THE OXFORD PAPER Your guide for your
Thursday, February 22, 2018 No.80
60p
theoxfordpaper.co.uk
Weekly leisure guide for in & around Oxford
Beans mean funds for our Where did I leave trumpet Police criticised over Page 8 chosen charity Page 6 crime recording Page 15 and potatoes?
Out& About leisure time in & arou
nd Oxfordshire
Dance festival hot foots it to city
Noel Gallagher completes line-up at Blenheim Palace concerts
Earl Grey & Gin Cure d Salmon - try this luxurious trea t
Parking fees rise in ‘budget building homes for people’ By Owen Hughes AN increase in car park charges, higher council tax and more funds to help Oxford’s homeless were given the go ahead by Oxford City Council. Councillors were largely in agreement at Monday’s budget meeting with the most contentious issues around price changes for Headington car parks and the Seacourt Park and Ride expansion causing the most consternation. Council leader Susan Brown said: “We agreed a small increase in some of our suburban car parks in order to keep prices down in our park and ride car parks. “There were some representations made by Headington shopkeepers, and we made some adjustments to the budget as a result of that. “It had been the case that people had to pay for two hours parking as a minimum in the Headington car park and we have changed that.” Shoppers will now pay £2 to park for less than one hour and £2.50 for one to two hours, rather than £1.70 for the fi rst two hours. The move was strongly opposed by Liberal Democrat councillors. Cllr Elizabeth Wade said: “This is just another salami slice to the Headington district shopping centre. “Businesses in Headington are obviously under stress as it is, as you can see from the number of charity
shops and the reduction in small independent businesses.” Parking charges have been frozen for most stays at park and ride sites but controversial plans to push on with Seacourt Park and Ride will continue. Cllr Dick Wolff, Green Party, said: “Generally there was a consensus around most of the budget and the Seacourt Park and Ride was always going to be the big difference between the two. It’s concreting over a large chunk of flood plain and green belt. “We would have put a halt to it, giving us £4million to spend on things we consider more value for money, including enhanced provision for homelessness, which the city is proposing but we would have done more.” The budget pledges an increase in spending to combat the city’s “severe issues” with homelessness and rough sleeping, allocating a further £187,000 on top of an additional £200,000 a year from 2019/20. Cllr Brown added: “We feel that we have a budget that is building homes for people who need them in the city and doing our best to tackle the problems of homelessness, that are not problems of our making.” The city share of residents’ council tax bills will also increase by 2.99 per cent per year, equivalent to an additional £8.67 for an average Band D home.
Cyclists peddle safety message A GROUP of cyclists gathered in Oxford to ensure bike enthusiasts can stay safe on the city’s streets. Rose Hill and Iffley Low Carbon met to urge Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council to invest in a segregated, joined-up network of cycle tracks
throughout the city. The group, which helped draw up the Claudia Charter after the death of cyclist Claudia Comberti in May last year, says injuries caused to cyclists are almost all due to them having to use the same space as motor traffic.
They are also taking action to get people out of cars and onto bikes to reduce pollution and congestion. To sign their petition, visit https://tinyurl.com/y76jlcmx See page 13 for Oxford’s bid to share in cycle safety cash