The Clarion, 18 August 2026

Two graphs, three puppies, but there’s only one Ozymandias. Plus our first ever readers’ survey. Read on…

This week’s top stories

The benefits to Oxfordshire from the proposed Puy du Fou theme park near Bicester have been “overstated by a large margin”, according to a take-no-prisoners independent report.

A tourism expert working for property consultancy Colliers, commissioned by Cherwell District Council, says that estimates of visitor spend outside the park are “fatally flawed”, “not grounded in credible evidence” and do not pass basic sense checks.

David Geddes, former chief executive of a major tourist attraction, does agree that Puy du Fou’s visitor targets are “achievable” – but that they would require almost catching up with Alton Towers and Legoland Windsor in just ten years. He also says that forecasts of visitor spending within the park itself are “credible, but at the optimistic end of the spectrum”.

His strongest criticism is reserved for the calculations of “out-of-park expenditure”, i.e. the spin-off benefits for other Oxfordshire hotels, restaurants, and visitor attractions. Puy du Fou estimate that visitors would spend £416m off-site every year: Colliers say a more likely estimate is £114m, just over a quarter. Colliers also report that 2,559 jobs would be created off-site by year 10, not the 8,525 claimed by Puy du Fou.

Geddes alleges that there are basic flaws in Puy du Fou’s calculations:

“It is incorrect to assume that that all people who visit Puy du Fou from paid accommodation will be using that accommodation because they are visiting Puy du Fou, as opposed to being on holiday in the area for other reasons. [The calculations forecast that] visitors staying off-site would spend £560 per room per night: the average rate per room in the area is c.£105.

“Most people, realistically, do not spend much off-site when they go for an expensive day out to a theme park because they do not have the time or inclination to do so. This is especially true of family-orientated attractions like Puy du Fou. The bigger that the park becomes, the more that this is likely to be the case.”

Colliers’ report, however, praises Puy du Fou’s approach of “spreading large scale investment over a long period”, saying this would lead to “visitor numbers growing at a steady pace after opening”.

The planning application for the theme park has been supported by local bus companies, (neighbouring) West Oxfordshire District Council, and tourism organisations VisitBritain and Experience Oxfordshire. It is fiercely opposed by parish councils and countryside groups, while Oxfordshire County Council has raised traffic concerns. National Highways, who operate the M40, have asked that Cherwell District Council does not take any decision before 24 September, as they are still in discussion about traffic impacts.

Both the Guardian and the Daily Mail have recently run stories alleging support for Vladimir Putin by the de Villiers family who founded the theme park group. Puy du Fou told the Mail that since the start of the Ukraine war, “we have had no involvement or interests in Russia”.

The opening of Eynsham Park & Ride has been put back another year, to 2028, following a review by contractors Balfour Beatty. Preparatory works are currently underway, with the main construction expected to start in the spring.

The junction works to link the P&R site to the A40 is part of a wider programme of improvements to the road, including new bus lanes between Eynsham and Oxford and upgrades to the roadside cycle track. Most of the £126m cost is from Government housing funds in anticipation of future new homes.

For Oxfordshire County Council, Cllr Liz Leffman said: “We know people are keen to see these benefits delivered, and our focus is on progressing the work needed to connect the park and ride to the A40 and bring it into use as soon as possible.”

Around the city

• Oxford Needs Homes: Oxford City Council, in a quirk of local government, has applied to itself for planning permission to demolish a derelict former children’s home in Northway to build 16 new, fully affordable, energy efficient homes. Subject to planning permission, construction is expected to complete in 2028.
       Cllr Linda Smith, for Oxford City Council, said: “Oxford needs more affordable homes, and we’re building them across the city. These will be high-quality, energy-efficient homes for social rent, helping people on our housing register at a time when demand has never been higher.”
       Oxford City Council is the planning authority, judging planning permission, but also in charge of the Local Plan, which includes housing supply. The planning committee is cross-party and independent of the (Labour-run) council executive. We explored Oxford's housing shortage in a series of articles, if you're new here.
       (The ‘Oxford Needs Homes’ tagline was coined by the very lovely and sadly departed Dave Lansley, from Oxford City Council’s comms team. We worked with him on this article on council homes. We use his campaign line at every opportunity in his memory.)
• Pedestrian campaigners say that a new wave of EV chargers must not come at the cost of pavement width. Oxfordshire County Council recently announced plans for over 90 new chargers, but campaigners have measured that “in some of the proposed locations the existing footway is only 1.6m wide”. They warn that with many more chargers planned, “we could lose 0.5m off pretty much every footway with adjacent car parking”
       In a recent consultation, OCC promised to “leave at least 1.2m between back of charging point and the back of the footway”. National government guidance says that “under normal circumstances, a footway width of 2m is the minimum, as this allows enough space for two wheelchair users to pass”, but adds “where there is an obstacle such as EV charging points, the absolute minimum should be 1m”.
       Campaigners in Oxford and elsewhere say chargers should be installed on the carriageway, not the pavement. Other councils have imposed a higher minimum pavement width, such as 1.5m in Surrey (“ideally 2m”), and more in areas of high footfall. London Living Streets has called for a minimum of 2.5m.
• Oxford is the second worst place in Britain to be a landlord, according to new research by Landlord Resource. The average gross rental yield is 5%: only Cambridge (at 4.7%) is lower. The highest yields are in the North East, with Sunderland averaging 9.3%. Landlord Resource’s Saif Derzi did point out, however, that “housing prices in Southern England have risen nearly twice as fast in the past decade compared with northern counterparts”. (We imagine our readers will have Views on this.)
• Two new bleed kits have been installed, one at East Oxford Community Centre and the other on St Nicholas Road in Littlemore, bringing the total across the city to six. The kits enable people to respond to life-threatening bleeding before emergency services arrive: they contain tourniquets, gauze, trauma dressing, chest seals and gloves. The access code can be obtained by calling 999. Cllr Lubna Arshad said: “While I hope that these bleed kits are never needed, it is reassuring to know that they are there and could be the difference between life and death. The City Council is proud to be expanding the locations of these bleed kits across the city.”
       Separately, Nationwide has received permission to install a bleed kit and defibrillator at its Queen Street branch. The building society is aiming to install them at branches across the country.
• Oxford City Council has given permission for the replacement of four statues on Trinity College’s chapel roof. Planning officers agreed the deterioration of the existing statues “impacted their heritage significance [and] posed a safety concern as their stability has been seriously compromised”.
• And finally, a correspondent writes to say that Pubs and Prams, a social group for parents this week will be at The Slow and Steady on Abingdon Road, on Friday from 2.30pm. We are here for pubs, prams, and community news.

Around the county

• A £6.5m project to strengthen the bridge carrying the A40 over the railway tracks near Wolvercote has been signed off. Oxfordshire County Council has awarded a £4.9m construction contract to M Group to strip away unnecessary concrete, apply protective paint to the steel frame, and repair walls. The works are part of the wider project to add bus lanes to the A40 between Eynsham and Oxford. Of the total £6.5m, £5m is coming from OCC’s highway maintenance reserves, and £1.5m from Government housing funding.
• Abingdon’s International Fireworks Festival, scheduled to take place on Saturday 29 August, has been postponed “due to the current extreme fire risk”. Organisers say that the forecast rain is not expected to be enough to reduce the risk to manageable levels. They write: “We had developed an extensive mitigation plan involving four fire appliances, 30 trained fire personnel, harrowing of the firing and fallout areas, substantial fire breaks, careful product selection and extensive fire watches. However, mitigation reduces risk – it cannot eliminate it.” Organisers thanked Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue and the Ministry of Defence, owners of the airfield venue, for their support. Saturday 10 April 2027 has been pencilled in as the date for the rescheduled festival.
• Lab developer T-Squared has begun construction of a new Quantum Innovation Centre for US quantum computing firm Infleqtion on Oxford Technology Park, Kidlington. The facility will include research, manufacturing and systems integration space, tripling their UK space. Previously, Infleqtion supplied a 100 qubit quantum computer to the National Quantum Computing Centre at Harwell. After a design phase, a construction layout robot was used by T-Squared to transfer the design drawings directly onto the floor of the site with millimetre accuracy.
• A well-used lift bridge over the Oxford Canal in Banbury town centre has been closed to pedestrians after mechanical failure. Bridge 164, by Castle Quay shopping centre, has been fenced off and left in the open position so that boats can still pass underneath. Another lift bridge over the canal at Bodicote, just south of Banbury, was also closed to pedestrians at the end of July. The Oxford Canal south of Banbury is unusual in having so many lift bridges, built instead of brick structures as a cost-saving measure after the original canal company ran out of money and had to construct the Banbury–Oxford stretch on a reduced budget.
• A huge warehouse proposal, on the other side of the M40 from Banbury, will be reconsidered by planning inspectors after the High Court struck out their earlier refusal. The plans were first submitted in 2022. Mr Justice Coppel said although there was “no challenge” to the fact it would worsen traffic congestion in Banbury, this would only be grounds to refuse the plans if they had an unacceptable impact on safety, or severe impacts on congestion – and that the planning inspector did not demonstrate that. Developers Greystoke CB, who appealed against Cherwell District Council’s original refusal of planning permission, will now have their appeal re-heard. Local campaign Keep Nethercote Rural says the plans would have a “hugely detrimental impact on our landscape, local heritage and the road network”.

• Oxford social enterprise Tap Social Movement has opened Day Release, an all-day café, bar, and community space at Signal Yard, Milton Park's new £14m social and retail destination. It is the organisation's fourth community venue, and largest to date.
       The venue brings together Tap Social's bakery, pizza kitchen, café, bar, brewing school and events. It features artwork by Oxford artist Lisa Made It, whose other works include East Oxford's Flower Lane mural.
       Day Release continues Tap Social's mission to create meaningful employment opportunities for people with lived experience of the criminal justice system, while creating a welcoming place for everyone. Since it was founded in 2016, Tap Social has created more than 115,000 hours of paid employment for people in prison and prison leavers, demonstrating how commercial success and social impact can go hand in hand. Tess Taylor, Tap Social, said: “This is the culmination of everything we've built in the last decade. Hospitality brings people together. Every coffee served and every shift worked helps create opportunities for people rebuilding their lives after contact with the criminal justice system.”

• Travellers entered Albert Park in Abingdon on Saturday evening, and set up about 20 caravans, with pick-up trucks, cars, works machinery, an electric motorcycle, horses and dogs. The steel pedestrian gate at the south appears to be cut and forced open. The park is owned and maintained by Christ's Hospital of Abingdon. The oldest charity in Oxfordshire, dating back to 1553, it provides assistance to the people of Abingdon. Oxfordshire County Council’s code of practice for travellers asks people to “treat the land they are occupying with respect, and respect the rights of other people who also wish to use the area”, as well as setting out procedures for landowners.
• The West Oxfordshire village of North Leigh, near Witney, has been proposed for another housing development. Elivia Homes want to build 75 dwellings (40% affordable) on the western edge of the village, off Common Road. Four other sites in the village have recently received permission. However, further down Common Road, developers Lioncourt’s application for 80 houses has just been turned down by West Oxfordshire District Council. Planners said it would “result in a level of growth that is not proportionate or appropriate to the cumulative impact of development in the locality”.
• Christian outdoor adventure charity, Adventure Plus, is appealing for donations to build a caving trail and “inland artificial coasteering experience” at its West Oxfordshire base. It says raw material and oil price rises have led to a £25,000 shortfall, putting the caving trail at risk. The charity, based in Clanfield, describes its aims as helping children and young people reach their potential and make positive life choices. Founder Jon Cox has appealed for help from anyone who can “get this final part of the project over the line”.

• And finally, Blenheim Palace has announced the arrival of its newest work experience placements: seven sheepdog puppies, born to the Head Shepherd’s collie, Nan. After an apprenticeship period, one puppy will permanently join the Blenheim team, and the rest will join other teams. Blenheim’s working dogs help care for the flock of 1,000 plus sheep, moving them from field to pen and about the estate. Full sheepdog training can take up to two years, after which point the new puppy will become a fully fledged member of the Estate Team at this UNESCO world heritage site.

Oxfordshire politics

Politics is on recess, but occasionally our MPs’ summertime antics are too good to miss. Last week it was Anneliese Dodds and a whippet; this week LibDem MPs Calum Miller and Olly Glover staged a car vs bus race to Milton Keynes to draw attention to the (very) delayed start to train services. We have not been able to confirm whether either MP had an extra safety-critical member of staff accompanying them on their journey.

University and research

• Oxford University has successfully vaccinated the 100th volunteer in the trial to identify the first effective treatments for Bundibugyo ebolavirus disease, which makes makes this the fastest-ever randomised controlled trial of treatments for Ebola.
• Infinitopes, a University of Oxford spinout, is trialling an experimental cancer vaccine designed to help the immune system recognise and attack oesophageal cancer. Researchers are investigating whether giving the vaccine before surgery, while the tumour is still present, can help generate a stronger immune response and thus reduce the recurrence of cancer after surgery. Results from this phase are expected from early 2027.
• Beef and dairy production accounts for 41% of biodiversity damage caused by the world's farmland, according to an international study involving researchers from the Oxford Martin School. Agriculture has already caused the loss of an estimated 300 billion tonnes of stored carbon and put around 14% of species at risk of extinction through land conversion. Much of this damage is concentrated across parts of South America, sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia.

• Is this heatwave the UK's new normal? Myles Allen, head of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics at the University of Oxford has warned that it could be. The real problem, he says, is that the climate continues to change: it has warmed in “close to a straight line since the 1980s” and will continue “as long as we continue just dumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere”. But this linear warming moves the whole distribution of temperatures, producing “a large increase in the probability of exceeding any given threshold.” So heat extremes are more likely, and new extremes become possible – just as we’ve experienced in the last few years.
       Oxford researchers use the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting weather forecast system for extra detail in climate analysis, to understand current and future events. Allen argues that we need to accelerate and scale carbon dioxide removal by capture and storage. (We wrote about climate science and its Oxford history when it was hot last year.)

• Small boat arrivals have declined in 2026 vs recent years despite recent headlines around ‘mega dinghies’, according to Mihnea Cuibius of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford. The trend for larger boats is connected to successful enforcement efforts, giving an incentive for smugglers to fit more people in to boats. New migration data is set to be released on 27 August which will show whether overall numbers have declined alongside small boat arrivals, given that a large share of asylum claims are made by people who come to the UK legally using visas; and the impact of government policies to deter claimants. (Small boat arrivals in Oxford are currently at an all-time low due to the drought-related closure of the Oxford Canal.)
• Paintings by the novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch, discovered last year in the attic of her North Oxford house, are on show at the University of Chichester until 10 December. Her artworks, painted as a student at Somerville, include a self-portrait and surreal landscapes.
• And finally, if you're that kind of curious, the Oxford ‘What Will Get Us In The Papers This Week’ Society has posted, on YouTube, its ‘Tommy Robinson’ debate that caused a large demonstration in Oxford City Centre.

Trains and buses

• Good news! You’ll be able to ride East West Rail in November. Bad news: just not from Oxford. With extensive engineering works at Old Oak Common (West London) over the weekend of 28-29 November, GWR will be diverting their long-distance services from Wales and the West to run via Oxford, Milton Keynes and then into London Euston. Unfortunately, they won’t be stopping at Oxford or MK, so your only chance is to catch a train to Swindon and then pick up the GWR express from there. (Yes, we admit we’re tempted.) Chiltern will be bolstering their normal Marylebone service for Oxford–London passengers.
• Free buses from Oxford’s Park & Rides have been replaced as of Monday with a combined bus/parking ticket. The change is an effective price rise from £2.50 (parking + free bus) to £3 (combined parking/bus ticket), but now covering up to five people on one ticket. Tickets can be bought at the P&R machines or by RingGo.
• Timetables have been published for Thames Travel’s West Oxfordshire services, taking over from sister company Pulhams from 30 August. Most changes are minor, but the X9 bus between Witney, Charlbury and Chipping Norton goes hourly through the day, including Sundays.
• Stagecoach have also confirmed changes to their Oxfordshire network from 20 September, previewed recently in the Clarion. The final changes are:
  • S1: Oxford via Botley Road – Eynsham – Carterton (S1) / Windrush Estate (S1A)
  • S2: Oxford via Woodstock Road – Witney – Carterton (not going via Eynsham)
  • S3 split into S3 (Chipping Norton) and S3A (Charlbury)
  • S5 (Bicester) returns to all-stops along Banbury Road
  • S6 (from Swindon/Faringdon) extended to Gloucester Green bus station
  • S9 (from Wantage) extended to the JR Hospital, replacing the 14 (except Risinghurst which will be served by an Oxford Bus Company service)

Ozymandias update

An occasional section following the progress of Magdalen's favourite furry fellow.

It’s summer internship season, and Ozzy, on his holidays in Cumbria with his human, Dinah Rose, is learning that some tasks are harder outside of the Oxford bubble. Although he’s gotten top marks in Mousing at Magdalen, the Cumbrian mice have escaped him. Literally.

We understand that he has since made valiant efforts to recover the situation, but that Mrs Tittlemouse outsmarted him once again. We at the Clarion believe that everyone should get to learn from their mistakes, and so we wish Ozzy the best in his ongoing efforts.

Notes from Clarion HQ

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