THE OXFORD PAPER Thursday, August 31, 2017 No.55
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theoxfordpaper.co.uk
Weekly leisure guide for in & around Oxford
Out& About
Your guide for your leisure time in & around Oxfordshire
Wry war-time tales from the Somme Satirical play The Wip er’s Times comes to Oxfo rd
Pedalling the benefits of Flying Scotsman steams Six appeal for United bike share Page 5 in Pages 8&9 in cup Sport
Solving the mystery of Agatha Christie Museum looks at her life and work
City to fund £1m cladding after Government u-turn Two blocks need repair work
By Eva Astreinidou OXFORD City Council needs to find £1million to pay for essential cladding to two of the city’s tower blocks after the government withdrew its funding promise. City bosses are ‘outraged’ by the u-turn on the original decision to pay for the work needed after two blocks failed fire safety tests. Speaking to The Oxford Paper, city councillor John Tanner said the money now has to be sourced by the council itself. He said: “They will make arrangements only in circumstances where the city council cannot find the funds themselves. It is an outrage. “The city council has acted responsibly, and now the government also has to act responsibly.” The need to replace the rainscreen cladding on Windrush and Evenlode towers in Blackbird Leys came after the buildings failed a second round of new fire resistance tests that were carried out nationwide. The tests were ordered following the disaster at Grenfell Tower in June, in which more than 80 people were killed.
City council leader Bob Price said: “The government made a promise to fund replacement cladding in the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell disaster but has since done a u-turn and withdrawn that assurance. “The Local Government Association is continuing to press the government to honour its commitments.” In August, the city council said the works could take up to six months to complete, due to the high level of demand across the country. Cllr Price added: “[We have] been working closely with the suppliers of the cladding materials and the contractors who will install it. “At this stage we are as confident as we can be that the timetable that has been agreed will be achieved.” City councillor and board member for housing Mike Rowley, said: “We will replace the rain-shield as soon we can get a finalised cost and the replacement panels. No-one knows exactly when that will be.” Oxfordshire Fire Service had carried out inspections of all the tower blocks in the city including another three which did not fail the second round of testing. The total number of buildings nationally that have failed tests is up to 228.
Pleased to meet you...
THE Bishop of Oxford, Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, got to know Artie, a ‘robothespian’ who can interact with humans, sing and act out scenes from
The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Steven Croft with Artie Picture: Jo Duckles
films on a recent visit to the computing and communications department at Oxford Brookes University. Bishop Steven has just
joined the government’s select committee on Artificial Intelligence (AI) that will consider the economic, ethical and social implications of advances in AI.
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