Oxford's strangest street

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Oxford Mail:

Councillor wins road improvements to 'strangest' street

A road dubbed ^Oxford^s strangest street^ is set to see improvements after a 15-year campaign by a city councillor.

Street lights are to be installed later this year in an unlit section of Roger Dudman Way, which runs behind the railway station from Botley Road to blocks of flats in Venneit Close and Oxford University student accommodation.

Susanna Pressel, the Labour councillor for Jericho and Osney, said getting agreement to install the lights had been ^an incredibly tortuous process^.

Four organisations are responsible for sections of the road ^ the county council, First Great Western, which runs the station, Network Rail and Oxford University.

This split in ownership led Ms Pressel to dub it ^Oxford^s strangest street^ in 2007.

The lights will be installed along the section owned by Network Rail, alongside the north end of platform two at the station.

The part of the road beyond this, which is owned by the university, and the cycle and footpath to the Walton Well Road bridge, already has street lighting installed.

The money will come from planning gain payments made by housing developers. The work could cost about ^85,000.

Ms Pressel said: ^It^s very important to improve the road. Hundreds of people live there, there^s a children^s nursery and it also provides a route for cyclists and pedestrians to and from the north of the city. What we still need to see is a proper footway the length of the road, for pedestrians to walk safely, separated from traffic.^

Student Mary Ondieki, 21, from Venneit Close, said: ^When we come home late at night it^s quite dark along here. Better lights are a really good idea.^

Nikki Tritton, deputy manager of Co-operative Childcare^s Buffer Bears nursery, which is in Roger Dudman Way, said: ^It would be amazing to have lights. In the winter it^s pitch-black in parts of the road and we have the parents of 62 children coming here every day, along with all the students and other people who use the road.^

A Network Rail spokesman said: ^We^re very happy to do whatever we can to help implement the lighting scheme as soon as possible, to help everyone who uses the street.^

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Oxford Mail:

Student flats to be built on former rail site

Plans to build hundreds of postgraduate student flats and bedsits have been approved.

The University of Oxford has been given planning permission to build 312 flats and bedsits over four and five-storeys at unused former railway land near the station.

It will be an extension to student accommodation at Castle Mill, in Roger Dudman Way, Oxford, and includes 208 study rooms, 90 one-bedroom flats, 14 two-bedroom flats, 360 cycle bays and three car parking spaces. It is phase two of a scheme that will provide a total of 436 graduate student units.

As part of the development, a new footbridge will be built to Fiddler^s Island and paths and lighting in Roger Dudman Way will be improved.

The university has also agreed to re-fence Cripley Road Allotments.

A report to Oxford City^s west area planning committee said the site had poor access from Botley Road, was ill-suited to commercial development, family housing or other uses that would create significant levels of traffic.

But it said the land was well-suited to the university^s graduate students because of its good footpath and cycle links to the city centre, Walton Street and North Oxford.

Residents had raised concerns about flooding to allotments, that the development was ^over ambitious in scale^ and about noise and working hours during construction.

The planning application was approved last Wednesday subject to legal agreement to cover all access arrangements.

[IndustryInsider]

More complaints about trains making noise when in the Down Carriage Sidings or Rewley Road then... 

[inspector_blakey]

I used to live in Jericho a few years back, and when I had my window open in the summer I knew it was time to get up when I heard a Valenta-engined HST^▸ (High Speed Train) leaving the carriage sidings, which were in earshot just across the canal. Actually used to rather like the noise, but I'm probably a special case...

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Oxford Mail:

Campaigners^ joy at end of darkness in ^strangest^ street

It^s taken 16 years but light is finally shining on Oxford^s ^strangest street^.

Around ^85,000 of street lights have been installed in Roger Dudman Way in West Oxford after residents spent years campaigning for them.

City councillor Susanna Pressel, who represents Jericho and Osney, described her battle for them as ^tortuous^.

She said: ^The road serves a large nursery school and about 300 flats, with another 200 going up now. At least the parents coming and going to the nursery in the winter and the local residents will now feel safer when using the road. I am delighted and the residents will be as well.^

Roger Dudman Way, named after a former Lord Mayor of Oxford, is owned by four different organisations. Parts of the street are owned by Oxfordshire County Council, First Great Western, Network Rail and Oxford University and this led to Ms Pressel dubbing it ^Oxford^s strangest street^.

The road leads behind Oxford Station from Botley Road to blocks of flats in Venneit Close and Oxford University student accommodation.

A total of 15 lights have been installed along the section owned by Network Rail which runs along the north end of platform two.

Victoria Shotts is deputy manager of Buffer Bear nursery which is on Roger Dudman Way and has 62 places. She said: ^The road was very dark, especially in the winter. It could be dangerous for our parents to walk or cycle down there with their push chairs because there are cars going up and down it.^

Claire Ryu, 36, who lives in Castle Mill said: ^I think it^s a great thing that the lights have been put in. This road has always been really dark and I tended to avoid it at night.^

The lights were turned on for the first time last Wednesday. They are linked to a single photocell on the station building, coming on as soon as it gets dark. They even come on if it gets overcast during the day.

Funding came from planning contributions made by housing developers.