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Oxford Clarion

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News for Oxfordshire. Est. 2022. Weekly newsletter: https://oxfordclarion.uk For stories: [email protected]

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 4d

The one Oxfordshire newsletter you need! Featuring this week:
🚍 Free Park & Ride buses
🍕 Food court closes
🪑 Mystery statue explained
😇 St Frideswide’s priory unearthed?
✉️ Council writes letters… again
🗞 Being nice about the Oxford Mail
Read online or by email: oxfordclarion.uk/clarion-week...

Clarion Weekly, 10 October 2025

Happy weekend to all our readers! We have a gloriously varied newsletter for you this week: historical mysteries, bonus buses, and geeking out about council reorganisation. Put the kettle on and settl...

oxfordclarion.uk

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 2h

The campaigners said "Dads and non-birthing parents get just two weeks on less than half the minimum wage, £374.36 for the fortnight - not even enough to buy the average pram. It's the worst offer in Europe and massive financial pressure wrecking the health of working dads and their families.”

Paternity Charge Notice on a buggy by the Rad Cam

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 2h

Parents in Oxford have issued “Paternity Charge Notices” resembling parking tickets on buggies as part of a nationwide wave of action. Fathers from the 'Dad Shift' say that costs have soared in the past few years, but the country's paternity leave system is 'stuck in the past'.
dadshift.org.uk

Paternity charge notices on buggies under the Bridge of Sighs

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 2h

Oxford City Councillor for Littlemore, Cllr Tiago Corais,
said: “This is yet another inspiring project from the Littlemore Arts Hub, and I’m pleased to sponsor it through my Ward Member Budget. It’s a joy to see how these events continue to strengthen our community."

Cllr Tiago Corais, City Councillor for Littlemore

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 2h

The event is organised by Eve McWilliam in collaboration with the Littlemore Action Partnership and the Littlemore Arts Hub. An interactive online map will allow residents to take a self-guided tour of the homes and businesses displaying window decorations.

Eve McWilliam, Malcolm Atkins, Alex Singleton, and Cllr Tiago Corais pictured together (left to right)

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 2h

Littlemore residents and businesses are invited to decorate their windows for the Littlemore Window Walkabout this winter (Nov 21–23). Free workshops on creating beautiful window decorations will be held at St Mary & Nicholas Church from 2pm-3:30pm on Oct 18 & Nov 8. www.facebook.com/share/1CrmZ7...

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 3h

The MP commented: "Too many of my constituents in Ambrosden have been left struggling with damp, mould and poor maintenance. This is a massive step forward in fairness and decency for our service families.”
inews.co.uk/news/politic...

MoD will be forced to keep soldiers' homes free of mould and damp

Service families have faced sub-standard accommodation

inews.co.uk

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 3h

The change, which Miller had campaigned for since January, will now place a legal duty on the Ministry of Defence to identify and fix problems such as damp, pest infestations and heating failures - issues that have affected thousands of families living in service accommodation.

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 3h

Bicester & Woodstock MP Calum Miller has welcomed a victory in Parliament that will ensure military family housing is held to the same legal standards as civilian rented homes. We reported on this in September. 👇

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · Sep 10

Bicester & Woodstock MP Calum Miller has slammed Labour’s decision to block an amendment to the Renters Rights Bill ensuring military housing meets formal 'Decent Homes Standard'. In 2024, the MoD took ownership of over 36,000 privatised military homes, many substandard. www.gov.uk/government/n...

House of Commons official portrait of Calum Miller

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 3h

a black and white photo of a woman sitting in a chair holding a crystal ball .

Alt: a black and white photo of a woman sitting in a chair holding a crystal ball .

media.tenor.com

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 5h

🗞️ Help support independent news! 🗞️

The Home Office is consulting on whether to remove the requirement for alcohol licences to be advertised in local print papers – an unjustified subsidy to the legacy press. You can respond at www.homeofficesurveys.homeoffice.gov.uk/s/LicensingR... . Our response:

Oxford Clarion response to the Home Office consultation supporting removing the requirement to advertise alcohol licence notices in print papers

Oxford Clarion response to the Home Office consultation recommending that information is published on existing planning portals

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 7h

Our dinosaur correspondent assures us that uncapitalised “myr” is standard usage in geology and palaeontology (capitalised "Ma" for mega annum is also used). Should you want to see dinosaurs from the last few months, however, we can recommend several parish council meetings around Oxfordshire.

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 7h

Chiltern Railways’ new trains for the Banbury and Bicester line were unveiled today at Marylebone station. The 13-strong fleet will replace five rakes of 1970s carriages. The trains will not operate to Oxford, but will free up other stock for the line. press.chilternrailways.co.uk/news/new-chi...

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 8h

We _think_ that was deliberately ambiguous (hence the quotes)…

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 8h

Local dinosaur fans shouldn't miss the chance to see the fossil that started it all: the iconic Megalosaurus jaw from Stonesfield, described in 1824 by Oxford's eccentric "undergroundologist", Prof. William Buckland. It is on display at OUMNH until 13 April 2026. oumnh.ox.ac.uk/breaking-gro...

Breaking Ground

What the colourful archives of William and Mary Buckland reveal about science, status and society. This exhibition runs until 13 April 2026.

oumnh.ox.ac.uk

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 8h

The extraordinary fossil site dates to the Middle Jurassic, 166 myr ago. Excavations were co-led by researchers from Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University of Birmingham and Liverpool John Moores University, with help from a team of volunteers.

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 8h

A sauropod dinosaur trackway 220 meters in length—the longest in Europe—was unearthed this summer at Dewar's Farm quarry, near Bicester. "Oxfordshire's dinosaur highway" has already yielded hundreds of footprints, including from the carnivore Megalosaurus. www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-10...

Oxford researchers return to the Jurassic Highway | University of

The longest dinosaur trackway in Europe made by an individual sauropod dinosaur has been uncovered during further excavations at Oxfordshire’s dinosaur highway.

www.ox.ac.uk

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 8h

A new play area has opened at the University of Oxford (Harcourt) Arboretum. It includes a traversing wall and rope walk, a den building area, a wooden tunnel, and “the perfect picnic bench for supervising adults”. www.obga.ox.ac.uk/home

Den building area at Harcourt Arboretum play area

Agility trail at Harcourt Arboretum play area

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 9h

EIT is also renovating the historic Eagle & Child pub on St Giles. We looked at its plans in a long read last year: oxfordclarion.uk/the-bird-and...

The “Bird and Baby” grows up: inside the new Eagle & Child

What do you get when the world’s third richest man buys Tolkien’s local? Oxford is about to find out. The Eagle & Child is Oxford’s most storied inn. It was here that the Inklings met every Tuesday l...

oxfordclarion.uk

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 9h

Researchers will focus on four “humane endeavours”: health and medical science; food security; climate change; and AI and robotics. The campus is being designed by architects Foster & Partners.

The "EIT Hub", described as the centrepiece of the campus

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 9h

EIT intends to grow to 7,000 employees. Its president, Santa Ono, said “This investment is a sign of EIT’s commitment to Littlemore as a home for groundbreaking science. We want to build a community of talented scientists who work in an environment designed to encourage great ideas to flourish.”

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 9h

The Ellison Institute of Technology, American billionaire Larry Ellison’s initiative to build a science campus in Oxford, has announced that its “growing ambitions” now encompass a 180,000 square metres area of Littlemore and Oxford Science Park – six times the original footprint.

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 11h

That surprised us too! Total funding was estimated as £9m earlier this year (OCC Cabinet Jan 2025, p373 of reports pack). It was originally going to be delivered with Housing & Growth Deal funding but that all went very pear-shaped when OCC slashed pretty much all the active travel schemes.

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 11h

Design work would be carried out for several new cycle routes though not construction yet:
🌉 Milton Heights bridge
🚴‍♀️ Milton Park–Abingdon
🚴‍♀️ Witney–Hanborough “missing link”
🚴‍♀️ Western Banbury & Hennef Way
🚉 Wallingford–Cholsey station
Full list of schemes: mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/documents/s7...

Full list of schemes part 1 (screenshot from the linked PDF)

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 11h

The council has now lined up 33 schemes which together total £27.5m, 10% of the total. They include:
🚗 Improved Carterton/A40 link
🚴‍♀️ Bicester Churchill Road, Shakespeare Drive, Central and Eastern corridors
🚛 Mid-Cherwell/Heyford Park traffic calming
🚶‍♀️ Crossings in Benson, Culham, and Witney

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 11h

Unspent developer contributions in Oxfordshire had reached £278m when first reported by the Clarion in May 2024. Following our report, an OCC committee later that year “highlighted an ongoing need to accelerate delivery and spend”. oxfordclarion.uk/we-found-278...

We found £278m down the back of the sofa

Not us, you understand. (Though for those with incessant questions about “how is the Clarion funded?”, maybe that’s your answer.) Oxfordshire County Council has found £278m down the back of the sofa....

oxfordclarion.uk

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