Spring - Summer 2015

Plans for pub face backlash as group launches bid to save it

24 August 2015

Councillor Mick Haines, right, with local business owners and residents from left, Malcolm Kitching, Anthony Baker, Fiona Wilkins, Jo Bartlett and Martin Smith

CAMPAIGNERS are protesting against the possible demolition of a pub that they want to keep as a “place for the community”.

The Jack Russell pub, in Marston, closed on October 6 and was promptly sold by brewery Greene King.

It has now been bought and plans have been made to demolish the Salford Road building to make way for a three-storey block of flats.

There would be 16 properties, with six three-bed, eight two-bed and two one-bed flats.

But the Save the Jack Russell group is hoping they can save it from the bulldozers.

Independent councillor for Marston and member of the group Mick Haines said: “[The demolition would] rip the centre of the community apart.

“We do need houses in Oxford but this plan is going up three storeys – it’s going to change the view for the houses behind the pub.It won’t fit in with the area. Almost all the people I’ve spoken to about it are against it.

“The pub used to be a place for people to meet, there’s so little left in Marston for the community.

“IWe’d like to see it used as something for the community – ideally it will be turned back into a pub.”

An asset of community value order was granted for the building in June by Oxford City Council.

It means that if the building were to be sold again, residents could have the chance to buy the building by instigating a six-month moratorium. However, the order cannot stop a property being demolished by its current owner.

When the order was made the site had already been bought by Ali Liaqat. The Headington resident said he had been in discussions with the Save the Jack Russell group, but did not intend to keep the site as a pub.

The 42-year-old added: “They’ve made it a community asset and I’m totally for that for the community and the government promoting.

“But the demographic of the area means there is a need for housing.

“I couldn’t open it as a pub again and get back the money that I paid for the plot.”

The Jack Russell is one of a number of pubs that have closed in Marston in recent years.

In 2009 supermarket chain Tesco bought the former site of The Friars pub in Marston Road. Permission was granted for the building of a new express shop on the site, and the pub was eventually demolished.

But earlier this year the food giant said it would be selling the plot of land after the company announced its biggest losses in nearly a decade.

Mr Haines added: “The only pubs you’ve really got are The Red Lion, or The Victoria [Arms], but there’s nothing around here, no place for people to meet up.”

Activist and garage manager Martin Smith, 52, said: “We want to see the pub as somewhere the community can meet, not just a faceless block of flats.”

The Save the Jack Russell group is asking people to send their comments on the plans for flats at the site to the city council.

Last chance to have a say on road system overhaul

Friday 7 August 2015

RESIDENTS have until midnight to respond to the consultation on a controversial £12.5m overhaul of Headington’s road systems by Oxfordshire County Council.

Independent councillor for Marston Mick Haines said last night that he has collected 400 signatures opposing the plan.

He added: “I would say that 98 per cent of the people I’ve spoken to are against it. Marston is a lovely place and people are worried about change.”

Mr Haines has also said that residents have raised concerns that the loss of on-street parking in Cherwell Drive will spill over to residential roads.

Last month the council announced a plan to widen “artery roads” from Headington into Oxford by removing trees, grass verges and on-street parking on roads such as Cherwell Drive and Headley Way.

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The move has been met with criticism from residents, with some complaining that they had not heard of the scheme and could not access it online.

County council spokesman Paul Smith said: “Plans are being made available online and a number of public exhibitions were held across the Headington area giving people the opportunity to view all proposals and speak to officers directly.”

More than 150 people attended a public meeting set up by the wards councillors on Monday.

 Neighbours uniting to save Marston pub from demolition

Mick Haines, left, with Martin Smith outside the Jack Russell pub in Marston

Tuesday, 28 April 2015

NEIGHBOURS are uniting to save a Marston pub in danger of being demolished next year.

Developers want to transform the former Jack Russell pub in Salford Road into housing after it closed last October.

But residents in the area want to register the building as a community asset and run it as a pub themselves.

Campaigners are now gathering support in the next few weeks before the application is submitted.

Marston resident Martin Smith, 52, said: “It’s all very well developing land to get more houses, I think it’s needed in the Oxford area.

“But the pub is the only public place we can meet in Marston – there is nothing else at all. There’s no community centre, there is no social centre.”

Garage manager Mr Smith said residents were devastated when the pub closed The father-of-two said residents are worried the community will drift apart after having to gather in different pubs since the Jack Russell closed.

Mr Smith, a regular at the pub for the past 10 years, said villagers were prepared to buy the pub from the developer to ensure they save their only community hub.

He added: “It has affected us all. As a community we are not getting to the same places so we are not getting together like we used to.

“There are very few places where we can actually meet up and talk.”

Residents have now launched their Save the Jack Russell pub initiative, which has been supported by city councillor for Marston Mick Haines.

He said he thought it was “scandalous”

Marston had lost many of its pubs in recent years, including the Bricklayers Arms, which closed in 2011, and The Cavalier, which was demolished in 2012.

He added: “We do need more houses in Oxford in general but I think we need a pub in our area.

“There are too many pubs that this is happening to.

“We are losing our pubs left, right and centre, every day.”

Mr Haines said many residents thought the pub had become run down but were surprised to find it had been sold last year.

Communities can ask councils to register a building as an asset of community value and then have six months to find funds to buy them from a developer.

An application to determine whether prior approval is required for demolition was received by the city council earlier this month.

In the application, Shoqat Saddique said work on the site is expected to start next February.

Mr Saddique said he did not wish to comment at this time.

Londis in Marston Road, Oxford

 Monday, 6 April 2015

Food ratings: Londis store given zero rating after found selling potentially poisonous potatoes

A CONVENIENCE store selling potentially poisonous potatoes has promised to improve after being hit with a zero food hygiene rating.

Londis in Marston Road, Oxford, was inspected by Oxford City Council on February 27. A report published at the end of March revealed potatoes that had turned green were on sale.

According to inspectors, they could make people sick because of a natural toxin, glycoalkaloids, that cause stomach upsets and cannot be eliminated even when cooked properly.

The report from the council’s environmental department also revealed one staff member was unaware of the 8C maximum legal temperature for fridges, instead believing it to be 9C.

And they could not ascertain whether an unhygienic hot dog machine was being used.

Inspectors gave the shop a zero mark in its Scores on the Doors hygiene rating scheme, meaning urgent improvement was required.

The convenience store, owned by London-based Raj Singh, was told to stop selling baked products until conditions were improved because the bake off area was “cluttered and difficult to clean.”

The report added staff must be given training on the basics of food safety and trained “on the parts of of the food safety management system relevant to their roles including personal hygiene”.

Mr Singh, who has owned the store for eight years, said 70 per cent of the report’s requirements had been met ahead of the next inspection on April 30.

Married dad-of-three Mr Singh, who said any more green potatoes will be sent back immediately, added: “We start training at the end of this week. We are going to keep the building a safe place. We have a inspection on April 30 and we will not be selling bakery products until then. We don’t use the hot dog machine anymore.”

City councillor Mick Haines said the shop’s selling green potatoes was “not right at all” but added serious food hygiene issues were quite rare in Oxford. He said: “It’s important that food is good quality because you can soon get ill otherwise.”

Spokesman for the city council, Chofamba Sithole, said: “Officers will visit the premises before the next inspection to check progress with works.”

He added failure to comply was “generally dealt with by prosecution”.He added Londis had informed the council work to improve hygiene was under way, and confirmation in writing had been requested.

Mr Sithole added: “ “The timing of the next revisit will be dependent on the business owner further demonstrating to the council that he is being proactive regarding the works.”

The report also revealed apple juice that was more than three months past its sell-by-date was being sold and the rear door to the premises was locked, which was a fire hazard.

It added there was no disinfection taking place at the premises and no soap or paper towels were available in the staff toilet.