The Clarion, 16 June 2026

Amid furrowed-brow news on planning, polemics and prisons, we have plenty of reasons to be cheerful this week: South Park’s distillery, an Internet of Birds, the world’s largest display of origami frogs, and an outbreak of Councils Doing Nice Things. Read on…

This week’s top stories

Cherwell District Council has been placed into special measures for planning applications. Developers can now choose to apply directly to the Government for major applications, bypassing Cherwell entirely – potentially including warehouse sites, the Puy du Fou theme park, and housing developments.

Cherwell was one of nine councils ‘designated’ yesterday, where the Government considers “the local planning authority is not adequately performing their function of determining applications for planning permission… if their performance improves then the designation may be removed”.

Although Cherwell had previously been criticised for taking a long time to decide applications, and fined £400,000 for delays to a Merton College application at Yarnton, this latest reproach comes as a result of 11% of major decisions being overturned at appeal – above the 10% threshold. (Decisions are made by elected councillors on the cross-party planning committee, although council officers provide reports and advice. Cherwell’s committee currently comprises 4 LibDems, 2 Lab, 2 Con, 1 Green, 1 Reform and 1 vacancy.) The council recently said it would not defend an appeal by ‘big box’ warehouse developers at M40 junction 10, which councillors turned down in January.

Cherwell leader Cllr Lesley McLean said she was “frustrated” by the news, pointing out that it was based on 2023-25 decisions: “The Government appears more interested in judging Cherwell’s past performance than recognising the progress being made today. This creates a route for decisions to be made by the Planning Inspectorate, outside the local democratic process.”

Of the two local MPs, Calum Miller (LibDem, Bicester & Woodstock) called it “a Whitehall power grab dressed up as a plan for growth” while Sean Woodcock (Lab, Banbury), who was a Cherwell councillor during the period in question, thanked Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook for “his decision about the continued and ongoing failings”.

A supercomputer campus between Oxford and Kidlington, featuring a pedestrian and cycle bridge over the A34 from Oxford Parkway, is proposed in plans just submitted to Cherwell District Council.

EXOq, on Exeter College land, aims to stop the UK falling behind in AI computing infrastructure. To be built between 2028 and 2040 at a cost of £900m, the “innovation district” could provide 7,000 permanent jobs in R&D and university buildings (aka lab space), plus a hotel, FE college, car park, and (because OCC asked for one) fire station.

The development would span Frieze Way, south of Kidlington, with the High-Performance Compute facility on the east side and lab space to the west. The pedestrian/cycle bridge would link to East-West Rail at Oxford Parkway, “enabling access to a larger workforce pool and reducing housing pressures”. A new nature park would adjoin the Oxford Canal and Stratfield Brake wildlife site, with café and community hall, and nearby, a conference centre with a 500-seat lecture hall.

The High-Performance Compute facility would have two three-storey wings around open-plan data halls, designed with an eye to the cooling technologies required. They would be powered by an adjoining energy centre with gas boilers, air-source heat pumps and thermal store, and securely fenced off.

Developers say “pedestrian and cycle access is envisaged as the primary mode of travel” with emphasis on the canal towpath, and assert that the effect on the Green Belt is “localised and relatively limited”. The area from Oxford North, through Begbroke, up to Oxford Airport is becoming a focus for high-tech development plans, expanding on the existing Begbroke Science Park. The Begbroke Science Village with 1,800 homes, and potentially a new railway station, has already been approved.

Streets immediately surrounding a student polemics society in Oxford will be closed on Wednesday afternoon and evening. A significant police presence is expected for the rescheduled ‘debate’ featuring far-right speakers.

Buses will be diverted from Queen Street after 4pm. St Michael’s Street will be fully closed and potential restrictions have been signalled for Cornmarket, Market Street and Ship Street. Local independent businesses including the Handle Bar and the White Rabbit have said they will close early for the safety of their staff.

Oxford City Council leader Susan Brown says she is “deeply concerned” and that the society “must meet the full costs of staging their event, rather than leaving taxpayers to pick up the bill”. She added: “A large-scale security operation is being prepared, involving extensive police resources and road closures. This will cause considerable disruption for local residents and businesses, and comes at a substantial cost. I urge the [society] to reflect on the consequences of its choices.”

(The Clarion is choosing not to name the society so as not to give it the notoriety it so desperately craves. The event clashes with England vs Croatia and frankly we expect the latter to be a more edifying spectacle.)

Seven out of 10 businesses say they are doing the same or better after the introduction of Oxford’s congestion charge. A survey carried out for Oxfordshire County Council found 48% reported no noticeable effect, 22% had seen a positive effect, and 30% negative. ‘Shop-front’ businesses (retail, hospitality and tourism) were the most likely to report negative effects.

Overall, 72% said their business was performing well. In a success for the scheme’s stated aims, more than half of businesses – particularly in OX4 – said their staff had changed how they travel to work as a result.

As well as the survey, OCC also looked at consumer spending data. Overall, Oxford’s overall retail performance was in line with similar cities – but an above-average performance in the city centre was balanced by a decline in food/drink-oriented suburbs (such as Jericho and Cowley Road) and ‘mixed retail’ destinations (such as Headington).

Around the city

• On this day 60 years ago, Blackwell's bookshop opened its vast Norrington Room. It was excavated underneath Trinity College and named after the then president of the college, Sir Arthur Norrington. There are over 150,000 books on 4km of shelves. This week is Independent Bookshop Week; although Blackwell's was bought by Waterstone's in 2022, Oxford still has several indie booksellers to explore. We rounded them all up last month.
• Councillor parking is set to be removed at County Hall in Oxford. A new parking policy, to be considered at an Oxfordshire County Council meeting this week, would restrict parking to blue badge holders and staff with “operational need” such as regular site visits. The new rules say that “Parking will not be provided for general commuting convenience, lack of public transport alone, or personal preference or status.” Reduced demand for the car park could lead to new temporary uses for the space in the run-up to its sale as a hotel.
• The distillery in South Park has moved closer to re-opening: Oxford City Council approved a planning application on Friday for “retention of existing building to be used as a distillery”. (Our distillery articles are here and here and we cannot wait for this to reopen.)

• Oxford’s Deputy Mayor Louise Upton joined a relay to celebrate 30 years of the Thames Path as it passed through the city in Oxford on Friday. Walking groups have handed on a baton each day. The Thames Path National Trail team is hosted by Oxfordshire County Council; several of their senior officers, together with those from Oxford City, joined the walk to look at significant repair work that has been completed in the last two years. They also discussed the new 'shared space' signage to be painted on the tarmac path to remind people to respect all footpath users including cyclists, runners and walkers on this very busy section of the Thames Path National Trail. Steve Tabbitt, from OCC’s Countryside Access & Public Rights of Way team, explained how the embankment was re-engineered with marine piling and gabion walls to stabilise the bank and the footpath. The fenced-off section, near Iffley Meadows nature reserve, is on the list of work to be done before winter floods cause more erosion.
• Oxford’s first Nature Festival starts this coming weekend, with a week of activities culminating in a festival day on Saturday 27 at the Museum of Natural History. Events include writing workshops, surveying expeditions, and film screenings. Organisers say: “Across the University, and throughout Oxfordshire more widely, there is so much inspiring work happening to protect and restore nature. Much of this work doesn’t always reach wider audiences, and we felt it was time to create a welcoming, public festival to highlight these efforts.”

Around the county

• 17 Oxfordshire people have been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours. Craig Simmons, former Green city councillor and Lord Mayor of Oxford, is appointed MBE for “services to charitable causes and to the community in Oxford”. Martin Reeves, CEO of Oxfordshire County Council, is appointed OBE. Rabbi Norman Solomon’s MBE is for services to the Jewish community and interfaith relations in Oxfordshire. Jacqui Gitau, founder of African Families in the UK – an organisation that supports families with UK-born children of African-born parents – is appointed MBE for services to migrant families. Also appointed MBE are garden designer Sarah Eberle, from Witney; Stephen Smith, associate professor of greenhouse gas removal at Oxford University; Adam Twine, founder of the community-owned Westmill wind farm in Watchfield; and Tony Perkins from Bicester, CEO of the London Hostels Association. Environmental law professor Richard Macrory, from Kidlington, is knighted. Lisa Harker, director of the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory and children’s rights campaigner, is appointed CBE. Clare Hornby from Burford, founder of fashion brand Me+Em, is appointed OBE. British Empire Medals are awarded to Mel Houldershaw, conductor and founder of East Oxford Community Choir; Martin Spurrier, for services to the community in South Leigh near Witney; and Richard Kemp, for services to Langford near Carterton.
• A 37-year old man from Wantage has been arrested after a collision on Friday involving a young child and a black Ford Fiesta at a pedestrian crossing in Grove. The child sustained serious injuries and remains in hospital. The driver has been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving; driving whilst unfit through drink/drugs; and driving other than in accordance with a licence. Thames Valley Police are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage.
• Council Does Nice Thing: West Oxfordshire District Council has donated its end-of-life laptops to charity Getting Oxfordshire Online to help people across Oxfordshire access online services including education and employment. The donated laptops are at end of life for commercial use but wiped and refurbished. Cllr Sandra Coleman said: “Having access to a computer is increasingly essential in everyday life. We are pleased these laptops can continue to make a difference in our communities.”
• Same Council Does Another Nice Thing: West Oxfordshire District Council has launched a support programme for local small businesses. It aims to help them gain an edge in a world where the fickleness of ratings and word of mouth can make or break a business. We caught up with them to hear more.

Local business support in West Oxfordshire

Why are West Oxfordshire businesses receiving visits from mystery shoppers? And how do local shops with minimal staff survive in an age of unforgiving, instant-judgement online reviews? In a guest post for the Clarion, West Oxfordshire District Council explain their new programme to support local businesses. What if better customer

Oxford ClarionClarion guest contributor

• Other Councils Do Nice Thing: Didcot's Cornerstone Art Centre and the Beacon in Wantage, run by South Oxfordshire District Council and Vale of White Horse respectively, are giving artists free access to studio spaces to create, rehearse, test and share their work, including mentoring and marketing support. Applications are now open.
• Trigger warning 🕷: A national report on prisons and immigration detention centres criticises “the continued and seemingly uncontrolled presence of spiders” at Bicester’s HMP Bullingdon, with bites severe enough to need hospital admission. In one case, a prisoner was warned that he could lose his leg. The annual report, from the Independent Monitoring Boards, calls it a “system stuck in decline” nationwide. It also cites concerns about the Campsfield Detention Centre, for which it says there are less costly and harmful alternatives. (We have previously reported on the work that the Oxfordshire charity Refugee Resource does with asylum seekers.)
• 37 new houses on the edge of Charlbury were approved by West Oxfordshire District Council on Monday. The controversial development at Rushy Bank, by the station, has attracted national press attention (but not in the sort of paper we link to) after a 10-year legal battle over conservation concerns.
• It's all in the mix: The Oxford-based community interest company and alternative education provider In-Spire Sounds has debuted a mixtape from their TVP-funded project working with young people at risk of criminal exploitation, violence and harm. The project mentors young people, providing them with music production and song-writing skills.
• Play therapists and support workers are helping children and parents recovering from domestic abuse through a trauma-informed recovery programme, run by the charity Parents & Children Together. PACT reports that 28,000 children in the Thames Valley are affected by domestic abuse each year, but only 22% get child-focussed support. The charity's BB4K programme has already supported 500 families, and is now supporting 38 children with a £60,000 grant from the Berkshire Freemasons.

Oxfordshire politics

What have our MPs been up to? Here are the highlights.

• Banbury MP Sean Woodcock invited the Prime Minister to see the maternity unit at the Horton Hospital, upgraded to 'Good' in the latest Care Quality Commission review. Labouring women may be pleased to note both that the PM dodged the invitation (would you like a Prime Ministerial visit with your gas and air?) and also that £100,000 has been allocated to improve maternity funding. Winning all round. In a post six days before the announcement that it was to be placed into special measures, he wrote to Cherwell District Council criticising a waste of public funds over the warehouses by M40 junction 10 (in the Bicester & Woodstock constituency) that were rejected and have now gone to appeal.

• Bicester & Woodstock MP Calum Miller can maybe claim some credit after he's lobbied on a Government policy change on home to school transport for disabled children, some of whom had recently lost eligibility. Parents and carers should reapply here. His foreign affairs beat hasn't been quiet either: the LibDems are celebrating closing a Russian sanctions loophole on jet fuel exports.
• Witney MP Charlie Maynard has this week's first Thames Water content, this time a video from Carterton Sewage Works where infrastructure is not keeping up with home building. In a Westminster Hall debate, he spoke out for reform of the business rates system to support small businesses. Oh and in this video he's in a wetsuit, celebrating swimming in the Thames. Brave.

• Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds met the British Chinese Council in Westminster – and with constituents where she discussed ways the local community can engage with her as their MP, and Parliament more widely. In a post on X and other platforms, she celebrated the announcement of a ban on social media for under-16s, saying it was a response to concerns of her constituents and that implementation would be key, as would ensuring services become safe by design for all.
• Oxford West & Abingdon MP Layla Moran said that the Government have "cobbled together restrictions on social media for young people, but we need a policy which will last and hold big tech’s feet to the fire”. She held up local social pioneer Tribela as a new social media platform which aims to protect young people online through added privacy and removal of advertising. (We wrote about Oxfordshire's social media pioneers in a long read in April.)

• Didcot & Wantage MP Olly Glover spoke in Parliament on the Railways Bill, saying that it has good intentions but major flaws – notably failing to recognise that journey experience is critical given high fares. He committed to push the Government to “get the transport we need, including investment in key local projects like a new station at Grove and making Cholsey station accessible”. And he wants locals to complete the consultation on the future of Wantage Market Place.
• Henley & Thame MP Freddie van Mierlo has has enough of Thames Water (bingo!) flooding his constituents' gardens with sewage, so took the issue to Parliament. He called on the government to improve training for health visitors.

• Thames Valley Police & Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber is unimpressed with the latest Government plans to create a Police Reform Delivery Authority, saying that the cost of over £100m should go to frontline policing. He's annoyed at both a delay to, and a change in legislation on closure orders to help police tackle illegal businesses on the high street, accusing the Government of “kicking the can down the road”. And he attended a charity auction for Brightwell Village Hall, with former Prime Minister (and local resident) Boris Johnson as auctioneer, raising over £15,000.

University and research

• Small boat news: Six crews of Oriel alumni, students and staff have successfully rowed the English Channel, navigating past cargo vessels, cruise ships, ferries and, in the case of one crew, a Russian warship. The row celebrated the College's 700th anniversary, and took between 8 and 11 hours to complete.
• Oxford University has signed the Armed Forces Covenant, a commitment not to disadvantage any member of the Forces and to consider special treatment where appropriate, “especially for the injured or bereaved”. It joins the city, county and district councils and Oxford University Hospitals in signing. Each organisation that signs the Covenant chooses a series of pledges to fulfil. The University has chosen pledges including support for service spouses and partners (including flexible leave) and to be an “Armed Forces Friendly” organisation.
• Next level bird-watching (what a pity we are no longer on Twitter): Oxford scientists have won a £500,000 grant to develop an ‘Internet of Birds’. The aim is to put solar powered sensors on bird rings so wild birds can collect environmental data from around the world. It will be focused on reducing bird ring size, cost and antennas, so it can be used on more birds to reduce any data biases. Dr Tonya Lander of Christ Church said: “We expect this to drive a sea-change in our understanding of bird ecology and conservation, to enable targeted interventions to protect birds, human energy infrastructure such as wind turbines, and prevention of bird-borne zoonotic diseases.”
• Al Basrah in Iraq has been identified as the city most at risk from heat by researchers from Oxford University. Cairo, Bangkok, Hanoi and Jaipur were all in the highest risk quarter. Researchers from Oxford University’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment have analysed data from 205 cities with 1m+ population to assess which are at most risk from rising global temperatures.“It isn’t just exposure to hot temperatures that matters for risk,” said lead author Nethmi Jayaratne Kariyawasam. “In many major cities, particularly across Asia and Africa, extreme heat coincides with high vulnerability and limited coping capacity.” Jesus Lizana added: “This study provides the first globally harmonised and directly comparable assessment of urban heat risk across cities worldwide. This provides a powerful tool for identifying where adaptation efforts are most urgently needed.”
• Scientists have been studying magma in Harwell's Diamond Light Source with synchrotron X-ray microtomography, while heating and cooling it to understand how its history affects flow rates and volcanism. The scientists, from the University of Manchester, found that magma with a history of superheating was much slower to form crystals so flowed faster, "potentially promoting dramatic lava fountaining behaviour" which is important for volcanic hazard models. (Our physics correspondent didn't know you could melt rock while zapping it with super powerful X-rays at Diamond, and thinks this hot science is pretty cool.)
• And finally, in a surprise to literally zero working mothers reading this, researchers at the University of Oxford have found that the careers of women who take parental leave are adversely affected. Conversely, men who take extended parental leave are seen as leadership material and therefore more likely to progress. There's more in the article but frankly we're too tired fighting the patriarchy to summarise this one any more.

Charity begins at home

• We at the Clarion like cats, but we have views on... fat cats. That was a bit laboured, sorry, but hey, hard labour will get... most of us no real wealth, and make none of us trillionaires. Oxfam have views too, and warn that Elon Musk's trillionaire status marks “a dark day for global democracy”. Oxfam mark the occasion by renewing calls for a wealth tax. They say Musk's wealth exceeds that of the poorest 46% of the global population, which is “not a sign of a healthy economy” but of concentration of wealth and power – and a political choice about who our economies are designed to work for. They launched a petition that calls on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to introduce a 2% wealth tax on assets over £10 million; this would only affect around 20,000 people, 0.04% of the population, but could raise enough to transform investment in public services and anti-poverty measures.
• Asylum Welcome has launched an urgent appeal to support people held in Campsfield Immigration Removal Centre near Kidlington, as the Home Office has announced its proposal to expand the centre from 160 to 400 places. Asylum Welcome staff and volunteers have been visiting people detained at Campsfield as part of a pilot programme, helping people reconnect with family members, access legal advice, and understand what support is available – but funding ends in July. Hari Reed, Asylum Welcome said: “Whether it remains at its current capacity or expands, detained people deserve dignity and human connection. For those inside Campsfield, a visitor may be the only person they encounter who is not part of the immigration system. The support we provide is a lifeline.” The public consultation on the expansion proposals is open until 24 July.
• Children at Cutteslowe Primary School are attempting to break a world record, creating the world's largest display of origami frogs. The children are raising funds for Cancer Research UK and the Oxfordshire Homeless Movement. The current record is 3,542: their target is 4,500.

Notes from Clarion HQ

It’s been a bit of a left hand/right hand week.

Next month, we finally learn how Oxfordshire’s councils are to be reconfigured. The rumour mill reckons the Government is leaning towards the “three councils” model: a Greater Oxford council, one for Ridgeway (South, Vale and West Berks), and one for North Oxfordshire (Cherwell and West). Yes, that’s right. One month Government is taking away Cherwell’s major responsibility, that of deciding planning applications; the next, it’s putting Cherwell (or rather, a hastily rearranged successor authority) in charge of highways, social care and everything else. The Clarion has long worried that the North Oxfordshire authority could be the curdled cheese on the Oxfordshire cheeseboard, but we didn’t expect the platter to go off quite so quickly.

Our Mini Clarions, as you might expect, are politically engaged already. One 10 year old is firmly Green (though impressed by a school visit from the local Labour councillor) while an 8 year old has been swung by a LibDem teddy bear. At 16, they’ll get to vote. Just one question: how are these young citizens meant to stay civically informed? Oxfordshire’s MPs communicate almost exclusively via social media… the same social media that may soon be off limits to under-16s. Left hand, meet right hand?

Maybe MPs should set themselves free from the big tech barons they decry. Or maybe everyone should just sign up for the Clarion’s weekly politics digest. Stay safe this week and we’ll see you on Friday.