Clarion Weekly, 16 August 2024

This week's top stories

A plan for a 6,000-home new town – including a new railway station – has been submitted in what would be Oxfordshire’s largest ever single housing development, creating a town larger than Wallingford, Henley or Thame.

Heyford Park is built on the site of Upper Heyford airbase, in the triangle between Banbury, Bicester and Kidlington, and already has over 1,000 homes. Full story in a Clarion long read.

Trains from Oxford to Milton Keynes Central, starting next year, will take just 44 minutes – a journey that can take up to 2hr by car. Although passenger services will not start until late 2025, the slots have been set out in the new timetable starting this December.

East-West Rail services will run every half hour, with a typical journey being Oxford 1339, Oxford Parkway 1346, Bicester Village 1355, Winslow 1406, Bletchley 1417, Milton Keynes Central 1423. Chiltern Railways will operate the service using modern two-car trains borrowed from the West Midlands.

Around the city

• The chosen bus for Oxford Bus Company’s annual Brand The Bus competition has emerged from the paintshop: it’s “very, very pink” and, for the first time, electric. The winning charity is Oxford Hospitals Charity, which raises funds for the city’s NHS hospitals. Oxford Bus Co’s electric fleet is now in daily service across the city, including open-top tourist buses. Stagecoach Oxfordshire has only rolled out a small number of vehicles, usually on the 1 route to Blackbird Leys. OBC ordered 104 electric buses while Stagecoach will have 55.
• Drivers travelling across Littlemore Roundabout say white lines were repainted wrongly after recent resurfacing. According to a thread on Oxfordshire County Council’s FixMyStreet site, one eastbound lane is marked differently on the approach vs the roundabout itself. One commenter explained: “The right hand lane clearly says you can go straight on, then when you get on the roundabout the arrow changes to right turn only.” Another: “I was going straight in the third lane, but was forced round the roundabout again by a driver next to me.”
• Oxford City Council leader Susan Brown said that the behaviour of a Traveller group who stayed at Court Place Farm, home of Oxford City FC, and South Park was “unacceptable” after a significant quantity of debris was left at the sites. Round Table volunteers assisted City Council staff and Thames Valley Police in the cleanup.

University & research

• A flexible light-absorbing material developed by Oxford University scientists matches traditional solar panels in energy efficiency. Researcher Dr Junke Wang said “It promises more solar power without the need for so many silicon-based panels or solar farms.” The new material could be applied as a coating to building and car roofs, the backs of mobile phones, clothing or rucksacks. 40 Oxford researchers are currently working on photovoltaics and particularly this material, “thin-film perovskite”. Full story here.
  
• Researchers at Oxford University have linked climate change to infectious disease transmission, and claim that poor countries in Asia and Africa with the least contribution to climate change are suffering its worst effects. They are calling for integration of climate risk assessments into national health planning, particularly in low and middle income countries. Climate change can cause displacement which exposes migrants to diseases to which they have little or no immunity. The study, published in Nature Climate Change, says the path forward requires a concerted effort to enhance global health security, promote climate justice, and build resilient communities capable of withstanding the dual threats of climate change and infectious diseases. Full story.

Walking and cycling news

• Cyclists and walkers are being asked to make suggestions for improving the network around Wantage and Grove, and Thame. Oxfordshire County Council is asking for ideas for its latest Local Cycling & Walking Infrastructure Plans, which identify a list of desired improvements. Plans have already been drawn up for Oxford and for towns such as Banbury, Bicester and Witney. Ideas can be posted by dropping a pin on a map hosted on OCC’s website.
  Wantage & Grove: https://letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/wantage-lcwip
  Thame: https://letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/thame-lcwip

Trains and buses

• Network Rail has released a plan showing how utility cables are being re-sited under the Botley Road rail bridge. It says there are 32 cables from five companies, which are routed through ducts installed earlier this year – and which have capacity for future expansion. Other work underway at present includes clearance for the new walkway on Roger Dudman Way, and removal of asbestos from the former Turbo Ted’s Nursery site. Once this is complete the riverside footpath under the Sheepwash Channel railway bridge will reopen.
• Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has written to CrossCountry Trains saying “Your passengers have been suffering from a substandard service for too long”. The Oxford–Banbury operator recently announced it was cancelling eight trains on the route, reducing it to an hourly frequency. She added: “I do not find this level of service provision acceptable, nor do I find a three-month reduced timetable to be a satisfactory response. Given your inability to run a full timetable […] I had little choice but to approve this request.” She has requested that the company draw up a “Remedial Plan”. CrossCountry’s franchise does not end until 2027, which would make it the last operator to be nationalised, but this could potentially be stripped earlier if it fails to run its contracted services.
• Plans to close two level crossings near Kidlington have been put on hold. Network Rail says it is “deferring” the closures of Sandy Lane and Green Lane crossings because fewer freight trains are running, thereby reducing the risk of collisions. The foot crossing at Tackley station will remain closed, with the bridleway and cycle route diverted a short way to the south under an existing underpass. A new footbridge with lifts will be installed at the station.
• Oxfordshire County Council leader Liz Leffman has called for a half-hourly service on the Oxford–Worcester railway. She said: “Housebuilding along the line is scheduled to increase significantly. The line’s infrastructure needs to keep pace and preferably outpace this change.” Currently the line from Wolvercote to Hanborough and Charlbury is single track. Cllr Leffman continued: “The single track stretches of the route, signalling around Worcester, and other constraints prevent the true potential of this line being unlocked. The period immediately following a general election, with a new rail minister in place, is the perfect time to raise the profile of the line among decision makers at Whitehall. At the county council we are determined to give people viable options to use public transport.” Full story.

This weekend

• Dine’n’Devour on Broad Street is a travelling food and craft festival with “delicious international street food stalls and plenty of drink choice”, open all weekend.
• Waterperry Opera Festival concludes this weekend with Rossini’s Barber of Seville and the ever-popular Last Night at the Opera. Details and tickets.

Dates for your diary

• Modern Art in the Clarendon Centre: 24 August-1 September. A series of participatory workshops while Modern Art Oxford’s main site is closed for renovation.
• Cowley Road Carnival: 1 September, 11-5 pm. Details.
• Septembersong music festival at Braziers Park, Wallingford: 6-8 September. Tickets.
• Oxford Open Doors: 14-15 September.
• Illustration workshops at the Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock: 23-24 August. More details and booking for adults and children.

Notes from Clarion HQ

It’s been a quiet news week (so hello to the reporters from traditional media who’ve alighted upon us as a good source for stories!). They don't call it “silly season” for nothing.

We’ve been taking the opportunity to beaver away on a series of long reads for when everyone’s back from holiday. No spoilers here, but look out for a run of classic Clarion in September. Many of our ideas come from reader tips – “have you ever thought of investigating this?” – and then off we go down the rabbit hole. Some, we hit dead ends on. But some turn into a five-part massive series… so if there is something you think we should shine a light on, our inbox is always open at news@oxfordclarion.uk.

Last week, we launched our email for subscribers. We know many people are moving away from Twitter but also would still like to keep up with Oxford news. For many of you, this will be the first email you get from us. Hi! We’ll generally send them at Friday lunchtime, but this one is going out on Saturday morning due delays at the electronic sorting office.