Clarion Weekend, 22 May 2026

Cllr Louise Upton hands the Mayoral Chain to Lord Mayor Chewe Munkonge. Photo by Roger Close.

Councils, cabinets, closure orders. Quarries and quiet lanes. It's been an eventful week in Oxfordshire: here's what you need to know…

This weekend’s long(ish) reads

Every bookshop in Oxford, listed. From Blackwells to Barkers, Caper to Curio, and many more: new, secondhand and remaindered. We enjoyed researching this one.

Oxford has a new Mayor, Chewe Munkonge – the first black Lord Mayor of Oxford. Our photographer Roger Close attended this week's mayor making ceremony.

This week’s top stories

NHS staff and teachers are to get free bus travel and Park & Ride parking in Oxford, funded by the city congestion charge. The plans were agreed at Tuesday’s Oxfordshire County Council cabinet meeting, which heard that schools and hospitals accounted for 42% of workplace parking within the ring road.

The plans envisage “free weekday P&R parking” and “free or discounted bus travel on relevant routes” for NHS employees (all year) and state and private school employees (term-time only) whose main work base is in Oxford. Speaking at the meeting, Oxford Bus Company MD Luke Marion welcomed the plans.

New ‘hospital express’ buses will be introduced, running fast from the Park & Ride sites. Free buses from Park & Rides will continue, reconfigured slightly as a £3 combined parking/bus ticket. The congestion charge will also fund cycling and walking safety improvements across the city.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has agreed that Government ministers will look at pollution near the former Upper Heyford airbase. Local MP Calum Miller asked for the intervention at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, saying “Gallos Brook has the highest concentration of forever chemicals in the country.”

Miller spoke of health symptoms suffered by his constituents and their animals. He asked “Will the Prime Minister ask the Environment and Health Secretaries to meet my constituents and me to explore what more can be done?”, to which Starmer replied “Yes, I will; I will ensure that the detail is looked at, and that appropriate steps are taken.”

In his answer, the Prime Minister also paid tribute to the victims of the Bicester Motion fire one year ago. “I know that the thoughts of the whole House remain with the families and colleagues of Martyn, Jennie and Dave, and I know that he [Miller] has done a lot to support them.”

Councils and cabinets

It’s Annual Meeting season, which means there has been a lot of council news this week. With councillors retiring (or failing to win re-election), there are new faces on all the cabinets.

Oxfordshire County Council has confirmed Tim Bearder as the new leader of the Liberal Democrat administration, following Liz Leffman stepping down. At a council meeting this week, he secured the role with 30 votes, vs 12 for Conservative leader Liam Walker and 10 for Labour’s Liz Brighouse.

We live-posted the meeting on our Bluesky channel, where you can see the scathing reaction of opposition council members, called back at short notice to vote for a new council leader after a full council meeting the week prior. A second successive cabinet reshuffle in short order saw responsibility for transport split between Gareth Epps (active travel, bus, rail, parking and traffic management) and Liz Leffman (highways maintenance – yes, potholes – and major road schemes). Bekah Fletcher takes adult social care, and Judith Edwards local government reorganisation.

In his speech, Cllr Bearder said OCC had to get better at “explaining what we are doing and why we are doing it”, adding: “We live in a world of toxic clickbait, so I want to thank responsible journalists in Oxfordshire – like the Oxford Clarion and my friends who do a great job at the local BBC.” (Aw, shucks!)

Oxford City Council has also announced its new cabinet, with Mike Rowley taking on rented accommodation and homelessness; Mark Lygo health and leisure; and planning policy moving to Anna Railton.

West Oxfordshire District Council and Cherwell District Council call their cabinets ‘executives’. We’re not sure why. Anyway, WODC’s LibDem/Labour/Green coalition has announced its new executive: Andy Graham and Duncan Enright remain as leader and deputy, with Liz Leffman taking on planning and infrastructure.

On Cherwell, the LibDem/Green coalition continues. Lesley McLean has been appointed leader, becoming the first woman to lead the authority in over 30 years. Chris Brant has been appointed deputy leader. Outgoing leader David Hingley takes finance, Ian Middleton housing & greener communities, Rob Pattenden has property & assets and Lisa Smith takes leisure.

The TOAD stills are set to be fired up again (via Oxford Spirit)

Around the city

Stand Up To Racism’s Oxford group has called on student polemics society, the Oxford Union, to withdraw its invitation to Tommy Robinson. SUTR’s Ian Mckendrick said: “This is not about freedom of speech, but whether a prestigious institution gives a platform to a fascist to spout hate.”
‘Robinson’ (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) is expected to appear at a Union debate next week on Islam, for which it promises “leading theologians, activists and political figures”. Robinson has convictions for assault, fake passports, and mortgage fraud. In her introduction, Union president Arwa Hamin Elrayess writes: “The Union is most meaningful when it allows those without power to speak back to those who have it.”
The Oxford-based Imam of Eton College, and the Bishop of Oxford, have also issued a joint statement calling for the Union to withdraw its invitation to Robinson. Bishop Steven Croft and Imam Monawar Hussain write that “Those who are temporary residents in our world-leading university and who lead the Oxford Union have a duty of care to the many thousands of Muslims, Jews and others of different faiths in the city.”
The mothballed distillery at South Park has taken further steps to re-opening. The Oxford Spirit group have announced the reacquisition of the original stills, along with all the TOAD (The Oxford Artisan Distillery) trademarks and intellectual property. We covered the fight to revive the distiller in two long reads (part 1, part 2). They plan to reopen TOAD in 2027 and are currently looking for investors.

Union and Ukrainian flags outside the Radcliffe Camera. Photo via the Oxford University Ukrainian Society.

Residents of Oxford including Ukrainians marked Vyshyvanka Day on Friday with a gathering in Radcliffe Square. The day originated as a celebration of traditional embroidered clothing, but has evolved in to a day of remembrance, unity and cultural heritage, as well as support for Ukraine during the war.
Oxford City Farm have announced the birth of two baby goats. Their mother was the first goat at Oxford City Farm, donated by Norton & Yarrow Cheese. The farm runs volunteer goat tending programmes and the new arrivals can be met on Saturday, during the farm's normal opening hours.
Closure orders have been imposed on three flats in Cowley following reports of drug dealing. The orders prohibit anyone from entering the properties on Pound Way and Between Towns Road. They remain in place for three months, until August. For Oxford City Council, Cllr Lubna Arshad said: “These closure orders follow months of serious, drug-related anti-social behaviour on the part of tenants of these flats and their associates. It will bring respite to the residents of the flats who had put up with nightly disturbances.”
A “serious mouse infestation” has been cited as the reason for the March closure of legendary Jericho takeaway, Peppers’ Burgers. City Council inspectors found a dead mouse behind a freezer, large quantities of droppings in the kitchen, and droppings on shelving used to store food wrapping paper. Magistrates said that the behaviour of owner Ali Ashraf during the inspection was “not acceptable” and that he “did not demonstrate an understanding of the seriousness of the risks identified”. The business has now reopened and is said to be “broadly compliant”.

Work could start later this year on the 800-home development at Water Eaton. Housebuilder Bellway is working on the site, joining up Cutteslowe and Oxford Parkway station on land owned by Christ Church. £7.7m will go towards building a new primary school, with a £5.9m contribution to secondary education, £6.5m for transport, and £2.2m for sports facilities. Half the homes will be ‘affordable’. A detailed planning application for infrastructure will be submitted in the coming weeks. For Christ Church, Wilf Stephenson said: “Sustainability has been central to the design of this development from the outset. We look forward to seeing a community built here that benefits both the people who live in it and the environment around it.”
The closure of the Cottesmore Road footbridge over the southern bypass means Rose Hill Junior Youth Club can no longer bring children to their allotments, according to director Aimee Winkfield. “Walking the alternate route alongside the busy bypass is too risky for children under 11, and the route through the underpass into Littlemore would take too long.” She says that Oxfordshire County Council has told the club that the footbridge may not reopen until November 2027, meaning that alternative transport will need to be found – “which will have a significant financial impact on us as a small charity”.
An Oxford-based community interest company to support neurodivergent people launches on 2 July. Set up by Andreia Costa, a mental health researcher with ADHD whose daughter has autism, the CIC brings both personal & professional experience together. You can register online for the launch event.
New videos have been released by Oxford University Hospitals to help women and their families through pregnancy. Created in conjunction with patient group, the Maternity Voices Partnership, they cover different aspects of pregnancy, labour, childbirth and beyond. Sophie McAllister, consultant midwife, said: “I'm really grateful to the team and families who worked with us to help identify issues that were of concern and then helped us to provide easy-to-understand information.” OUH maternity care has been under scrutiny of late: we looked at the data behind the headlines in a deep dive earlier this year.

Around the county

Two quarries have received the go-ahead from planners in rural Oxfordshire. At Whitehill Quarry, between Burford and Carterton, Smiths of Bletchington are building a large extension for limestone aggregates; the existing site has been largely worked out. At Cholsey, meanwhile, plans for a new quarry at White Cross Farm have been allowed on appeal. Oxfordshire County Council had originally refused the application by London Rock Supplies. Conditions include no Sunday working, and HGV limits. Wallingford Town Council said it was “disappointed”.
Turning right across traffic is to be banned at a notorious accident blackspot on the A40 in West Oxfordshire. From 1 June, a ‘no right turn’ prohibition will prohibit cars pulling out across the single-carriageway road to head west, towards Witney. Explaining the restriction, Oxfordshire County Council says: “The steady and relatively fast flows along the A40 result in few gaps to pull out into safely, while the lack of a right turn filter lane can make vehicle drivers feel vulnerable when waiting to turn towards South Leigh.” From the summer, the new slip roads at Shores Green, Witney, will provide an alternative route. The restriction is being trialled for up to 18 months before a permanent decision is made.
Old Speckled Hen, the beer first brewed in Abingdon and named after an MG car, has been sold to a Barcelona-based company by owners Greene King. First brewed in Oxfordshire in 1979, it moved to Bury St Edmunds in 2000 when Greene King closed the Morland Brewery. Damm UK, the British arm of Estrella Damm, has bought the brand and plans to move production to their Bedford brewery which – in the confusing world of corporate ale – has recently been owned by Charles Wells, Youngs, Carlsberg Marstons and Carlsberg Britvic. The MG Car Club explains that Old Speckled Hen was named after a 1972 prototype called the “old speckled ’un”, used as a runabout in the Abingdon car factory. The beer was first brewed for the plant’s 50th anniversary: two days later, management announced its closure.

Quiet Lane signage near Wallingford; the "Green Road" byway proposed for winter closure. (Photo by Andrew Smith at geograph.org.uk, CC-BY-SA).

Walking, cycling and boating

‘Quiet Lanes’ – rural roads that are closed to through motor traffic – are to be trialled across Oxfordshire. The County Council is looking for 10 pilot locations, to be suggested by parish councils, where an alternative route already exists for cars.
This week's Oxfordshire County Council cabinet meeting agreed the policy after hearing that signage-only schemes, asking motorists to slow down, hadn’t worked. One candidate for the new policy will be Shepherd’s Pit Lane near Stanton St John, where cars can use Bayswater Road instead. New council leader Tim Bearder said villagers and residents of the road supported the plan, adding that it would provide a safe location for Oxford residents to walk and cycle. The meeting heard that other parish councils had asked OCC to close rat-runs where “horrendous” collisions had occurred.
Two green lanes near Wantage could be closed to motor traffic due to “repeated and severe surface damage during wet winter periods”. Oxfordshire County Council is proposing a year-round closure on a byway out of Letcombe Regis, and an October–April closure on the byway west from Windmill Hill. The consultation rather ambitiously says that use of the rural byways “will continue to be permitted for […] powered mobility conveyances, highway maintenance vehicles and refuse collection”. Responses are open until 12 June.
The bike cooperative Broken Spoke is looking for creative volunteers to brainstorm ideas to make their workshop space more inviting, including planning more building signage. If you have strong opinions about interiors and design and like bikes, register your interest.
Henley’s Thames Traditional Boat Festival, the biggest boating event in Oxfordshire, has been cancelled with the organisers blaming “new Environment Agency requirements”. They say recent works have made the Fawley Meadows site unstable and muddy, and that expensive new pontoons would be required. The organisers said: “It is with enormous sadness that we share the postponement of this year’s Festival. We know how disappointing this is for our supporters, volunteers, boaters, exhibitors, bands, caterers and partners. We will be back in 2027.” The event had been scheduled for 17-19 July.

Designs have been published for the new walkway at Marsh Lock, on the Thames at Henley, which has been closed for four years due to structural deterioration. The closure has left a gap in the Thames Path, forcing a three-mile diversion.
The Thames Path Partnership will launch a crowdfunding campaign this summer to help cover the cost, and hopes to secure Lottery funding and corporate donations. The Environment Agency says: “The Marsh Horsebridge is an extremely important recreational asset, and a valued heritage asset. However, it does not provide any operational purpose for the Environment Agency. Like other public sector organisations, we are facing difficult choices due to funding constraints, including reducing and stopping activities for which we do not receive funding for.” Feedback is welcome until 31 May.

This Bank Holiday weekend

Good Enough Ancestor, Fri (15.30). Taiwan’s cyber ambassador, civic hacker and erstwhile Perl hero Audrey Tang looks at coding ethics in the AI age.
Encounters with Landscapes (£), Fri, Friends Meeting House. Landscape and folklore: short films and conversations from Oxfordshire writers and archaeologists.
Metamorphoses (£), Sat/Sun, Old Fire Station. Oxford People's Theatre are retelling Ovid after a life-changing diagnosis for one of their actors. Friday night has already sold out.
First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte Sanctuary Choir Choral Concert (free), Sat, Trinity College. Lunchtime concert of gospel and American choral classics.
Witney Pride (free), Sat, The Leys. Parade and festival; protest and celebration. Cllr Georgia Meadows will open the event.
Elmer Day (£), Sat, Story Museum. Celebrating David McKee's patchwork elephant.
Dreamers (£), Sat, Ultimate Picture Palace. A special screening supporting LOCS, Asylum Welcome’s LGBTQ+ group. Written and directed by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Dreamers tells a powerful story of queer love, friendship and solidarity inside the UK immigration detention system.
Lee Miller: A Woman at War (£), Sat (to 13 Sep), Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum. The story of Vogue's war photographer, including her reportage from the Churchill Hospital.
St John's Literary Festival (free/booking), Sat/Sun, St John's College. Puppet theatre, live storytelling and a junior book club, as well guest speakers for the grown-ups.
Space is the Place (£), Sat/Sun, Ultimate Picture Palace. Mystical Afrofuturist musician Sun Ra and his Arkestra bring jazz from outer space.
World Poohsticks Championships, Sun, Sandford Lock (free to watch/£5 per stick). Sadly the Kings Arms is closed for another fortnight, but you can pick up a pastry from Proof.
Open Gardens (£), Sun, Old Headington. The chance to look inside ten gardens including a crinkle-crankle wall.
Abingdon Walks (free), Mon, Market Place. A choice of five guided walks organised by the Friends of Abingdon Civic Society.
Love Barton Opening Party (free), Mon, Underhill Circus. New community space & café set up by a local Christian charity.
This bank holiday would be an excellent time to support local producers at a market near you. Here's our Oxfordshire market directory. We wrote it because no one else had. If you go, snap a photo or two, and we'll update.
And with a heatwave imminent, here’s your round up of pools and splash parks. Open already: Chippy Lido, Hinksey Pool and Splash Park, Banbury Woodgreen, Cutteslowe Splash Park. Opens this weekend: Woodstock Open Air Pool, Wallingford Riverside Park and Pools. Opens later: Abingdon Abbey Meadow is expected to open in July.

This week

Jewish Folk Tales (£), Mon-Fri, Story Museum. Pop-up storytelling in the Whispering Wood for Jewish Culture Month.
Black Horror in 'Post-Racial' America (£), Tue-Sun, UPP & Schwarzman Centre. Five-star horror films: Us, Sinners, Candyman (1992/2021), Sorry to Bother You, and Get Out.
Looking back to move forward, Tue, Bill Roscoe Theatre, Keble Road. Emily Kate Genatowski, who spent a year living with a humanoid robot, examines how history offers a lens for understanding AI.
A Queer Scrapbook (free), Wed, Schwarzman Centre. Lunchtime book talk.
Women and Vaccination (£donation), Wed, Florence Park Community Centre. The history and future of immunology in the latest from Florence Park Talks.
Free Nelson Mandela (free!), Thu, St John's College. Watch the first of this three-part documentary followed by a panel discussion on the anti-apartheid movement.
Perfume Garden (£), Thu, Schwarzman Centre. Oxford Poetry Circle meeting with special guest Diana Bell (sculptor of the book piles in Bonn Square).
Family Fun with the Muses (free), Fri, Weston Library. Meet three of the Muses from the top of the Clarendon Building.
Coming up: Tortoise Fair (£cheap), Sun 7 Jun, Corpus Christi College. Will Aristurtle or Tortilla triumph in the lettuce race?

Oxfordshire’s independent media

Cherwell speaks to a night porter about college life after dark.
This week sees college rowing on the Isis, but the Oxford Student looks towards open water with an invitation to Oxford University Yacht Club.
The Oxford Sausage visits the Oxford Oratory with some stunning photographs.
Ox in a Box visits Grand Cru in Summertown for wine and dim sum.
The Oxford Scientist reports on the race to create element 119.
For the Mini Clarions, Little Oxplorers has a bumper half-term guide and also a heatwave guide and frankly if you have kids this is all you need.
Daily Info also has a half-term guide, with goats.
Bitten Oxford reviews Treadwell with Rosemary Shrager.
Nightshift’s last ever issue recaps 35 years of Oxford indie… with a final revival of the acerbic ‘Toilet Track’ section for the worst demos.

Notes from Clarion HQ

The appointment of a new generation of cabinet members prompted us to reflect: who’d be a councillor?

Most do the job on top of full-time (or almost full-time) jobs. The basic rate of pay for a city councillor is just £5,079 per annum. A Cabinet post comes with an extra allowance, but that’s still pretty miserly – £15,237 for being in charge of one of the most economically vibrant cities in Britain? You’d get twice that as assistant manager of a McDonalds. So too in the rural districts, where Cherwell’s new cabinet members must juggle massive new housing developments while reviving the Castle Quay shopping centre, and WODC’s cabinet have a whole Garden Village to build.

The optics are not great for councillors to demand increased pay. But the evening treks to report back to Nether Binding Parish Council, month in, month out, can be wearing – even before starting on the casework. Would paying councillors more make the role more accessible to a wider range of people? Just a thought.

Anyway, we'll climb off our soapbox now, and return to the serious business of where we're going to swim this weekend. (Thanks to the diligence of Oxfordshire’s councils.) Have a great Bank Holiday and see you on Tuesday for what will likely be a much shorter newsletter.