's Sportive on Sunday. Children as young as four cycled on their own bikes on a 13 km circular ride. "It was wonderful to be part of it and see cars giving way to a stream of jubilant children", said local resident Cathy Gaulter-Carter. 🚲

This weekend

• Wensleydale Whey (£pay what you feel), Fri, Oxford Science Park. A cheesy show from a theatre troupe who tour by narrowboat (with more Oxfordshire shows at the end of July).
• Finstock Festival (Fri/Sat), near Charlbury. Music, beer. Worth it for the chilling directions alone: “The S3 from Oxford takes about 52 minutes to get to the ‘Fawler Manor’ stop, and from there it's a short walk up Dark Lane.”
• What Would You Do Alone in a Cage with Nothing but Cocaine? (free), Sat, Blackwell's. 'Philosophy in the Bookshop' considers addiction.
• Uptonogood? Mountain Bike Festival (£), Sat, Upton (near Didcot). Off-road rides from Little Wheels to Endurance.
• SaxoFest (free/£), Sat, Benson. All-saxophone band the Sax Bandits present 150+ saxophones. Free afternoon shows and classes with ticketed evening concert. Did we mention the saxophones?
• The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade (£), Sat, Goring Fire Station. New musical about Girton students fighting fire.
• FloFest (free) & GloFest (£), Sat, Florence Park. Food, music, kids' activities, and a dog show in the afternoon; then more music and DJ sets with a laser lightshow.
• Duruflé: Requiem (£), Sun, Sheldonian Theatre. Ben Nicholas conducts the Oxford Bach Choir, returning to Duruflé's smoky, meditative Requiem and other French religious pieces.
• The Long Day Closes (£), Sun, Mansfield College. The Cherwell Singers perform pieces for evensong and compline as well as secular songs of the night.

This week

• Oxford Windrush Festival (free/£), Fri-Mon. Discovering African and Caribbean culture in the UK on the theme 'Where Are You From?'
• The Ruskin Degree Show 2026 (free), Fri-Wed, Bullingdon Road/Marston Street. Graduation pieces from Oxford University's fine art students.
• Bleak Week (£), Fri-Wed, Ultimate Picture Palace. The community cinema curates the 'cinema of despair', including a Father's Day screening of Oldboy.
• Julius Caesar (£), from Mon, Oxford Castle. Lend your ears to Shakespeare's political tragedy.
• Oxford Pride Big Swim (free/booking), Thu, Hinksey Pool. First of five inclusive swimming sessions sponsored by Oxford City Council.

Oxfordshire’s independent media

• The Isis puts the boot into 'Tommy Robinson'.
• The Oxford Blue catches up with the Oxford Capoeira Society.
• The Oxymoron reports on Oxford's 'small punts crisis' and advertises the anniversary Brexit Ball.
• The Bodleian Libraries read same-sex Islamic love poetry for Pride Month ...
• ... and The Oxford Sausage tells the story of New College through the personal story of one of its guides.
• Cherwell frets that women are excluded from startup culture.
• Ox in a Box reviews Jericho’s backstreet Pizza Club.
• Independent Oxford has gift ideas for Fathers’ Day.
• And in The Oxford Drinker, an American sociology professor brings his students to experience British pub culture.

Books

It is Independent Bookshop Week, and as every week we encourage you to visit your local bookshop. Xander Cansell from Caper has some of this week's recommendations.

• Land – The peerless Maggie O’Farrell's 10th novel, set in the aftermath of the Irish famine. Maps, folklore and family. Epic and richly textured.
• To Entertain – writer and gourmand Jago Rackman explores the very specific magic of a great dinner party. The art of good hosting.
• The Blue Tomato by Amber Aü. Blu is a tomato, but he doesn’t fit in. His frustrating project to turn himself red starts to teach him a thing or two.

This week we also have a book tour review, with thanks to correspondent Hugh Warwick.

• Robin Ince is on a perpetual tour, as described by a Clarion correspondent: “The comedian, poet, and contender for ‘kindest human’ of the year visited Caper bookshop on Magdalen Road on Tuesday to talk about his latest collections Let the Quiet Ones Rise and Ice Cream for a Broken Tooth. It is never going to be a linear narrative, an evening with Robin. His ADHD brain whizzes from the strength of Greta Thunberg and Jane Goodall to the fragility of some variations of masculinity (not going to mention the unmentionable who is in town at the Union). It is easy to see why he is loved by those who still consider empathy a quality to be respected. Keep an eye on his website for a chance to see him – it is definitely worth your time.”

Bonus book recommendations this week for your TBR pile:

• The director of Tooley's Boatyard in Banbury has published Forging Ahead, a history of the (nearly) 250-year-old dry dock on the Oxford Canal.
• Quad has its monthly roundup of books by Oxford authors.
• And John Garth, author of The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, is crowdfunding the costs of his Oxford D.Phil. on The Lord of the Rings. He is offering four named levels of subscription – Tolkien aficionados can work out the connection between them!

Notes from Clarion HQ

For Indie News Week, Joe Mitchell from the Public Interest News Foundation gave a wide-ranging interview to the Association of Democratic Services Officers (the people in councils who make meetings and councillors work properly). The whole interview is worth a listen, but here’s the Oxford bit:

“Something like Low Traffic Neighbourhoods can get very heated and controversial. And what we saw in Oxford was that basically the traditional print media (which relied heavily on getting clicks to its website to sell ad revenues) would deliberately hype up stories and tell more dramatic stories that weren’t necessarily very helpful to actually reach constructive solutions. And you were relying on a few well-meaning volunteer journalists on other titles to try and move things forward, to try and more carefully establish the facts.

“There is a risk that you can get more clicks, and they sell more ads, through negative stories, crime, shuttered shops. And there’s certainly a risk that a national news provider will come and helicopter into a local place and be like, ‘oh, this is a bit shit’, and then helicopter back out to London. We hear local journalists complain about that a lot.”

This has been a week where most stories could have been top stories. Inevitably they all came at the same time. Your newsletter editors would like to extend particular thanks to our growing crew of writers who rushed to the keyboards when the inbox exploded… and to those people who sent stories to the inbox to make it explode. We salute all of you: this week, particularly, we are all the Clarion.