Clarion Weekly, 9 August 2024

This week’s top stories

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in East Oxford on Wednesday to protest against racist intimidation and to support refugee organisations such as Asylum Welcome. A crowd estimated at over 500 chanted “Say it loud and clear, refugees are welcome here” after Asylum Welcome’s Magdalen Road office was listed as a target in a document leaked from a far-right Telegram group.

The demonstration, organised by Stand Up To Racism, began at Manzil Way – location of the Central Oxford Mosque – before proceeding to Magdalen Road. Shops and pubs in the Cowley Road area closed early in anticipation of unrest. The demonstration passed off without incident and no far-right protestors were encountered. Organisations across Oxfordshire issued statements condemning racist violence, including county, city and district councils, Oxford’s universities, the NHS locally, and faith groups.

Asylum Welcome told the Clarion: “We have felt so uplifted in recent days by the kindness of our local community.” Donations towards their work can be made online, and gifts of second-hand bikes, laptops and items for their foodbank are welcome at their office at 7 Newtec Place, Magdalen Road OX4 1RE.

Oxford’s Christmas event on Broad Street will have another new organiser this year. Keston Events won the City Council’s tender with a proposal that “moves away from the market model, with lots of options for families, community groups, residents and visitors to enjoy”.

Oxford City Council’s cabinet member Alex Hollingsworth said: “This is an excellent opportunity to reinvigorate Christmas celebrations in Oxford. The new Broad Street layout offers a chance to use a different approach that we think will be attractive for visitors to the city centre.”

Keston currently run Christmas markets in Kingston & Portsmouth. The City Council says details are being finalised and “more information will be available soon”. Gaia Lights have won the contract for Christmas lights, promising “an enhanced display” without increasing the budget.

A Battery Energy Storage System proposed for Culham has been turned down on Green Belt and heritage grounds. BESSs store renewable energy between the time when it’s generated and peak consumption hours, making them a key part of the net zero transition.

South Oxfordshire planners said the Green Belt site required “very special circumstances to warrant the scheme’s approval… this would be an urbanising development”. They also cited the impact on the 18thC parkland landscape at Nuneham House.

The new Labour government is currently consulting on changing planning rules to “support renewable deployment” – likely to favour developments such as this. The consultation is open until 24 September.

Clarion long read

Do you have an apple tree that's suspiciously defoliated and lacking in apples? Apple ermine moth could be the culprit. In a Clarion long read we investigate the pest that's attacking Oxford's apple trees, and ask what you can do to save your trees.

Oxfordshire politics

• Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds spoke to Network Rail about “the unspecified increase in the length of the Botley Road closure”. As International Development Minister, she has been in the Middle East this week where she announced £6m of new aid for Gaza and £14m for Syrian refugees. She called for “an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and unfettered access to lifesaving aid for those in Gaza”.
• Oxfordshire Conservative leader Eddie Reeves wrote for ConservativeHome about the situation facing the party. He summed up the party’s election strategy: “CCHQ [Conservative Campaign Headquarters] invested no resource in Oxfordshire seats, cleaving instead to its superannuated 80:20 strategy before summarily scrapping it in favour of an eleventh-hour pitch to Reform-leaners.”
• Council meetings are generally in abeyance throughout August so expect a quiet few weeks. Oxfordshire’s newly elected MPs have been busy, however, posting their weekly activities, supporting local football teams and campaigning on sewage.

Around the city

• Oxford City Council’s investigation service says it saved Oxford residents over £7.4m via fraud prevention and detection in 2023/24. Cllr Ed Turner, Cabinet Member for Finance & Asset Management, commented: “The OIS has been instrumental in preventing fraud and recovering assets. The team has safeguarded social housing and ensured robustness of Council services. They are outstanding leaders in fraud prevention.”
• The Gladiator social club on Iffley Road, home to Klub Kakoffaney and the Dixieland Jazz Club, is to be redeveloped into a ground-floor club with seven flats above (4x 2-bed, 3x 1-bed). Planning permission was granted by Oxford City Council this week. Previous plans to offer student accommodation on the upper floors have been replaced with open-market residential housing, which planners say will appeal to “young professionals who wish to live close to their workplaces and key transport hubs”.
• The year’s first mowing of roadside grass verges is now complete, with all public grassed areas visited over eight weeks. Oxford Direct Services, the City Council’s works arm, started with roadside verges on 5 June to help avoid grass creating an obstruction to pavements, roads and cycleways. Due to unusually warm and wet weather conditions, ground became waterlogged and grass across Oxford had grown much higher than usual – which made it more difficult to cut. ODS was unable to carry out its scheduled mowing in March and early April in some parks and housing areas.

• Thames Valley Police's newest recruits are Bracey, Kreff, Merlot, Coops, Jana, Cookie, and Lacey - named to honour retired dog handlers. Once trained, they could be on Oxford's streets in two years.

Around the county

• American billionaire Ron Burkle, owner of the Soho House group, has lodged plans for a newbuild mansion on a 90-acre site at Little Tew – close to Soho Farmhouse. A previous design was refused by West Oxfordshire District Council in 2022. The “new country house” by name architect Francis Terry would have stables and a landscape garden. The application cites influences including Lutyens, Vanbrugh, Oriel College, and almshouses in Abingdon. It would be built to Passivhaus ultra-low energy standards. Burkle, a friend of the Clintons, owns the private equity firm Yucaipa Companies, which invests in supermarkets and logistics companies. He bought Soho House Group in 2014. Soho Farmhouse, renowned as the Cotswold haunt of celebrities, has led to a mini property boom nearby.
• Construction on the new A40 slip roads at Shores Green, Witney, will finally be able to start when contracts are approved by Oxfordshire County Council next week. The £25m scheme will build two sliproads so East Witney traffic can access the westbound A40 without going via the town centre. Consultation took place in May 2021, plans were lodged in April 2022, and compulsory purchase was approved in May 2023. The plans replaced the former Cogges Link Road scheme, rejected in 2012 following opposition from landowners.
• Rare western marsh harriers with white plumage have been spotted at the RSPB’s Otmoor reserve this month. The unusual colouring is thought to be a result of stress or malnutrition. Earlier this year the RSPB applied to create a new 18-hectare wetland complex at Otmoor, a 485-hectare reserve whose precious ecology is responsible for the ‘kink’ in the M40 as it heads towards Bicester.
• A second site of derelict MOD land has been proposed for redevelopment in Carterton. 82 homes are lined up for a site south of Upavon Way, which was formerly used for 3-storey blocks of military housing until demolition in 2020. Unusually, the design deliberately avoids driveways directly exiting onto Upavon Way, so that a proposed cycleway would not be interrupted by crossing traffic. The developers say a 3m cycleway could be constructed along the road in the future.

Cycling and walking news

• Local cycling association Cycling UK Oxfordshire – formerly the Cyclists’ Touring Club – marked its 100th anniversary with a 100-mile ride around the county at the weekend. 21 riders completed the full course: the oldest to take part was 80-year old Peter Hallowell. The group is part of the national charity for non-sport cycling, founded in 1878. The early CTC campaigned against bicycle tolls on Eynsham Bridge; today’s group continues to campaign for safer streets and recently launched an online cycling map of the county.
• A consultation has opened into new cycle parking in Oxford, first reported in the Oxford Clarion last month. ‘Sheffield stands’ will be installed on-road on seven streets in central Oxford (including Broad Street) and Summertown. On South Parade and Leopold Street, some stands will replace existing permit-holder only car parking. The cycle parking is funded by developer contributions collected by Oxford City Council and you can access the consultation here.

This weekend

• Fancy an afternoon drinking beer among goats? Of course you do. It’s the Cogges Beer & Cider Festival at Witney’s very own town farm on Saturday, with a specially brewed beer called (what else) Giddy Goat. Entrance is £15 and it starts at noon.
• Fairport Convention’s legendary Cropredy Festival finishes on Saturday, this year headlined by Fairport Convention. If you buy a day ticket for Saturday then camping is free. Oxfordshire County Council’s travel twitter warned of “higher than usual traffic”, but we’re told the Cropredy demographic is such that the slowest queues (3mph) are on the Oxford Canal.

Dates for your diary

• Oxford Open Doors: Saturday 14 & Sunday 15 September
• Kidical Mass: Sunday 22 September, 2pm

Notes from Clarion HQ

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