Clarion Weekly, 28 February 2025

This way for SEND, Mini, ANPR, Uber, bridges, lab rats and bats. Plus two Prime Ministers and 1600 new homes. Big week for Oxfordshire news!

This week’s top stories

Below-expected take up of electric vehicles has caused BMW to pause a £600m investment to build electric Minis at Plant Oxford.

The plant currently builds combustion engine versions of new Minis, with BMW importing EVs from China. Such Minis face a tariff as they enter the EU, although the UK has not introduced additional penalties; electric Minis would not.

Auto Express reports that Mini workers at Plant Oxford are aware of the decision. BMW stresses the factory has a sound future nonetheless: “Plant Oxford is at the heart of Mini production, manufacturing and exporting models which are sought after in the UK and around the world.”

But why is EV demand struggling at a time when internal combustion engines are on the way out? In a long read this week, we took a look at why Mini is facing challenges – and how this filters down to Plant Oxford.

Oxfordshire County Council has approved over £2m additional funding for special educational needs support in the county's schools. This will fund teachers to deliver small group support and bespoke curriculums that meet the emotional, sensory and academic needs of each child.

Cllr Kate Gregory, OCC cabinet member for SEND Improvement, said: “More children with special educational needs and disabilities will now be able to access the right support at the right time, thanks to this commitment.” Jules Francis-Sinclair, Chair of Oxfordshire Parent Carers Forum (OxPCF), said: “We welcome this investment in enhanced learning pathways, as parent carers consistently tell us how difficult it can be to find the right support for their children in mainstream schools. Small group and tailored provision makes a huge difference to their child’s ability to thrive. We hope to see this initiative embedded in many more schools across Oxfordshire.” Any parent wanting more information about available support should talk to their children’s school.

Bus lanes, ‘no motor vehicles’ roads and banned right turns across Oxfordshire are to be enforced by number plate recognition cameras (ANPR).

Sites include the St Clements bus lane in Oxford (pictured), the bus gate at Didcot Parkway, Witney High St, and a banned turn in Abingdon. 524 people responded to the consultation to support, oppose or comment on the enforcement of these existing regulations. Thames Valley Police did not object, saying “Many of these restrictions have a long-standing history of both contravention and complaint.” We reported the decisions meeting live on Bluesky, with some entertaining reaction from Clarion readers in the quotes and replies.

Taxi app Uber has launched in Oxford. The company has been in operation in cities from London to Gloucester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Aberdeen for several years with Oxford a notable outlier.

Uber’s app now offers UberX, Exec and UberXL options in the city, plus integration with rail services. A sample morning journey from the city to Blenheim Palace this week was priced at £40 by UberX, or £4 for a train to Hanborough station (1.5mi walk). The £3 direct bus was not suggested.

The company has faced controversies over attempts to class drivers as self-employed (overturned by the Supreme Court) and passenger safety. It employs private hire drivers who are required to be individually licensed; Uber Britannia itself is registered as a private hire operator with Oxford City Council. Lime bikes and Uber Eats can also be accessed via the platform.

Around the city

• County Hall in Oxford looks likely to become “a high quality hotel” after Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet voted to proceed with its sale. The council is moving to Speedwell House, near the police station, which it already owns but which is largely vacant. Liz Leffman, leader of OCC, said: “County Hall is in a prime location in one of the world’s most famous cities and so we knew there would be widespread interest. The bidder that has been selected is offering a high quality and impressive future for the site.” OCC says other bidders proposed “offices, science labs, hotels, residential, student accommodation, education, commercial use and church space”. The 1841 Old County Hall is Grade II* listed; the 1973 County Hall is not. All plans will have to obtain planning permission from Oxford City Council.
• Three Oxford leisure centres have introduced new artificial intelligence technology to support lifeguards in the pools. Overhead cameras use AI to monitor and analyse swimmers. These are linked up to waterproof smart watches worn by the lifeguard team to alert them to swimmers in distress. The smartwatch provides colour-coded alerts and a live head count, so lifeguards can instantly see how many people are in the pool at any one time and prevent overcrowding. The system is installed at Ferry, Barton and Leys Leisure Centres. Cllr Chewe Mukonge, Cabinet Member for a Healthier Oxford, commented: “We are committed to making our leisure centres as safe and welcoming as possible. The introduction of this technology is an exciting step forward, ensuring that our pools remain a safe place to enjoy.”

• Magdalen College’s redevelopment by the Plain has been approved by Oxford City Council. The new Waynflete project, replacing a 1960s building, will provide student accommodation over a series of riverside and roadside buildings, with continued but smaller retail on the ground floor (currently Sainsburys). The City planning committee voted for the application with one abstention, but some support was lukewarm. Cllr Nigel Chapman welcomed improved accommodation and energy efficiency, but said “The height issue gives me concern: it’s 4m higher than the present building. The visuals look rather bleak.” Cllr Alex Hollingsworth raised concern about the danger to cyclists at the Plain from deliveries to the shops, saying “I’m not convinced the County Council is taking this seriously… a small unit with a load of regular deliveries by vans is going to be more dangerous than what they’ve got currently”. Cllr Jemima Hunt said “We can all agree that the Plain is a very fraught part of our landscape… during the process of building this there’s going to be a lot of issues regarding the Plain.” The committee asked Magdalen to focus on cycling safety at the Plain during construction.
• Oxford North, the new £700 million innovation district in Oxford, is to be used as a ‘Carey's Construction Campus’ to train the next generation of talent in the construction industry. Free, flexible on-site training will be provided which will guarantee an interview on completion of the training. The three-week training course on curbing, block paving, drainage and finishing will be available to people aged 17 years and over who have been a resident of the UK for the last three years.
• Bulky waste collections are changing in Oxford, with collections raised to a 4-day per week cycle (currently 1 day for white goods, 2 for furniture), and more made each day. The City Council says “this will clear any existing backlog and reduce waiting times to an improved level of 7 days”. In the future, the council is considering an online booking system to replace the current phone line; whether domestic bulky waste collections should become free; and reuse initiatives to reduce the amount of bulky waste.

Around the county

• A facility in Blackthorn, near Bicester, previously used for rodent breeding for scientific testing could be demolished and 18 homes built in its place if a planning application currently with Cherwell District Council is approved. In 2012 the Guardian reported on workers at the facility being attacked and smeared as paedophiles. Blackthorn Parish Council proposes to object to the development on the grounds of scale and traffic. (We wrote about the challenge of building in Oxfordshire in a series of long reads last year.)

• Bats in the belfry: a church in north Oxfordshire is having to delay re-roofing works while bats move out. St Michael’s Church in Barford St Michael was found to be home to three protected bat species. Three bat boxes will be sited to temporarily re-home the bats.
• 38 new homes are proposed for the southern edge of Ducklington, just outside Witney. Developers Victoria Land have applied to build a mix of 1 to 4-bedroom homes, with 40% ‘affordable’. The location is an infill site between the village’s main street and the A415 bypass.
• Plans for a 600-home development to the north-west of Grove, first aired in 2020, have been resubmitted by developer Persimmon Homes. Around 200 would be transferred to a housing association. The site is between the main line railway and Persimmon’s current Wellington Gate development.
• And 900 homes are proposed for a site outside the Bicester ring road by developers Gladman, part of Barratt Homes. The development would also include a primary school, shops, and fire station. The location, Dymock’s Farm, is beside the A4421 and close to the high-tech Bicester Motion airfield site, which we wrote about in September.

• South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse councils are exploring joining with West Berkshire to form a single unitary council. The combined area would have a population of around 455,000, close to the Government’s 500,000 target for new unitaries. This would leave Oxford City, Cherwell and West Oxon outside, with a combined population of 445,000. South and Vale councils are also continuing in discussions for the alternative proposal to form a single council for the whole of Oxfordshire.
• The River & Rowing Museum in Henley is at risk of closure as it rethinks its operation. Opened in 1998, it celebrates the River Thames, its sport and culture. Its chair said the riverside building is “simply too large and the galleries too ambitious in scale”.
• A new road in north-east Didcot will connect the Ladygrove East A4130 roundabout with Hadden Hill just east of the turn to South Moreton. It’s called Northern Perimeter Road 3, and Oxfordshire County Council is seeking comments until 25 March. They say the new route will encourage through traffic out of the town centre, and support new housing and employment growth including the Ladygrove East site. It comes with 5.6m of space for walking and cycling, which will connect to routes in the town and beyond, including LCWIP and Garden Town plans. Drop-in events will take place at Ladygrove Community Centre on 6 and 13 March.

University & research

• Man visits college: St Edmund Hall has received a visit from college alumnus, Honorary Fellow, and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
• The Department of Politics & International Relations at the University of Oxford has launched the Centre for Democratic Resilience, dedicated to understanding and promoting the resilience of liberal democracy in Europe, the United States, and beyond. Professor Petra Schleiter, Centre lead, said: “This is one of the most defining challenges of our time. Our world-class research together with international partnerships will mean we can develop and implement impactful, agile, and scalable solutions to safeguard democracy for the future.”
• Lincoln College alumnus and former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced his new role as ambassador to a cancer charity, as he visited Oxford BioDynamics’ labs in Cowley to learn about a new blood test able to detect prostate cancer with 94% accuracy. Sunak said: “I am honoured to become an ambassador for Prostate Cancer Research and support the charity’s mission to revolutionise diagnosis and treatment. Catching the cancer early drastically improves survival rates. A targeted national screening programme will help save many lives.” Sunak has previously advocated for a national screening programme in Parliament, with Health Secretary Wes Streeting saying he was actively considering it. This is a video of Sunak in Oxford BioDynamics explaining the need for early diagnosis of prostate cancers.
• Oxford University researchers have been awarded £5m to develop therapies for drug-resistant tuberculosis. The grant, from the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research (IOI) supports a multidisciplinary team working end to end, from discovery to clinical trials. Professor Sir Stewart Cole, Executive Chair of the IOI, said: “Tuberculosis is a perfect example of how we are returning to the pre-antibiotic era. Over 95% of TB patients used to be cured but now multidrug-resistant TB has become a leading cause of death due to AMR.”
• Over on Facebook, this reel tells the story of three days of riots between Town and Gown, in 1355, over watered-down booze. Never let it be said Oxford doesn’t have its priorities right.

Trains and buses

• This week saw the start of the new 600 bus from Redbridge Park & Ride to Greater Leys, Cowley, the Headington hospitals, and Thornhill P&R. It is one of a series of buses avoiding the city centre that were originally conceived to coincide with the introduction of Oxford’s traffic filters. Also this week, the H2 bus from Witney to the John Radcliffe transferred across from Stagecoach to Pulhams.
• In Banbury bus news, a consultation is open on improvements to bus journey time for the Cherwell Street area of the town. Oxfordshire County Council has been awarded government funding to redesign Cherwell Street and the area between the George Street and Bridge Street junctions. Proposed changes include bus priority measures, changing traffic lane allocations, and improving traffic signals and pedestrian crossings. The consultation closes on 23rd March.
• A decision on stopping tourist coaches parking on a Burford side-street, next to the primary school, has been postponed after objections from Pulhams, which is owned by Oxford Bus Co. OBC managing director Luke Marion said the plans would “result in anarchy on the ground”. (In genteel Burford?) Oxfordshire County Council’s Andrew Gant deferred the decision so an alternative site could be sought, but warned: “If it comes down to the safety of children vs tourists having to walk a bit further, then the safety of children comes first.”

Walking and cycling (and boating)

• New Dutch-style entrances to side streets are planned on the Banbury and Iffley roads in Oxford. Oxfordshire County Council wants to introduce level ‘platforms’ to carry the pavement across the joining roads at 11 locations, with Give Way lines set back behind. The improvements are funded by the Government’s Safer Roads Fund. OCC says “in Oxford, the overwhelming majority of injuries on the highway are to pedestrians and people cycling, frequently at junctions”. Consultation is open until 28 March.
• The Thames Path near Eynsham is being diverted after a footbridge was closed by Oxfordshire County Council for safety reasons. A safe but lengthy diversion along footpaths is in place: the National Trails office emphasises “There is no safe footway on the B4044, which is a very busy main road”. Locals have been campaigning for a walking and cycling path on the road for over 13 years.
• A consultation has been launched on walking and cycling improvements for the South Oxfordshire town of Wallingford. Oxfordshire County Council is inviting locals to leave comments on an interactive map as a first step to drawing up an infrastructure plan.
• A traditional lift-bridge over the Oxford Canal near Banbury could be converted to hydraulic operation after the Canal & River Trust said it, and others, were “at risk of collapse”. Several of the bridges, built as a cost-saving measure in the 1790s, have failed in recent years. Bridge 171, near Bodicote, was only used for farm access. Currently it is fixed in the up position. The Trust says changing it to hydraulic operation, where boaters crank it open with a windlass, will “enhance its resilience”. A planning application is now with Cherwell District Council.
• Another new cycleway for Bicester will become one of the first in the county to be built to modern design standards. Middleton Stoney Road is to get a two-way cycleway separated from both motor traffic and pedestrians under new proposals from Oxfordshire County Council. The cycleway will serve new houses in western Bicester. OCC says it will “provide a high-quality active travel corridor to connect west Bicester with the town centre and railway stations”. Construction will be between autumn 2025 and spring 2026. The scheme is being put forward at the same time as cycling improvements to London Road, which connects Bicester town centre with the southeast of the town. A consultation on Middleton Stoney Road is open until 25 March.

Oxfordshire politics

This week saw the third anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine so we are breaking our usual ‘stick to constituency matters’ rule – partly because almost all the MPs have commented on it, and partly because all Oxfordshire’s constituencies have refugees and others affected by the war. Ласкаво просимо. Наш дім - це ваш дім.

• Anneliese Dodds, MP for Oxford East, thanked Oxford families who have opened their doors to Ukrainian refugees. She reasserted the Labour government's support for Ukraine. On the big Oxford story of the week, BMW's pause on manufacturing electric vehicles, she spoke in a debate in Parliament saying she would continue to work to secure a future for the plant. With the news that the Labour government are rolling out free breakfast clubs, she cited St. Joseph's and Barton Park Primary Schools as early adopters of the scheme – “hungry minds not hungry bellies”. She visited Sobell House Hospice. And finally, she celebrated “big wins” for retail workers in the Crime & Policing Bill around shoplifting and assaulting shop workers.
  
  As we went to press, it was announced that Anneliese Dodds has resigned as Minister for International Development. She said the Government’s decision to cut the aid budget to fund defence “will remove food and healthcare from desperate people, deeply harming the UK’s reputation”. In her resignation letter, she said tax rises should have been considered: “I expected we would discuss our fiscal rules and approach to taxation, as other nations are doing. Even 3% [defence spending] may only be the start; it will be impossible to raise the resources needed just through cuts to public spending.”
• Banbury MP Sean Woodcock tweeted his and Labour's support for Ukraine.He called out Nigel Farage’s stance as “weasel words and nonsense”. A keen sports fan, he was evidently watching rugby and football (evidently we need a niche politico-sports correspondent). He got involved in a war of words with former Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace over defence spending; wading in to the debate on cutting international aid spending, he said “The first duty of government is the protection of our country and its citizens. This Prime Minister and Labour government always will.” He welcomed the biggest investment into hospices and end of life care in a generation as the government confirmed a £25 m investment: Katharine House Hospice in the Banbury constituency will receive £35,454. He celebrated the announcement of the government's stance on anti-social behaviour, saying “My constituents will welcome the introduction of tough new Respect Orders.” Finally, he welcomed the news of extra urgent dental appointments as part of a manifesto commitment from the Labour government, saying: “Everyone in Banbury knows the scale of the challenge facing NHS dentistry after years of failure under the Tories. It is scandalous that the number one reason that five to nine year olds are admitted to hospital is because of tooth decay.”
• Oxford West & Abingdon MP Layla Moran visited the Hospital at Home team at the John Radcliffe Hospital, where she met Mavis (91) who benefits from mobile ultrasound equipment in her own home. On defence spending vs international development, she commented that “The government is right to increase defence spending in the face of concerning developments between America & Russia”, but warned that cuts to international aid would leave room for Putin and Xi to fill the gap left by Britain and increase their “soft power”.
• Calum Miller from Bicester & Woodstock celebrated the huge turnout for a rally for Ukraine in Trafalgar Square. As the LibDem Foreign Spokesman, he spoke in parliament in support of Ukraine. He met with the Oxfordshire Association of Care Providers as they campaigned outside Parliament against increased National Insurance contributions, and then celebrated a win in the Lords on a vote to exempt healthcare providers from them.
• Didcot & Wantage MP Olly Glover celebrated progress towards an EU Youth Mobility Scheme. He called for cross-party talks to increase defence spending, possibly using assets frozen due to Russian sanctions, and supported his party leader's call to “stand by our Ukrainian friends”. He supported the carers who came to campaign outside Parliament against the NI contribution increase for healthcare providers. He signed an Early Day Motion to end parliamentary prayers.
• Witney MP Charlie Maynard wins this week's prize for Best MP photos. We could have picked any of half a dozen on this link for our gallery this week, but in the end went with the lion. Do look at the links because some of them are gold. He (deep breath) met with farmers in his constituency at Cotswold Wildlife Park; visited Wood Green School to hear about alternative offside SEND provision; met with Atlantic Aviation Group at RAF Brize Norton and discussed employee welfare and retention; and visited Matthew's Cotswold Flour Mill (at Shipton-under-Wychwood, as opposed to Shipton Mill flour, which is from Tetbury). He too celebrated the vote to exempt healthcare providers from increased NI costs. He met with the National Farmers Union to talk about mental health in farmers, and had an introduction to Age UK and the many ways they work across the county. Finally, on a lighter note, he did Zumba in Shrivenham (click on this link for pictures) and met John at Millers Grange Care Home on his 101st birthday.
• Freddie van Mierlo, MP for Henley & Thame, supported his party's call for increased defence spending to defend both the UK and Ukraine. He joined his party's campaign team in Sonning Common. He criticised the closure of the last in-person bank in Thame, calling out the need for face-to-face services rather than an automated banking hub. He celebrated the progress made on the Youth Mobility Scheme, and in a speech in Parliament expressed concern about the impact of Brexit on businesses in his constituency. He joined social care providers outside Parliament campaigning to exempt social care providers from the employer NI hike. He expressed his disappointment over the ongoing disruption to EE mobile phone services in Wheatley due to a decommissioned phone mast; the MP is urging all affected EE customers to contact the network provider directly to explore available options for compensation or alternative services. (Maybe they could fix reception in Oxford city centre too?)

Oxfordshire’s independent media

• The Oxford Sausage has penned another tour de force, this time on Trigger the Harris hawk being used as pest control by St. John's College.
• Bitten Oxford reviews the Waterside Cafe at Farmoor Reservoir and frankly we need to go on a walk-cake-walk right now. (For fans of the waterside cake-walk, may Team Clarion also recommend Annie's Tea Room at Thrupp?)
• Ox in a Box eats pancakes in Witney. Do not read if you are hungry.
• Cherwell says “Labour must do more for student renters”.
• Hybrid Magazine from Oxford Brookes asks “Violence against Women and Girls - are the police doing enough?”
• The Oxford Student has German students share their thoughts on the recent elections in Germany.

This weekend

• Oxford Brookes Science Bazaar. Saturday, 9.30am–4pm. This free event offers a wide range of fun hands-on experiences for all the family, and is most suitable for 5 to 16 years.
• A new walking and cycling map of Oxford, produced by the Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership, is being launched on Sunday at Leiden Square in the Westgate (11am–3pm).
• Dance for Ukraine. A Ukrainian-English barn dance, all dances fully called. Saturday, 7.30pm. St. Michael's Church Hall, Summertown.
• River Restoration at Spiceball Park, Banbury. Until 3 March. Volunteers are sought to help restore and improve the natural River Cherwell.
• Cowley Road International Food Tour takes place on the first Saturday of each month, and that means tomorrow. It’s a 2-hour walking food tour and we will continue featuring it in this newsletter until each and every Clarion reader has done it.

• Florence Park Window Walkabout. Download the trail map for adults and kids alike and enjoy the artistic creations on show.
• Spring is on its way! Oxfordshire's seasonal veg at local markets should include purple sprouting broccoli, maybe some kalettes, plus stored root veg like beets and turnips will still be gorgeous. Our freshly updated market directory is here. Thanks to all those who sent us text and pictures in the last few weeks. Keep them coming!

Dates for your diary

• Orlando Gibbons died 400 years ago. Once the most important composer in England (his works are still sung today), he was in fact born in Oxford despite fallacious claims by the Other Place. St John’s is running a three-day festival from Friday 7 March.
• Independent Oxford is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a 12-hour festival at Tap Social Brewery on Saturday 22 March.
• Radcliffe Orchestra Concert. Saturday 15 March, 7.30pm at the
  Tingewick Hall, John Radcliffe Hospital. Glinka, David Heath, Respighi and Rachmaninov. All proceeds go to Wallingford Accessible Boat Club.
• Chicken-Keeping Basics at Oxford City Farm. Saturday 15 March, 2-4pm. We are strangely excited about this one.
• Truck Festival, Oxfordshire's independent music festival, has announced a second wave of acts. The line up now includes Kasabian, Franz Ferdinand, Honeyglaze, Scouting for Girls, the Oxford Symphony Orchestra, and Barrioke with Shaun Williamson aka Barry from EastEnders. A very few tickets are left.
• Between Two Rivers: author Moudhy Al-Rashid will be talking to James Attlee at Caper Bookshop on Magdalen Road this Tuesday. Thousands of years ago, in a part of the world we now call ancient Mesopotamia, people began writing things down for the very first time. Dr Al-Rashid reveals what these ancient people chose to record about their lives; a lullaby, instructions for exorcising a ghost, receipts for beer, and the adorable, messy writing of preschoolers. Book online.

Notes from Clarion HQ

Those of Team Clarion with a background in print journalism felt an involuntary twitch this week as the Oxford Times’ front-page story turned out to be based on a fake tweet. We all make mistakes, but print is unforgiving. Online you can make a swift edit, hold your hands up and say sorry. In print, the error stares you in the face for the shelf-life of the paper. But the OT’s hiccup is as nothing compared to this magnificent howler in the Westgate Centre (spotted by Madeline Odent), passed by thousands of shoppers since 2017. We secretly hope it’s never replaced.

The “fake news”/“post-truth” environment across the Atlantic is many times more serious, and Oxford University’s establishment of the Centre for Democratic Resilience this week gave us pause for thought. We cannot fix global problems but we can, all of us, act locally, whatever our political flavour. And if everyone acts locally, perhaps the collective effort can make a difference.

We have been onboarding new writers of late. Our merry band of volunteers (and our fact-checking ‘bias police’) grows as we attempt to keep you all abreast of the important, the interesting and the downright batty. We thank them for their patience and their contributions, just as we thank you for sticking with us each week, whether you’re reading, sharing the stories or sending us tips. We really are all the Clarion. If you liked this newsletter, do tell your friends to subscribe. Elections are just around the corner; it’d be nice if they were fought on facts.