Clarion Weekly, 4 April 2025

This week’s top stories

The candidate list for May’s County Council elections has been published. Over one third of the current council is standing down, meaning it will be a very different looking council whatever happens. Reform UK is standing candidates in 64 out of the 69 divisions. In Oxford city, the Oxford Independent Alliance is standing candidates in 8 out of the 13 divisions with other independents in a further four. Former GB rower and Olympic medallist James Cracknell is standing for the Conservatives in Henley. (Our election primer is out next week.)

Liberal Democrat party leader Ed Davey launched the national party's campaign for local elections in Henley this week. Riding a hobby horse, he claimed the elections were a “two horse race” between them and the Conservatives. MPs and candidates joined him in attempting not to fall at the final hurdle. The Conservatives jumped on it meme-style which we would report on more but it involves potholes. 🤐

Local LibDems struck a confident tone with Liz Leffman, leader of Oxfordshire County Council, saying: “A recent poll by Electoral Calculus for the Daily Telegraph predicted that the LibDems would be the largest party, winning 31% of votes across the county compared to the Conservatives on 24%, Reform on 17%, Labour on 16% and the Greens on 9%. They said we would win 30 seats out of 69. We are aiming to out-perform that poll and win an outright majority.”

A tactical voting website has been launched for the May elections. Oxvote is aimed at climate-minded voters and claims to be “the most sophisticated tactical voting website ever made for Oxfordshire local elections”. Users can enter their postcode and be given a tactical voting recommendation for their area, plus the projected results for the division.

Planning permission was granted on Wednesday for a new GP surgery in Great Western Park, Didcot, nearly 15 years after building work first started in the 3,300 home development. We wrote about the struggle to build it in a long read last year.

Plans for an eight-bay EV charging station on the A40 at Eynsham have been turned down by local planners. West Oxfordshire District Council said “the proposal will be of an urban nature which will appear incongruous and result in a marked change in the character and appearance of the site”.

They also cited concerns that queueing traffic would block the A40 cycleway, calling the proposal “a poorly designed, unsustainable 'place' that does not give priority to pedestrian and cycle movements”, and that the site was “within a protected species buffer for Eurasian Badgers”. The proposal was submitted for pan-European charging operator Fastned: as we put this newsletter together on Friday morning, Transport for London has just announced a partnership with Fastned to deliver charging hubs at outer-London Tube stations.

Around the city

• Quakers in Oxford stood in silent vigil on Thursday to protest a police raid on their London premises. Last Thursday, the Metropolitan Police arrested six activists from Youth Demand who had hired a room in Westminster Meeting House. The Quakers have condemned the criminalisation of peaceful protest.
• The first ever Oxford Card Show took place at the weekend at the Iffley Road Sport Centre, a celebration of all things film, TV, toy and anime. On the agenda were Disney voice actors including Boo from Monsters Inc and Andy from Toy Story, plus trading cards and toys. The centre was busy from early Saturday; cosplay was optional but vibrant.
• Campaign group Coalition for Healthy Streets & Active Travel has called out a recent survey by the Oxford Business Action Group on views of Oxford residents to the upcoming experimental Traffic Filters as “dodgy”. The survey has 58% of respondents opposing the traffic filters. Robin Tucker from CoHSAT said: “This one-sided survey from OBAG is another attempt at disinformation from people who mistakenly think that lots of traffic is good for a city. The key question was loaded, stating only the restrictions and penalties, not the intended purpose – reducing traffic to make the roads clearer for buses and those who need to drive, plus making cycling and walking safer. It didn't mention the resident permits, or that the fine is only £35 if paid in 2 weeks. What their survey shows is that they have to hide all the benefits of the Traffic Filters to win the argument.” He invited comparison with a YouGov survey run by CoHSAT setting out the benefits and restrictions, where the responses were 60% support, 31% oppose.

• Contractors restoring electricity to the longest residential street in Oxford after a power cut severed a gas main, cutting off gas to one household and closing Howard Street to motor traffic indefinitely, residents report. In February there were reports of an explosion from a manhole in nearby Catherine Street. It is not known if the two incidents are related.

• A new family entertainment space at Leys Pools & Leisure Centre featuring an Oxford-themed soft play, TagX, and a new kiosk café, will open tomorrow (Saturday 5 April). A children's climbing wall will follow. The soft play area includes sections inspired by Oxford Ice Rink, Hinksey Pool and the Bridge of Sighs. Younger children can enjoy a dedicated toddler and role play zone, featuring a mini Covered Market and Oxford Castle for imaginative play. In the TagX zone, children aged 8 and up collect points by swiping their wristband against different illuminated tags hidden within the soft play arena. Hagan Lewisman, Active Communities Manager at Oxford City Council, said: “The new Active Zone is a fantastic addition to Oxford’s leisure offering, providing families with more ways to stay active and have fun.”
• The Ashmolean has announced an upcoming exhibition of Radiohead cover artist Stanley Donwood in collaboration with the Oxfordshire group’s Thom Yorke. It says “the show offers a unique look at the creative forces behind some of the most important and influential music of the past few decades”. Yorke and Donwood became friends at Exeter University where they were both studying English literature and fine art. The exhibition, which will include their unpublished notebooks and sketches, runs from 6 August to the end of the year. Booking is open now.
• A partial eclipse of the Sun was visible from Oxford on Saturday morning. Astronomer Chris Lintott was at Frideswide Square to help the public observe the eclipse in safety.

Around the county

• The historic home of Chipping Norton Town FC has been proposed for 28 houses. After the non-league club fell into debt, it sold its ground on Walterbush Road and moved to the nearby village of Enstone before ceasing operation. An outline application has been lodged with West Oxfordshire District Council.
• Plans have been lodged for a 160-home southern extension to the village of Chalgrove, south-east of Oxford. The development, by Gladman, would border a recently built 120-home site by Miller Homes. 64 homes would be “affordable”. The plans are with South Oxon District Council for consideration.
• Cherwell District Council has moved its Banbury headquarters to the town centre Castle Quay shopping development, which it owns. From today, it is occupying the former BHS and Gap units. Its former Bodicote House site on the edge of town has been sold to Oxford firm Lucy Developments for housing.
• Oxfordshire's Low Carbon Hub has launched a campaign for local communities to benefit from a massive new solar farm. The petition to 'Make Botley West Fair' calls on landowner the Blenheim Estate to require 2% of revenue to be invested locally. We looked at Botley West Solar Farm in a long read last month.
• St Mary’s Primary School in Chipping Norton has received first-wave funding to add a school-based nursery to its classes. A new government scheme is rolling out to ‘childcare deserts’ where limited nursery provision exists. Banbury MP Sean Woodcock has welcomed the news: “I am thrilled that St Mary's School has been given funding as part of Labour’s plan to roll out school-based nurseries. I know from speaking to local families the need for high-quality education that is available nearby and doesn’t break the bank.” From September, working parents will get 30 government-funded hours of childcare a week, from 9 months of age right up to starting school.

The final County Council meeting

Due to a perfect storm of commitments, we couldn't live-tweet this week’s full County Council meeting – the last one before the election. Here’s a précis in a few paragraphs, including two masterclass addresses – one from schoolchildren and one from a retiring councillor.

The Petitions, Public Address and Questions are always an interesting guide to what is on the mind of county residents. The month saw the impact of low traffic neighbourhoods on car-using carers; extending the 3/3A bus route to the station; concern that future plans for Summertown should not damage trade; smartphone-free childhood; and the issues faced by autistic people. Questions were raised on the number of people living in the Cowley and East Oxford LTNs (22,000) and how to increase the safety of children at St James Primary School on Bartholomew Road in Oxford.

The standout address was the headteacher and five children from Barton Park Primary School campaigning for safer streets and a crossing, after several car crashes near the site. The crux of the issue is that the road has not yet been ‘adopted’ by the Council, meaning that the Council cannot install safety measures. The children showed pictures of a damaged wall, lamppost and cycle racks, and called this “outrageous” and “irresponsible and unacceptable”, asking “are the Council waiting for a child to be damaged before anything will be done?” (22:15 on the meeting recording). The children were received with loud applause.

This was the last Council meeting before the election on 1 May, giving it an end-of-term feeling. Some of the business was administrative tidying, including committee changes triggered by the formation of a Green Group and a Reform UK Group… which will all have to be redone after the elections, so kudos to the ever-patient governance officers. But there was one substantive piece of business.

This was the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health. Each year, this takes a particular theme as a focus for public health in the coming year: this time it was Children and Young People’s Mental Health. The report presents the evidence base and options for action, making four broad recommendations that will now be developed further by the Public Health team.

So we’ll leave the last word to independent councillor Damian Haywood, who is standing down. He summed up why councillors do their difficult job (from 1:49:00):

“Fundamentally this is about society – and we need to do better. Everyone here is trying their best to make society better. We should continue that work to grow our children so they can have a better life, they improve their outcomes and everyone in Oxfordshire can fulfil their desires and have a better life. It will be down to national government – and down to us.

“And on that note, this will be my last speech, thank you everyone, I’ve had a really lovely time here, I think you are all really wonderful people, and I wish you all the best. Those who are standing in the election, good luck, and a good retirement to those who aren’t.”

University and research

• Students at Jesus College have called for the reversal of the college's lease agreement with Barclays Bank on Cornmarket due to its alleged funding of the conflict in Gaza, and alleged links to investment in fossil fuels. In January, Extinction Rebellion Oxford staged a protest outside the branch in Oxford, over the bank's continued investment in fossil fuels. The bank is due move into the Cheng Yu Tung Building on Cornmarket. Jesus College's Ethical Investment Policy calls for "compliance with the UK Stewardship Code and the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment." HSBC are also planning to move across Cornmarket to the Jesus building.
• The programme for Oxford Brookes’ 2025 ‘Think Human’ festival includes War & Peace in Ukraine, the Long View of New Labour, and a film screening celebrating Olive Gibbs, former mayor of Oxford and national leader of CND. Events take place from Wednesday 7 to Saturday 10 May.

Fools’ Gold

Tuesday was, of course, April 1. We fooled no one with our announcement that Worcester Street Car Park was to be turned back into a canal basin, and the ice rink into a velodrome funded by Ineos, but it did give some of you wry smiles (and a dream of a marina… we may return to that in the future). We had competition for the best April Fool though: here are some of our favourites.

• Reddit decided the council had approved a cable car from Botley to Cowley.
• St Christopher’s Primary School in Cowley is getting a ski lift.
• Carbon-fibre Viking longboats will speed commuters from Culham to Oxford.
• Oxford University to abolish Classics.
• Magdalen College Choir look forward to abseiling off the tower on May Day morning…
• …while Cherwell decided Magdalen Tower would be closed entirely on May Day.
• Margaret Thatcher meets ABBA Voyage at the Sheldonian (not a sentence we ever thought we’d be writing) in this acerbic take from Daily Info.
• The Bodleian announced it was full and was instituting a one-in, one-out policy.
• We think this one from New College is an April Fool?
• And finally, Jesus College ruminated on the meaning of April Fool’s Day.

Same time next year?

Trains and buses

• Chiltern Railways are running modern Class 196 trains into Oxford on test runs for the East-West Rail service to Milton Keynes. The trains are on long-term loan from West Midlands Railway in whose livery they are currently painted.
• Oxfordshire County Council has stepped in to ensure the Carterton town bus keeps running. OCC is providing additional funding to add to co-operative bus operator WOCT’s own fundraising efforts. The existing 345 and 355 services will run minus a small number of Thursday afternoon journeys.
• Easter bunnies will be hiding in the streets of Oxford as part of the Oxford Bus Company's Bunny Hop Trail. The trail, for families with young children, is free with a bus tour ticket and will operate from Saturday 5 until Monday 21 April. A trail card and map will guide families past Oxford’s historic sights, where children can search for each of the six bunnies and collect stamps on their trail card. Once all the stamps are collected, participants can collect a prize.

Walking and cycling

• A new zebra crossing has been installed outside St John Fisher Primary School in Littlemore as part of Oxfordshire County Council's Vision Zero programme, a package of initiatives aimed at eliminating deaths and serious injuries on Oxfordshire’s roads by 2050. Road humps on both sides of the crossing reduce vehicle speeds and increase awareness of the crossing. Side-road entry treatments enhance pedestrian safety along a footway used by pupils at both St John Fisher School and the Oxford Academy. Paul Fermer, OCC's Director of Environment & Highways, said: “Everyone should be able to walk to their destination safely, especially children travelling to school, so we are pleased these measures are now in place. We hope they will make a real difference to the confidence of pupils and parents.”

Oxfordshire politics

Weekly, edited highlights of our MPs’ activities.

• Banbury MP Sean Woodcock posted this update of his week. It included potholes. 🤐 His March update, however, doesn’t. 👍 He welcomed news of a package of investment and reform to community pharmacies, part of a programme to take pressure off the NHS: we reported on it here. He highlighted the news that food delivery companies must now verify that delivery riders have a right to work in the UK, which he said would “secure our borders and police our high streets”.
• Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds had her picture taken at the Ultimate Picture Palace on the Cowley Road, by the Royal Photographic Society, to highlight female representation in Parliament. In a constituency with multiple cutting edge hospitals she talked up Labour's support of the NHS. She encouraged residents to have their say in the Ozone consultation and supported the adjacent Cowley Branch Line. She asked a written question in parliament on the comparative environmental impact of disposable period products. Following reports late last year that Elon Musk considered donating as much as $100m (£80m) to Reform UK, she called for legislative change to ensure foreign nationals who are not registered to vote in the UK cannot donate to British political parties. In Parliament, she raised the concerns of her constituents working at the BMW factory on the impact of new US trade tariffs: video here. On a lighter note, she visited Falcon Boat Club and wished her constituents Eid Mubarak.
• Oxford West & Abingdon MP Layla Moran wished her constituents Eid Mubarak, campaigned for early detection of prostate cancer, and advocated for reform of social care. She also spoke out in Parliament about arms sales to Israel and raised the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.
• Didcot & Wantage MP Olly Glover posted this roundup of what he'd been up to. He raised in Parliament that housing targets must be accompanied by appropriate infrastructure (…as per our long read series on infrastructure), and celebrated the GP surgery at Great Western Park finally getting planning permission. He was at the Lib Dem launch; our spies say he is surprisingly good at hobby horse dressage. He wished his constituents Eid Mubarak and Happy Mothering Sunday. (For Mothering Sunday, the mothers on Team Clarion would be happy with better maternity leave, equal pay, childcare costs that are not crippling, a functioning education and SEND system, a healthcare system that cares about women's health, and a whole laundry list of other things…)
• Witney MP Charlie Maynard went on a giant walk around his constituency with county council candidate Alaric Rose, stopping off at pubs and community centres and talking to residents. He held a 'pint and a chat' in Brize Norton and a Q&A in Bampton. We are told his hobby horse jumping skills were excellent.
• Henley & Thame MP Freddie van Mierlo posted this update of this last week and was campaigning in Benson. He met with his local Wildlife Trust in Parliament and was, of course, at his party's local council campaign launch in Henley.
• Bicester & Woodstock MP Calum Miller advocated in Parliament for enhanced support for adoptive parents. In response to escalating trade tariffs from the USA, he asked the foreign secretary David Lammy to consider a customs union with Europe (Lammy said no). Closer to home, he met with Chiltern Railways to discuss rolling stock improvements and visited Launton Youth Football Club. He wished his constituents Eid Mubarak.

This weekend

• Spring Celebrations at the Pitt Rivers and the History of Science museums. Saturday 5 April from 1pm. Free. Learn about Nowruz, Orthodox Easter, Eid and the Spring Equinox and a whole lot more.
• Makers and Fakers. Sunday 6 April from 12.30pm. Pitt Rivers Museum, Parks Road: help make a collaborative zine as part of ‘April Fakes Day’.
• Home from Home. ‘Variety’ at Cowley Workers Social Club, Saturday 5 April. Click the link – it’s like nothing we've ever seen before. Please can someone report back? Your Clarion scribe is gutted they can't go.
• The Gesualdo Six at Christ Church on Sunday 6 April at 8pm. Soaring polyphony in a ravishing programme of music from Thomas Tallis to Joanna Marsh.

Dates for your diary

• Six Inches of Soil. Thursday 10 April. 7pm, Common Ground, Little Clarendon Street. Watch a documentary about British farming while tasting whisky from Fielden (which we touched on here and here).
• GOSH!feratu. Thursday 17 April 7pm. An ‘evening of bloodthirsty discussion’ in Curio Bookshop (beneath Common Ground).
• Charlbury Beer Festival, Saturday 28 June, Charlbury Cricket Club. A day of fun, festivity and fundraising for all the family. 60 real ales, craft beers, a range of ciders and perries, wine, gin, and Pimm’s, plus food, live music, kids entertainment and the World Aunt Sally Singles Championships. Excellent bus and train services (the festival is opposite the station) so you can plan an extended day out.
• The DNA of My Favourite Street. Photographs by Bernard Clarke. April 7-28, the Westgate Library. In his book, Real Oxford, Patrick McGuiness writes:"If I could take the DNA of my favourite street and clone it for the benefit of humanity, I'd choose Magdalen Road."
• Fancy taking to the water? Tooleys is running boat trips along the Oxford Canal in the Dancing Duck on Saturdays, from Castle Quay, Banbury.
• Get ready for May Morning with this lunchtime talk on the history of Morris in Oxford (the dancing, not the cars): ‘Oxfordshire at the Heart of Morris Dancing’. Museum of Oxford, Wednesday 16 April, £5.
• Living Fibres. Makespace Oxford, starting Saturday 10 May. Have you ever wanted to make your own basket by foraging nettles, brambles, carrots, rhubarb, or garlic?

As ever, all our events have been submitted by readers, plus a couple we thought you just needed to know about. Please keep them coming – we love this microcosm of our readers. For a more comprehensive events listing, do visit Daily Info, and in particular its Easter preview.

Oxfordshire’s independent media

• The Oxford Sausage walks in the footsteps of Josiah Pullen, Vice President of Magdalen Hall in 1657.
• The Oxford Blue reports rumours that Radiohead will tour again. (Published on April 2. We checked.)
• The Oxford Student looks at a history of resistance through cooking. (While we’re at it, may the Clarion also recommend this beautiful and heartbreaking cookbook smuggled out of the Theresienstadt ghetto?)
• Bitten Oxford reviews Magdalen Road's Green Routes, Waste 2 Taste and also Alice in Wonderland tea at the Randolph (which looks spectacular).
• Oxford Scientist asks if AI’s insatiable hunger for data can be reconciled with copyright laws.
• Nightshift’s April issue is out with all Oxfordshire’s indie music.
• Muddy Stilettos has 44 cracking things to do with kids and teens this Easter.

Back page splash

• Hinksey Pool re-opens for the summer season on Saturday, with Hinksey Splash Park on Friday. (We reported this last week but thought you might like a reminder.) Open water swimming in the lake next door happens all year round.
• Wallingford Lido is due to open in May.
• Abingdon's Abbey Meadow outdoor pool is due to open in late May after improvements over the winter.
• Chipping Norton Lido opens on 17 April.
• Woodgreen Leisure Centre, Banbury’s outdoor swimming pool, is set to open on May 19th.
• If wild swimming is your thing, Red Kite Days have places to share – do remember the Wild Water Code.

Notes from Clarion HQ

A mollusc ate our election primer (actually some dodgy train wifi) and we nearly cried. It’s coming next week. It’s worth waiting for.

Our tweet/bleat about the EV electric charging station at Eynsham being refused permission went mildly viral. It’s fair to say that social media was not impressed by West Oxfordshire District Council’s decision, with former Government adviser Gabriel Milland pointing out: “In other news, the same council has declared a climate crisis.”

With local temperatures hitting 21°C today, this is surely a weekend to get out on your bike – whether electric or acoustic. Here’s our roundup of traffic-free cycling in Oxfordshire from last year. Have a great week.