NEWS ITEM

AGM 2024

The Walton Manor Residents' Association’s Annual General Meeting took place on November 27th at d’Overbroeck's School Hall in Leckford Road. This is the annual occasion on which we invite residents to come together for a public event. The theme this year was ‘Town and Gown, College and Community: the relationship today’, and the speaker was Baroness Jan Royall, Principal of Somerville College.

Overview of the year
Maggie Black, WMRA Chair, reviewing a productive year, also emphasised the theme of community. She introduced the members of the ten-strong Committee, highlighting their roles in monitoring the key issues affecting the neighbourhood: planning applications, traffic proposals, road and other environmental ‘improvements’, and in disseminating information about them via our Newsletter and website. Maggie paid tribute to Caroline Martin, our Information Officer, who did a brilliant job with WMRA communications. She also noted the importance of the open channels with our Councillors, James Fry and Louise Upton (City), and John Howson (County).

Maggie Black encouraged people to sign up for the Newsletter and visit the website [www.waltonmanor.org], and to contact local Committee members on issues needing attention. She noted that members, while not specifically serving as representatives of their streets, now came from a wider geographical spread than in the past and could be readily approached to bring issues to the fore. When vacancies on the Committee arise (it currently has a full complement) candidates from unrepresented streets will be first in line.

Highlights of the year were:

• the OxClean event in March, in which we regularly participate. This year, participation from the community was sadly lacking, and we expect to rustle up many more temporary litter-pickers to spruce up our environment for OxClean in March 2025.
• Later in March we co-hosted an event with Oxfordshire Liveable Streets at their instigation; ‘The Traffic Filters and You’. This also took place in a packed out d’Overbroeck's School Hall. It was very successful in explaining the purposes, and workings, of the Traffic Filters and allaying some misgivings about them. We hope to repeat this useful occasion once the Filters have been put into effect and people can discuss their experience.
• In July, WMRA hosted a ‘Meet your Neighbours’ event at the Gardeners Arms, which was much appreciated by those who came. The second ‘Meet your Neighbours’ will take place on December 11^th from 5.30 onwards, again at the Gardeners Arms, and all are welcome. We intend to undertake these occasions on a regular basis.

Highlights from the Planning Team
Our planning experts Bryan Pickup and Helena Webster reported on current and anticipated activity.
They have monitored planning applications made over the last 12 months to protect the integrity of the Conservation Areas making up Walton Manor. The 3 most important are 179 Kingston Road (the former Party Shop), 1a Southmoor Road (previously Hutchins & Green) and the Gibson Building in the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter. All 3 have now been approved by the Council.
The scheme for 179 Kingston Road is for 5 flats, replacing the dilapidated shop. This is an improvement on the version of 2 years ago but will still cause considerable disruption to neighbours during construction, and some loss of light to gardens in St Bernard’s Road.
The proposal for 1a Southmoor Road envisages 2 large houses, one by conversion of the canal side workshop. There were many neighbour objections but the Council gave permission after some design tweaks. According to press reports the permission has been quashed as the plans were inaccurate, so the developer will have to start again.
The Gibson Building backs on to Observatory Street. The building will be substantially refurbished and will become Oxford’s Institute for Digital Health.
Bryan reminded residents to consult with neighbours before making planning applications, to minimise objections.

Helena Webster then reported on the development of the WMRA website to include pages on History, Planning, and Conservation. The Planning page in particular is intended to set out the types of development that currently require planning permission.

Helena also reported that, after discussion with the local councillors and planning officers, the Walton Manor Conservation Area is to have a formal Appraisal of its special urban and architectural characteristics. This has already been achieved by our neighbours Jericho and the Northern Oxford Victorian Suburb Conservation Area. This Council-led assessment will help residents and architects to understand the special characteristics of the area and will help the planning officers to respond appropriately to any development proposals. We will be reporting on progress on the website and in the Newsletter once it is properly underway and there will be a formal consultation process once the draft appraisal has been produced

Helena also gave an inspirational description of the work Bryan and she have put into exploring the history of the Walton Manor neighbourhood, street by street. The fascinating results of their labours are to be found on the website. If you wish to find out more about who lived in your house 100 years ago, then Bryan will be answering such questions at the ‘Meet Your Neighbours’ event on 11th December.

Treasurer's Report
Jo Lane gave an overview of our outgoings and income. These are not large but we have been gradually whittling away resources. Our average expenditure (£200) on

• printing costs for flyers
• website costs
• equipment hire for AGM
• gifts for speakers and school caretaker

always exceeds donations received (usually around £60). As a consequence we encouraged more donations at this event. People responded very generously, donating almost £160 for which we are extremely grateful.

Baroness Jan Royall then gave her talk on Town and Gown, College and Community: What should be the relationship today?
The talk began with a review of the extreme levels of exclusivity that the University had historically enjoyed, including the long exclusion of women from both the student and the academic body. Thankfully, in this and many other ways, these hard-drawn lines between gown and ‘others’ have been gradually eroded. This process is now accelerating under the current Vice-Chancellor, Professor Irene Tracey. Our speaker of last year, William Whyte, had described how the new Schwarzmann Buildings next-door to Walton Manor would be open to the public in a ground-breaking way, and this was one example of action on many fronts.

Since Jan Royall became Principal of Somerville, she has engaged in many initiatives intended to forge links with the non-University Oxford community, building partnerships with schools and civic groups. She reminded us that there are parts of Oxford where deprivation is such that there is an 11-year difference in life expectancy. She talked of opening Somerville to visits from outsiders, and how moved she had been when she heard a little girl, joyfully jumping down the steps in the College grounds, say out loud: ‘I want to go to University!’ How many Oxford children have grown up without the remotest thought that they might one day enter an Oxford College themselves as a student? Initiatives concerning the use of University spaces are taking place in the Arts, Music and in Sport, to change these realities.

An initiative championed by Baroness Royall was to make Somerville a College of Sanctuary. This came about as a response to the needs of young people coming to Britain having fled war or persecution and needing assistance to take up a university education. The first scholarship to a student from Ukraine was given just a couple of years ago. Now the University as a whole is becoming a University of Sanctuary, and more than 50 scholarships exist at various Colleges to provide similar support to others.

The discussion from the floor was wide. It included questions such as:

• whether college playing fields could be used out of term time by others
• and also the delightful suggestion that, in the light of the lack of facilities for small children in the centre of the city, a College might be found that is prepared to sacrifice a hallowed part of their gardens for a children’s playground. This might be a wish too far, but it underscored how far we have come that the question can be raised, and how far there is yet to go in fostering inclusivity.

Everyone was grateful to Baroness Royall for an inspiring and thought-provoking presentation.

The remaining quarter of an hour was used in social exchange, aided by a glass of cordial. This year we did not serve wine, due to d’Overbroeck's (who kindly lend us the Hall) not having a license and requesting that we confine ourselves to non-alcoholic drinks. If you would like to join us for something stronger then please join us on December 11 at the Gardeners Arms.

Maggie Black 30 November 2024