Clarion Weekly, 26 July 2024

This week’s top stories

Overnight visitors to Oxford’s hotels could be charged a small “visitor levy” to help fund tourism facilities in Oxford. Such a scheme is already in operation in Manchester, but was rejected by Cambridge hoteliers. The City Council has now commissioned a feasibility study.

This would be achieved by setting out an ‘Accommodation Business Improvement District’. The council says it would be “a nominal charge which can be passed on to customers, many of whom are used to such a tax in Europe… it would increase income for city centre improvements”.

The levy could potentially also raise revenue from Oxford’s short-term lets (e.g. Airbnb), which number over 750. The council’s tourism review said “Any plan must capture all providers of commercial paid accommodation, not just hotels.”

Oxford University is to remove Rupert Murdoch’s name from the professorship he endowed, the “Rupert Murdoch Professorship of Language and Communication”. It says the current title is preventing it from “attracting the widest range of candidates”.

It will become simply the “Professor of Language and Communication, endowed by News UK” after his newspaper empire. Murdoch studied at Worcester College in the early 1950s, when he was known as ‘Red Rupert’ and served as assistant editor of the original Oxford Clarion.

Murdoch’s ties were raised during the phone-hacking scandal of 2011 (£), when the University commented “Our full processes of scrutiny were carried out at the time of the endowment.” One academic wryly claimed “We have turned bad money into good.”

Oxfordshire MPs have lobbied the new Government to abandon plans to reopen Campsfield detention centre. The site, near Oxford Airport in Kidlington, was used as an “immigration removal centre” from 1993 to 2019.

Layla Moran (LibDem, Oxford West & Abingdon) and Calum Miller (LibDem, Bicester & Woodstock) wrote to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper: “The Home Office awarded a contract for the controversial work on 31 May, in the middle of the election campaign. Such a sensitive issue should have waited for the outcome of the election. Will you agree to pause the work?”

Oxford City Council’s leader Susan Brown has previously called for the centre to stay closed. In 2022, she said “Campsfield saw hunger strikes, self-harm & even suicide. We call on the Govt to create a fair, humane & compassionate immigration system.”

Oxfordshire politics

• At Prime Minister’s Questions, MP for Bicester and Woodstock Calum Miller asked the Prime Minister to scrap water regulator OFWAT given its alleged ineffectiveness in regulating Thames Water, who simultaneously increased water bills & discharged sewage into water courses. Sewage and Thames Water was a feature of Liberal Democrat (and Miller's) campaigning across Oxfordshire in the run up to the general election.
• Oxford City Council is looking to draw up a City River Action Plan (CRAP) to tackle sewage issues in the Thames. A council motion also declared no confidence in Thames Water, becoming the third Oxfordshire council to do so after Henley and Witney town councils. The motion, introduced by the council’s LibDem group, said: “For too long now, water company bosses have been able to get away with paying themselves millions of pounds in bonuses while dumping millions of tonnes of raw sewage into the River Thames.” The council has now resolved to write to Government calling for Thames Water to be placed into Special Administration, so that its £18bn debts don’t fall on the taxpayer, and for Ofwat to be replaced by a more powerful regulator.
• Oxford Friends of the Earth have written to the new DEFRA Secretary of State and all Oxfordshire MPs urging him to resolve the current problems with Thames Water causing pollution in Oxfordshire’s rivers. Chris Church of Oxford FoE said: “The government needs to show leadership and take control of Thames Water. Without the measures we call for, we are concerned that we will continue to see high levels of sewage in our rivers, with clear health risks for river users.” We reported on the Clean Rivers Festival in May.
• Didcot & Wantage MP Olly Glover used his maiden speech in Parliament to encourage the government to provide truly affordable housing, but accompanied by correct infrastructure including health, education, plus rail, walking and cycling links.
• Banbury MP Sean Woodcock called out the poor experience of Banbury mothers giving birth at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital. Health Secretary Wes Streeting responded that the plan for the NHS was being built listening to patient voices. Banbury’s Horton Hospital has long featured in Woodcock's campaigning: obstetrics and the special care baby unit were moved from the Horton to the JR in 2016 after Oxford University Hospitals Trust claimed they could not recruit sufficient staff.
• West Oxfordshire District Council is attempting to introduce a Community Infrastructure Levy for the fifth time. Small housing developers will have to pay up to £225/sq.m towards community facilities, but large developments from major building firms – at North Witney (1400 homes), East Witney (450), West Eynsham (1000), Salt Cross (2200), & East Chipping Norton (1200) – will not have to pay CIL. Estimates passed to the Clarion suggest this would pass up £45m that could have been spent on community projects. A consultation will be held from July on the CIL charging regime. (We looked at Oxfordshire’s £278m of unspent developer money in a long read in May.)

Cycling and walking news

• A narrow cycle lane on Botley Road could be replaced with a wider one, but which cars are allowed to enter. Oxfordshire County Council is proposing to make the change when it resurfaces the road this autumn. A consultation is open until 9 August. The current ‘mandatory’ lane (solid line, cars prohibited) on the southern side would be replaced with a wider ‘advisory’ lane (dashed line which cars can cross). OCC says this would “improve road safety and the environment for cyclists”.
• Oxford City Council is planning to invest £54,980 to install bike racks in 6 locations in the city centre and East Oxford. The 75 stands are Sheffield 'Bilton' stands with a mid rail, that will hold up to 150 bikes. Funding for this comes from the council’s Cycling Infrastructure Fund which in turn is funded by the Community Infrastructure Levy - a charge on significant developments in the city. The racks are planned for installation in November 2024, following a consultation via Oxfordshire County Council on whose land the racks would sit. They are planned for:
  • Broad Street
  • Brasenose Lane
  • Ship Street
  • Queen's Lane
  • Leopold Street
  • Observatory Street
  • South Parade
• A new map of safe cycle routes around Oxfordshire has been released by Cycling UK Oxfordshire and 60 volunteers. The Oxfordshire Online Cycle Map spotlights car-free and low-traffic routes in rural areas and the county’s market towns, following on from an Oxford-only map of safe routes drawn up by Green councillor Emily Kerr. Robin Tucker, chair of Cycling UK Oxfordshire, said: “A key reason people don’t cycle more is fear of traffic, so this map includes the quietest and safest routes, even if they’re not the most direct.”

Around the city

• Boundary Brook Community Projects, the organisation behind a giant mural in an East Oxford alleyway that locals now dub 'Flower Lane', is fundraising to create a community art trail in East Oxford. 18 neglected telecommunications cabinets will be painted by local artists to brighten up the area's streets. Fundraising link: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/dawn-weller
• Four people have been jailed for running a county lines heroin and crack cocaine operation between London and Oxford, including “cuckooing” a Walton Street resident. The victim was imprisoned and beaten in her own house while it was used as a drugs den. DC Chris Bennett of Oxford CID said: “I would like to pay tribute to the victim in this case for her bravery in coming forward, giving evidence and supporting us throughout this process. I hope that this sentence sends a strong message to others.”
• Barton, Ferry and Leys Leisure Centres are set for upgrades including the introduction of brand new equipment at Ferry and Leys, new spin bikes and an improved studio layout at Leys, plus improvements to the changing facilities at Ferry and more. Works are expected to be complete by September. Cllr Munkonge, Cabinet Member for A Healthy Oxford, said: “This investment reflects our commitment to the health and wellbeing of residents. Whether you are a regular gym-goer or not, these upgrades offer something for everyone.”

• Survey work has started on land between Redbridge Park & Ride and the Weirs Mill Stream, off the Abingdon Road. Oxford City Council hopes to build at least 200 homes on the former landfill site. Developers Hill Group are working with the council’s OX Place property company.
• Oxford University is expanding its Crankstart programme, which provides bursaries to students from lower-income households. It will now encompass outreach, transition support, graduate scholarships, and careers support. A new outreach programme will focus on 14 to 16-year olds in underrepresented areas, starting with those from Bangladeshi and Pakistani backgrounds in Birmingham, Bradford and Oldham. 17% of the university’s full-time UK undergraduates are currently Crankstart Scholars. The programme is funded by Michael Moritz, a venture capitalist and former Google director, and his wife Harriet Hayman, a novelist. Their Crankstart foundation typically gives out $200m a year and formerly sponsored the Booker Prize.

Around the county

• An old railway viaduct in North Oxfordshire has gone up for sale for £50,000. Hook Norton viaduct, on the old Banbury–Cheltenham line, was closed in 1951 and no longer has a deck, just pillars. The stone pillars are up to 85ft tall and each contain up to 2000 blocks. The viaduct is part of a six-acre woodland site within a Conservation Area. Agents Tayler & Fletcher call it “a unique opportunity to purchase a bit of history and some good habitat… With its tax advantages it could offer a good return on an investment.”
• A 50-bed luxury motel could be opened outside Chipping Norton, in the latest development inspired by the Soho Farmhouse boom. Outline plans for Chapel House Farm by the A44/A361 roundabout call it “a re-imagined motel for today’s travellers… a base for adventures and explorers”. According to the design document: “Rooms are accessed off a covered terrace based on the traditional US style motel model, popular from post WWII onwards, lifted through contemporary design rooted in the local vernacular.” Developers Adalta Real have lodged an outline application with West Oxfordshire District Council (ref 24/00955/OUT). A previous motel proposal in 2022, also including an office block, was not viewed positively by WODC “due to its siting outside the limits of Chipping Norton”.

This weekend

• The Leys Festival is at Blackbird Leys Park on Sunday from 12pm to 7pm, “celebrating the incredible bonds and positive relationships fostered within Blackbird Leys and Greater Leys”. The organisers say there’ll be “exciting activities, delicious affordable food and live performances that bring everyone together in celebration”. Entry is free.
• The Oxford Thai Festival takes place from 11am–7pm on Saturday and Sunday, at Angel & Greyhound Meadow just off St Clements. It promises “Thailand’s finest cuisine, traditional performances and exotic crafts”. £5 per ticket.
• Oxford will have a severely reduced train service this weekend due to engineering works. No services are running to Didcot, Reading, and Paddington; or to Banbury and the north. Trains will continue to run to London Marylebone via the Chilterns and to Worcester via the Cotswolds. There will be no trains to Banbury until the following Thursday, from either Oxford or Bicester. A bridge over the river near King’s Sutton is being replaced, and 500m of track north of Banbury is being upgraded. Rail replacement buses will be running as far as Leamington Spa.

Notes from Clarion HQ

Since we started publishing in 2022, we’ve been contacted by many would-be readers who’d like to keep up with Oxfordshire news but would rather not use Twitter. (We get that. We’re no fans of Elon Musk either.) We’ve looked into crossposting to any or all of Mastodon, Threads, Facebook and Bluesky, but it’s a big time-sink and many people don’t use these platforms either.

So we’re experimenting with a weekly news roundup on the web, gathering up our Twitter content and maybe a few extra asides here and there.

We discussed all this and more at a Clarion editorial meeting at the ever excellent Royal Blenheim this week:

As Charlotte Vinnicombe put it in response:

So now we know there's more than one of you, you're mac users, you like decent but practical notebooks, one of you wears quite heavy tortoiseshell glasses, and one of you rides a bike. Where's Inspector Morse when you need him?