Clarion Weekend, 23 January 2026

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. (Image via Oxfordshire County Council.)

Come for the potholes if you like. But there's also election, local plan and Oxpens Bridge news, plus Oxfordshire food producers in Parliament, and the most incredible selection of events to inspire your weekend.

Long reads

Two articles for your weekend reading if you didn't catch them earlier in the week. Very different, both awesome. Enjoy.

Spring is on its way. Our resident garden expert Amandine Lepers-Thornton has 10 easy ways to make your garden wildlife-friendly. Even in January.

Roads outside schools, residential streets, and the city centre thoroughfare of St Giles all feature in Oxford’s ten worst roads for speeding. We take a look at the data.

This week’s top stories

The Government has confirmed Oxford City Council elections will go ahead this May, as will those in West Oxfordshire and Cherwell districts. (Elections are not due in South or Vale districts.)

Postponement to make room for council reorganisation had been debated but opposed by most city councillors. After Government requested clarification on Oxford’s stance, council leader Susan Brown reiterated in a letter on Tuesday morning that “we are happy to proceed with the elections in May”.

(That sound you hear is printers across the county firing up, ready for leaflets. Let the canvassing begin! Good luck to all candidates. May your shoes be comfy and letterboxes at waist height.)

“Oxford needs homes” – but maybe not quite so many? After Oxford City Council’s Local Plan was turned down by Government inspectors in 2024, its new one drastically reduces the estimate of new homes needed, from 1,416 per year to 1,087.

The new plan uses the Government’s ‘Standard Method’ for calculating housing need, rather than the bespoke method with which the planning inspectors took issue. It now estimates that 21,740 new homes are needed by 2045, of which the City Council says only 9,267 can be built in Oxford – leaving the neighbouring districts to find 12,473.

Major housing sites already agreed in the current Local Plan include the Kassam Stadium (390 homes), Diamond Place and Ewert House in Summertown (135), Osney Mead (247), Oxpens (450), Redbridge Paddock (200), Sandy Lane Recreation Ground (300), Templars Square (500) and Thornhill Park (402). The new list adds a number of small sites, including Elsfield Hall (27) and Rectory Centre (21), but is largely unchanged. Building on the greyhound stadium and Oriel sports ground were rejected, while Green Belt areas within the city were ruled out for flooding, biodiversity and highway reasons.

Developments of 10 or more homes will be required to include 40% affordable housing and more green features, and publish Community Employment & Procurement Plans to promote local jobs and local businesses.

The plan was approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday and will go to the full council meeting next week. If approved, a public consultation will run from 30 January to 13 March; the plan would then be submitted to Government for examination. Cllr Alex Hollingsworth, cabinet member for planning, said: “The Draft Local Plan 2045 addresses our housing crisis and inequalities across our communities, and responds to the climate crisis, while respecting the city’s heritage. It will shape how our city develops over the next two decades.”

Museum of Oxford (Roger Close); the proposed Oxpens pedestrian and cycle bridge (Oxford City Council); primary kids singing in Christ Church Cathedral (Christ Church Cathedral School).

Around the city

Next week’s Oxford City Council meeting will hear a call to “examine alternatives” to the Oxpens River Bridge, the proposed cycle and pedestrian crossing of the Thames linking Osney Mead to the city centre. The council’s Liberal Democrat opposition says “Government has the option to repurpose the money for use in other active travel schemes”, suggesting a Woodstock Road cycleway, bridge across the A40 at Barton Park, and a bridge over the Thames at Jackdaw Lane as alternatives. The Hands Off Grandpont Nature Park campaign, which opposes the bridge, has called a demonstration outside the Town Hall to coincide with the council meeting on Monday afternoon. They say the bridge is “a pointless and destructive waste of resources… an Oxford University vanity project”.
Separately, the decision to appoint a contractor to build the bridge took effect yesterday, with Jacksons Civil Engineering awarded the £5.4m contract after previous contractors Balfour Beatty pulled out of the project. The bridge would be lifted into position in September 2026 and open in spring 2027.
Baroness Amos, Chair of the independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, is asking women and families to share their experiences of maternity care. OUH is one of 12 trusts currently under a rapid maternity review ordered by the Health Secretary. Channel 4 recently reported allegations against the John Radcliffe Hospital maternity department including that a baby declared stillborn was later found to be alive.
The Museum of Oxford in the Town Hall will begin charging £4 for adult tickets from next Monday. Entry will remain free for carers, volunteers, and people on benefits, and there will be 12 free open days each year. A petition against charging has 1,500 signatures.
180 primary school kids from around Oxford got the chance to sing in Christ Church Cathedral last week. The event was part of the Cathedral School’s outreach programme, which welcomes a different primary school to sing in the cathedral each week – giving pupils an insight into chorister life and encouraging them to feel confident with their voices.

Pothole repair crews (via Oxfordshire County Council); artist's impression of what the community hub in Freeland could be.

Around the county

The number of pothole repair crews working across Oxfordshire has more than doubled, from 7 to 16. The County Council blames the current glut on “heavy rainfall and then colder weather from mid-Dec into Jan, which created a cycle of freezing and thawing—perfect conditions for creating new potholes”. OCC says the larger potholes require substantial repair methods, which are more labour intensive and reduce the number of defects that can be fixed in a day. 97% of repairs are now permanent fixes, which are cut square, joint sealed, filled, and compacted. Over 37,000 potholes were fixed last year. A Facebook posting yesterday by Conservative councillor in Carterton, Simon Watson, said “Looks like the team are working hard across Carterton today!” with a list of potholes fixed.
A new commuter hotspot could be on the cards with plans to build 600 new homes by Hanborough station – just nine minutes’ journey time from Oxford. An early-stage application would see the area south of the station, currently arable fields, developed for housing and open green space. The plans envisage “vehicular (all modes) access from Lower Road and Regent Drive”, suggesting that the existing Regent Drive estate to the north could become part of a through route from Eynsham to Hanborough – avoiding a dangerous T-junction and two narrow bridges. The plans would also provide a cycle link from the new cycleway planned for Lower Road, connecting Hanborough to Salt Cross Garden Village and Eynsham. An EIA Screening Opinion Request, the first stage in the planning process, has been lodged with West Oxfordshire District Council. We wrote about building new houses next to railway stations in a long read last August.
The village community of Freeland, near Hanborough, looks to have won out in its bid to turn the former Methodist church into a community hub and cafe. Planning permission was awarded this week, while the organisers say they “hope to complete the purchase [from the Methodists] in early 2026”. Two bids to convert the building to a house were turned down by planners. The village’s Community Benefit Society is seeking to raise £339,000 towards the cost, and has issued a tender for running the cafe; the landlord of the village pub, the Oxfordshire Yeoman, has already expressed interest. More details.(The Clarion is delighted to see the hand-painted artist’s impression, and would love more planning applications to have these rather than whatever six-fingered monstrosity ChatGPT might conjure up.)
Blenheim Palace has unveiled a new tour bringing to life the stories, secrets, and scandals of life below stairs at the Palace. It includes a ghostly nanny, rumoured to still dust the corridors long after her death. Admission to the tour is included with a valid ticket. The tour runs until 14 February.
Excavations to install a rain garden to mitigate flooding in the Cattle Market car park in Abingdon have uncovered artefacts dating back to the Roman period. Finds included a large quantity of Romano-British pottery, including a fragment of Samian ware, manufactured in southern Gaul (France). The area was occupied from the early to middle Iron Age and the remains of a late Iron Age and Roman defensive enclosure lies below the town centre. Abingdon Abbey was founded around 676, giving its name to the emerging town. In the 13th and 14th centuries, Abingdon – the historic county town of Berkshire – was an agricultural centre with an extensive trade in wool, alongside weaving and the manufacture of clothing. Cllr Robert Clegg from Vale of White Horse said: “Not only have we been able to make improvements to Cattle Market car park that should help with flooding issues, but it also meant we could discover more of the rich history of Abingdon.”
Eleven community groups are to receive grants for climate projects. Oxfordshire County Council has awarded £12,000 to groups including Sustainable Didcot, where funds will support events on the two biggest risks Didcot faces due to climate change - drought & flood. Cllr Judy Roberts said: “We know that one of the best ways to mitigate against the impact of increased extreme weather is to support activities that empower local groups. We hope these grants will support these amazing local organisations to take climate action.”

The proposed River House in Henley; citizen scientists on the Cherwell.

Competing visions have been unveiled for the former River & Rowing Museum in Henley as the deadline for bids approaches. The River House Henley project seeks to create a family-friendly fitness and wellness venue with gym and pool, while The Museum Henley proposes “the ultimate community space”. The land is owned by Henley Town Council but on a long lease to the trustees of the River & Rowing Museum, with 60 years left to run. The deadline for bids is 29 January.
Didcot has a new Co-op on the newly built Willowbrook Park estate. The convenience store is open from 6am–10pm daily. Unusually for Oxfordshire, it is run by the Manchester-based Co-op Group rather than the local Midcounties Co-op.
Reform UK won yesterday’s by-election on Carterton Town Council for the Rock Farm ward. Results were: Sarah Evans (Ref) 138, Tammy Abarno (Con) 117, Hemashu Kotecha (Grn) 60, Dave Wesson (Ind) 25. (We don’t always report on town council elections, but thought this was an interesting pointer for May’s city and district votes.)
Age UK Oxfordshire has been awarded a new contract to continue delivering its Dementia Oxfordshire support service, to include more educational services, a pilot pre-diagnostic support pathway, and a specialist dementia nurse. Paul Ringer for Age UK said: “Dementia prevalence is rising fast, and demand will only accelerate as our population ages. This partnership gives us the stability to deepen our work with those who need us most."
The River Cherwell is already polluted with metals and chemicals – but from road run-off rather than the Kidlington fly-tip, according to a new study. Oxford-based Earthwatch Europe found that the illegal landfill is “not currently a major source of metal or chemical pollution to the river”. In November, citizen scientists took water samples at one site upstream of the landfill, and two sites downstream. As well as carrying out their own tests, they collected samples which were sent for analysis by specialists.
Nine metals, from arsenic to zinc, were detected at harmful levels. Among the pollutants found upstream were 2‚4-Di-tert-butylphenol, which Earthwatch says is “very toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects”, and methylene chloride, a likely human carcinogen. The upstream site was at the Bicester Road bridge, suggesting road run-off as a possible cause. Claire Robertson from Thames 21 said: “This lovely river is under pressure from so many angles. Everything that washes down a drain eventually ends up in a river. We need to find better ways to reduce our use of chemicals, and use nature-based solutions like small wetlands to capture pollution.” The full report can be read here.
Thames Water has issued a £5.7bn tender to construct the rebranded ‘White Horse Reservoir’ near Abingdon, with a strapline of “a space for nature, a place for people”. It envisages over 15 years’ construction work, with completion in 2043. Thames Water call it a “critical drought insurance policy for the next century and beyond – but also a place for people to use and enjoy for many years to come”. An explanatory note states “The total value is estimated at 2025 prices and therefore excludes any allowance for inflation.” (We wrote a primer on the Abingdon Reservoir last year, and Cllr Andy Cooke explored the subject further in a series of articles.)

Walking and cycling

Eynsham’s new walking and cycling blueprint has been approved. The Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plan includes traffic-free cycle tracks to Botley and Hanborough station, plus improvements to the A40 cycle track towards Witney, upgraded crossings within the village, and maybe even a bridge over the Thames at Bablock Hythe.
Disabled cyclists will be permitted access to Sheep Street in Bicester week-round, although cyclists are otherwise prohibited on Fridays (market day). The decision was taken at the same OCC meeting yesterday.
Oxford’s annual bike sportive, Bike Oxford, has announced its 2026 routes: a 25-miler around Otmoor, 45 miles up the Cherwell valley, and 74 miles into Wychwood and the Cotswolds. It’s on Sunday 21 June.

Wassailing (Oxford City Farm); music for Holocaust Memorial Day (Magdalen College)

This weekend

Wassailing, Saturday, Oxford City Farm. Singing to the trees to encourage a good harvest of apples, with cake and hot drinks. (In Oxford we also wassail bollards.)
Burns Night at the Story Museum (£), Saturday. An adult evening at Oxford’s favourite kids’ museum. Ceilidh, theatre, and poetry.
Music for Holocaust Memorial Day, Sunday, Magdalen College. The Leonore Piano Trio perform a free concert of music by composers murdered by the Nazis.
Term has started and the college chapels are in full flight. It would be invidious to single any one out, so look at the posters on college gates for evensong times and music.

(We had lots more weekend events we wanted to tell you about – Angela Hewitt playing Bach at St John’s, Charlie Mackesy at Blackwell’s – but they’ve sold out. Keep an eye on our new upcoming events listing below!)

The Girl Who Married a Dog (via Story Museum); Alexander Armstrong.

This week

The Breath of the Gods (£) Mon 26 Jan, Blackwell's. Simon Winchester on his new book about wind, as both destructive force and energy source.
The Girl Who Married A Dog (£), Mon 26 Jan, Story Museum (or online). Arctic stories for adults: 'contains descriptions of masturbation, sex, death, and animal cruelty contextualised within a paradigm of mythic narrative, archetype and metaphor.'
'Beyond the Appliances of Art', 27 Jan-26 Feb, Christ Church. Celebrating 150 years of snark, sorry, Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark.
Dear England (£), 27-31 Jan, New Theatre. Gareth Southgate leads the England men's football team to achieve their goals.
Looking After Your Books, Tue 27 Jan, Weston Library (or online). Do you write in your books? Or shelve them by colour? Free advice from Bodleian expert Francesca Galligan.
Autocracy, Inc., Tue 27 Jan, Blavatnik School of Government (or online). Distinguished historian Anne Applebaum delivers a lecture for Holocaust Memorial Day on modern conspiracies against democracy. Free, booking required.
Plus-Minus Ensemble, Tue 27 Jan, St John's College. Experimental electronica.
Rat Noir (£), Tue 27 Jan, The Library. Genre/genderbending cabaret open mic hosted by Ratbrina Carpenter.
An Evening of Musical Comedy with Jack McMinn (£), Wed 28 Jan, Curio Books. Keyboard, ukulele, and jokes beneath Common Ground.
Billionaire Backlash, Thu 29 Jan, Blavatnik School of Government (or online). Why business scandals are good, actually.
People Poems: Portraits in Verse, Thu 29 Jan, Schwarzman Centre. This term's lecture by Professor of Poetry A.E. Stallings (and a chance to see inside Oxford's new Humanities building).
Alexander Armstrong in Conversation (£), Thu 29 Jan, St Barnabas Church. Local comedian talks about 'My Oxford' for the My Jericho series.

Dates for your diary

A selection of upcoming events for which you might want to book in advance.

War in Real Time, Sun 22 Feb, Magdalen College. Free screening of Animals in War, observing the Russian invasion of Ukraine through the eyes of animals, with the director in conversation.
A Century of Sounds (£), Fri 27 Feb, Pitt Rivers Museum. A 'sound shower' and live performances from conch shells to warrior songs.
Inside Diamond, Sat 21 Mar, Harwell Campus. See inside a particle accelerator. Tickets by free ballot.
The Book of Birds (£), Thu 7 May, Sheldonian Theatre. Jackie Morris & Robert Macfarlane in conversation about their latest collaboration.
An Evening with Kae Tempest (£), Thu 14 May, Schwarzman Centre. The performance poet joined on stage by young local and national poets.
Wood, 15-17 May, Braziers Park. The chilled family folk festival.

Books

You’ve read all the books you got for Christmas? We asked Xander from Caper what to read next. (No Amazon links – support your local bookshop!)

Go With The Flo by Andy Roe. Delightful local photography book capturing the many faces of Florence Park in Summer 2025, along with a brief history.
One of our best books of the month is Arborescence by Rhett Davis. People turn into trees. Fascinating, precise and gently haunting cli-fi.
And for the Mini Clarions, a local author and publisher (also known for the Phoenix comic): Where the Dragon Waits by Tom Moorhouse. Ed and Steff are stranded on an island. Can they escape the incredible animals to reach the dragon on the rocky spire and make their way home?

Layla Moran MP with Tap Social in Westminster.

Independent businesses

We’ve had some great suggestions for your favourite indie retailers around Oxfordshire. Do continue to tell us your favourites at news@oxfordclarion.uk – we might make an article out of it.

Independent food producers across Oxfordshire were showcased in Westminster this week at a Taste of Oxfordshire event run by the county's five LibDem MPs. Participants included Oxford's social enterprise Tap Social, Bicester's Sky Wave Distilling Company (home of the World's Best Gin) and Tutu Chocolates of Watlington. Henley & Thame MP Freddie van Mierlo commented: “It is great to have such amazing local businesses showcased here in Westminster – to have them talk to MPs, about some of the issues they are facing but also to celebrate the excellent work that they do.”

And if that's inspired you to go out and support your local producers, a reminder there's a market with local produce somewhere in Oxfordshire every day of the week. Here's our Market Directory.

Cheese news! On Tuesday we reported that the Oxford Cheese Company in the Covered Market is reducing its hours. Would-be customers replied, quite rightly, that they’d love to buy some cheese… if only the shop was open when they weren’t at work. So from February, they’ll be opening until 6.30pm on Thursdays, one of the Covered Market’s late opening nights. We might see you there.

Oxfordshire’s independent media

Bitten Oxford has a guide to the best Sunday roasts. Thin on detail, heavy on pictures; it made us very hungry.
Cherwell has a long read on the time when Oxford became the global centre of conspiracy theories on 15 minute cities. We read it from behind the sofa. (For a rather cheerier take, it celebrates the Alternative Tuck Shop.)
Oxoniensia is a refereed journal covering Oxfordshire history, published annually at a cost of £18. They generously make volumes from five years back free to access, which means the 2020 edition is now open – covering an alternative alignment for Akeman Street, Anglican religious life in 19th century Dorchester, an Anglo-Saxon settlement in Bodicote and much more.
Nightshift's February edition is out with its encyclopaedic gig guide.
Daily Info reviews ‘Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts’ at the New Theatre, asking “Do we need another iteration of a dated character?”
Ox in a Box thinks we do, calling it “a wonderful revisiting of Oxford’s beloved detective”.
The Oxford Blue writes on the politics of the ‘Good Immigrant’.
The Oxford Sausage tells the story of Oxford Marmalade.
Independent Oxford interviews clothes ‘curator’ Amy Williams at Onanon.
And as a bracing weekend call-to-action, The Oxford Student writes “for the love of God, do something useful with your life”.

Notes from Clarion HQ

The Bucks County Beacon – that’s the Pennsylvania Bucks, not the Aylesbury one – isn’t our usual reading. But this outstanding think-piece has made its way across the Atlantic and deserves sharing: Local Journalism Is How Democracy Shows Up Close to Home. Do read it in full. Here’s the crux:

“What often gets labelled as apathy looks different up close. Many people I speak with aren’t indifferent; they’re resigned. They’ve absorbed the sense that nothing they do matters, or that no one is really listening. When that happens, public life shrinks. Engagement gives way to spectatorship, and frustration seeks expression through outrage or grievance rather than responsibility. Local journalism quietly counters that drift by doing something deceptively simple: it keeps the public in the room.”

Flags on lampposts. Potholes on social media. “Frustration seeks expression through outrage or grievance.” It’s all there.

Sometimes it’s hard to make the big stories accessible. We posted about potholes; our replies filled with photos. We posted about fewer new homes being lined up for Oxford and… tumbleweed. But we carry on posting – keeping the public in the room. It’s a delight to have more of you in the room with us every week. Have a great weekend.