Clarion Weekly, 27 September 2024

This week’s top stories

More than a month's rain fell across the county in 24 hours at the beginning of the week, causing school closures, road and public transport disruption. This continued intermittently through the week.

A selection of local councillors on the case: Oxford Lord Mayor Mike Rowley warned of flooding in Barton, asking the council to assess and deploy flood defences if necessary. Ian Snowden and Andrew Gant shared a flooding toolkit. Roz Smith warned her Headington constituents to divert after Quarry Hollow flooded.

And from the county’s MPs: Didcot & Wantage's Olly Glover and Oxford West & Abingdon's Layla Moran also provided local flood information while Banbury's Sean Woodcock, despite being at conference, wrote to Thames Water to complain about blocked drains after 'years of neglect'. Layla Moran got her wellies on to inspect the flooding and is calling for a reinvestigation of the Abingdon Flood Defence Scheme.

Other politicians also took the opportunity to highlight the impact of climate change, the most blunt being Nathan Ley with his comment on a weather map ”It's not 'blocked drains', it's climate change. Get off Facebook." Ironically, a County Council scrutiny committee met this week to analyse a report on Oxfordshire’s response to Storm Henk. It started slightly late due to flood delays. You couldn't make it up.

At this meeting we learned that in the first day of flooding this week, Oxfordshire saw the highest rainfall in a 24 hour period in 56 years. 113 properties were reported as internally flooded and a further 15 were flooded externally. 14 roads were closed with 6 flood warnings and 20 flood alerts. Although Oxfordshire County Council supports parishes to write bespoke local Community Emergency Plans, the take-up has been very low; so far only 4% of parishes across Oxfordshire have a plan in place.

(We also learned that people had been kayaking in Campbell Road on Monday after drains had overflowed. We don’t expect Thames Water to be in a hurry to reply to our request for comment on that one.)

South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils have finalised their joint Local Plan, setting out development to 2041. It identifies sites for 31,000 new houses by expanding existing settlements (including Oxford and Didcot) and building “garden villages”.

Key sites include Berinsfield (1700 houses), Culham (3500), Didcot (1400), Grove (600), Dalton Barracks (2750); and around Oxford, Grenoble Road (3000), Northfield (1800) and Bayswater Brook (1100). A further 16,000 are carried over from the current Local Plans, such as 2500 at Grove Airfield, 2030 at Didcot NE and 2550 at Valley Park. Chalgrove Airfield is not included in the plan: the site had been criticised for poor transport links and disrupting current employment use.

SODC leader David Rouane said “We’re very proud of this plan, which takes an evidence-based approach to housing need – it recognises that people need a place to live, but it focuses on affordability and sustainability.” Consultation on technical aspects of the plan starts on October 1.

Around the city

• A court hearing this week considered the future of the Vaults & Garden cafe underneath the University Church on the High. The church is seeking an immediate possession order, reports the Oxford Student. We understand the hearing was inconclusive and will report when there are further developments.
• Oxford's BMW plant has installed the UK's first “motionless, silent, wind energy system”. This innovation, plus existing use of solar power, reduces the plant's reliance on fossil fuels while minimising noise, visual impact, and potential harm to wildlife. BMW says it is a significant step towards their goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The car maker is also a member of Zero Carbon Oxford, a partnership of Oxford’s largest & most influential organisations to achieve net zero carbon emissions in the city by 2040.
• A 29-year old from Blackbird Leys was arrested for possession of a Zombie knife just 22 minutes after the national ban came into effect. He faces five charges in connection with an incident on 29 August.

Around the county

• A 30-year old man from Leicester has been arrested in conjunction with a hit & run collision in Wallingford on Monday morning. The 71-year old cyclist remains in critical condition. Thames Valley Police are appealing for dashcam evidence.
• Groundbreaking has started on YASA’s new UK HQ at Bicester Motion, the 'future mobility estate' in Bicester. YASA, a spin-out from the University of Oxford, is owned by Mercedes-Benz and is pioneering new electric drive technology. YASA employs more than 400 people in Oxfordshire, many of whom will relocate to Bicester Motion in January 2026. The construction project is targeted to include eight apprenticeships, work experience opportunities, volunteering, career events, school engagement and site tours. We wrote about this innovation and heritage hub here in a Clarion long read involving flying taxis and vintage electric Rolls Royces.
• A new luxury treehouse experience has opened in Cornbury Park near Charlbury. Treedwellers, billed as the 'ultimate forest escape', has cabins set 3m in the air, with kingsize bedrooms, wood burners, freestanding bathtubs and Sonos surround systems. Among the features is a twin-coned Forest Megaphone to ”amplify the sounds of the forest, providing a one-of-a-kind auditory experience that promises to turn up the volume of nature’s symphony”. There is also a yoga platform and pagoda. Prices start at £220/night.
• West Oxfordshire district councillor for Chipping Norton Rizvana Poole has stepped down as a councillor. Her place on the council’s Executive will be taken by Rachel Crouch. A by-election date is expected to be set soon. Rizvana is well known for setting up the Chippy Larder foodbank and support service.
• People across Oxfordshire are being urged to consider becoming a child's 'forever family' by adopting. Oxfordshire County Council’s new campaign, ‘Adopt Archie’, aims to dispel adoption myths by focusing on Archie who loves toy cars, mud & cake. Cllr John Howson, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People’s Services, said: “You don’t need specialised skills to adopt Archie or to give a child a caring home. You just need the ability to see their potential & provide them with the love & support they need to learn and grow.” The council would especially like to hear from potential adoptive parents who have Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic heritage as children from these backgrounds traditionally wait longer to be matched with an adoptive family.
• Applications for secondary schools for children currently in Year 6 are now open, and must be complete by 31 October. Applications are submitted online with the option to name up to four schools.

Oxfordshire politics

This week saw the Labour Party conference, and before it Labour Women's Conference. (As LabourList noted, “there are more women Labour MPs than all the Tories combined”.) As Minister for Women and Equalities, Oxford East's Anneliese Dodds was on the main stage. She commented 'Labour stands in solidarity with women and girls in the UK and around the world. At this National Women’s Conference we celebrate the general election - a huge win for women. And from day one, we’ve been getting on with delivering for women."

But there was some dissent from a Labour councillor and former PPC for Witney, Georgia Meadows, who is also the National Trans Officer for LGBT+ Labour.

Before the conference started, Banbury's Sean Woodcock took the opportunity to see a Liverpool win at Anfield . He captioned his photo ”up the Reds”. We see what you did there. He spoke at a YIMBY rally to a packed house. And Keir Starmer's final General Election campaign stop in Banbury featured on the big stage If you need to see him, he released details of upcoming surgeries here.

We're told (thank you, Clarion correspondents) that the conference was upbeat and action-focused – no surprises there given the size of their majority. So far so stage-managed, but it’s more than just national politics: Labour have a majority in Oxford City Council (and are in coalition in West Oxfordshire), so clues to the future of the city may well be found here.

Oxford City Council leader Susan Brown was on a panel about EV charging (we wrote about how Oxford is a global leader in this here), another about building affordable, yet sustainable homes, and another about devolving power to local councils.

We spied Cllr Anna Railton, Oxford City deputy leader, talking up a seminar on social housing: she committed to building more homes in Oxford City (we hope she has read our Housing Week articles) and remarked on an all female panel on road safety. Home building was one of the most debated subjects at conference. The buzz phrases are “blockers not builders” and “YIMBYs”. Not everyone was convinced: countryside charity CPRE was alarmed at potential building on the Green Belt, while local Green Party councillor Ian Middleton called it a “nature destroying land grab”.

Finally, on a lighter note, Witney's Duncan Enright went viral with a perfectly crafted tweet. This one will be held up as an exemplar in social media training for politicians.

While at conference, but not strictly of conference, Anneliese Dodds and Sean Woodcock together wrote to Secretary of State for Health Wes Streeting about their concerns about the Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire Integrated Care Board.

Over to Oxfordshire‘s five LibDem MPs:

• Didcot & Wantage's Olly Glover has been campaigning for a new GP surgery in Didcot's Great Western Park. He provided this update (spoiler, it'll be a while yet).
• Bicester & Woodstock's Calum Miller is on a hot streak with videos at the moment - he's been testing water quality in the River Ray, and is campaigning for cleaner rivers. [We like politicians posting videos: you can see more of the real person than in a tweet. During the election campaign we awarded Golden Rosettes to Conservative candidates Vinay Raniga and David Johnston as Best Performers in a Video Series. But they lost, so what do we know?) He's also doing constituency surgeries this weekend: see here for details if you need to drop in.
• Charlie Maynard in Witney celebrated the re-opening of a former sheltered housing scheme in.Witney, offered advice to constituents on the winter fuel cut, was interviewed by the BBC on (what else) sewage and Thames Water, and went out to investigate the Evenlode flooding.
• And all of them, including Layla Moran, got together to call on the government to “end dental deserts” after research showed that 44% of children in Oxfordshire hadn't seen an NHS dentist in the prior year. In a statement they said:

We have heard countless stories of desperate parents who cannot find an NHS dentist anywhere in Oxfordshire. Everyone knows how important it is for children to be able to see a dentist when they need to be in our area, far too often that is proving impossible. […] The only way we will rescue dentistry in our area is by the government investing in local health services at the Budget so that every child in Oxfordshire can see a dentist when they need to.

University and research

• Oxford University has fallen to third place in the Times Good University League table 2025. It is beaten by LSE and St Andrews, with Cambridge in fourth place. This is Oxford's lowest position in the 31-year history of the rankings. The academic rankings are based on an analysis of graduates’ prospects and students’ satisfaction with teaching, as well as research quality and entry standards. Your ever loyal Clarion idly wonders whether the methodology was subject to peer review.
• A major new study led by the University of Oxford and published in the BMJ has identified the most effective treatment for migraines, comparing 17 medications in a double blind randomised trial across more than 89,000 participants. The study found that a group of medications called 'triptans' scored the best, though simple ibuprofen could also be effective. Triptans work by mimicking the actions of serotonin, the 'happiness hormone' neurotransmitter, to ease pain nerves.
• Oxford scientists are calling for research into links between air pollution & mental health. In the British Journal of Psychiatry, they say that while poor air quality has risk for mental illness, understanding causes & impact is too slow. Professor Bhui, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford said: “Existing evidence suggests that mental illness is more prevalent in deprived and urban areas where the influence of higher levels of air pollution may have been overlooked.”
• University of Oxford start-up and spin-off FluoRok, which makes key components of lithium-ion batteries, has raised £7.7m in funding from angel investors and battery manufacturing experts. We wrote about Oxford's leadership in this space, including the world's largest hybrid energy battery storage system, in a long read recently.
• Playing video games can boost your mood, says a study involving over 8,000 players across 67,328 sessions. However, compared to similar studies involving shopping, reading, cooking, taking a walk or dating, gaming falls short.

Trains and buses

• A senior manager from CrossCountry Trains will be at a public meeting in Oxford on October 7 to hear concerns about their service. The main route from the city to Banbury and Birmingham, it was recently cut to just one train per hour. The meeting is organised by Railfuture Thames Valley. Spokesman Dave Richardson said: “Many people are put off train travel altogether by the levels of overcrowding we have seen on CrossCountry, when some passengers can’t even reach their reserved seats.” The meeting on October 7 will be at West Oxford Community Centre, Botley Road, at 5pm for 5.30pm. CrossCountry, currently scheduled to be the final franchise to be nationalised, are expected to talk about their plans to add more trains to their fleet.

Walking and cycling

• Oxford hosted an e-bike summit this week, with guest of honour former Tour de France legend, broadcaster and Cycling & Walking Commissioner at Active Travel England, Chris Boardman. For a round up of the talking points, we recommend this excellent article by Cycling Electric.
• Organisers of the family bike ride Kidical Mass, featured in last week's roundup, cancelled their event due to the Met Office weather warning. This provoked an eyebrow raising spat between the organisers and the Independent Oxford Alliance party, who appeared to criticise the organisers for cancelling the event due to rain. The organisers invited IOA representatives to join the next ride and “move on from this insensitive tweet”.

This weekend

• Thame Food Festival. Cooking demonstrations, tasting and more.
• Family Dance Festival. Music and movement throughout Oxfordshire.

Dates for your diary

• Oxford Geek Nights are back on 20 November, upstairs at the Jericho Tavern. It’s a round of always fascinating presentations from some of Oxford’s sharpest tech minds.
• IF Science Science and Ideas Festival. 6 October - 3 November.
• Dine n Devour commercial food festival. 4-6 October, Broad Street.

Notes from Clarion HQ

Quietly, on Sunday (Clarion Sunday), we published some notes about who we are and why we do what we do.

There were some entertaining responses on Twitter… particularly those who asked to buy us a pint. Thank you - we cannot tell you how much we appreciate that thought. Pints not needed. If you feel that strongly, chuck some pennies at Asylum Welcome. (Though we have considered doing 'I am the Clarion' merch if we can figure out the logistics.) Conversely, we do recognise that what we write isn’t for everyone and we won’t be at all offended if you choose not to read our content. That's your choice, we understand. Plurality is good!

Also this week, we enjoyed reading these Oxford/Oxfordshire pub reviews from the late 1990s and early 2000s, a fascinating time capsule of social history from the recent past. Remember the Brewery Gate? (“I used to think that conservatives, satanists, or rotarians or something used to meet there.”) Or the Wharf House? (“This used to be one of the most frightening pubs in Oxford, and then got done up; the locals are sometimes still intimidating, but I've never had any problems. Mind you, I don't walk around in a boater and college scarf.”)

Finally, hello to those reaching this roundup from Bluesky, the Twitter alternative. Early days yet but we’re keeping an eye on how this branch of social media might shake out.