ROLLING NEWS OF WHAT'S HAPPENING



COMMUNITY PLANNING WORKSHOP
THURSDAY 27 MARCH 7.00-9.00PM
At the Meeting Hall, Friend's Meeting House, 41 St Giles

Hosted by Jericho Community Association and the City Council's Central, South & West Area Committee
A public workshop to review local priorities in our neighbourhood. We want your views on the key improvements needed in the area that local people, local groups, the Area Committee and other organisations can bring about by working together.
The information from these workshops will be used to update the City Council's local Area Plan. This plan outlines key improvements in the area, details of what organisations will be pursuing which goals, and when things are likely to happen.
You will be sent information before the workshop, listing neighbourhood issues and challenges, drawn from previous consultations and area plans.
You can see the full Area Plan on the council website at www.oxford.gov.uk/areaplans
If you, or a member of your group, is able to attend please ring/email JENNY COLLETT tel. 252791 or jcollett@oxford.gov.uk Please state whether you live in Jericho or in Holywell / Northern arc of City Centre.



SPRING APPEAL
St Barnabas Parochial Church Council was informed at its meeting on Thursday 13 March by the solicitors acting for Spring Residential that Spring intend to proceed with the appeal.

The appeal will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate at Bristol, who will set a date for the hearing in from six months to a year's time, most likely towards the end of this year, in Oxford. The Inspector's decision could be expected in Spring 2009. Both Spring and the City Council will appoint a QC.


JCB invites you to...The Secret Cabaret!
Saturday 26th Jan at the Canal Club, Wolvercote (just along from the Plough Pub) Delicious Thai Buffet by Sasi from 7-8.30pm + Cabaret from 9pm with..
The Atavistic Sound of Bart's didgeridoo
Fabdoodly fiddling from the Amazing Andy Letcher
The mouth-watering humming of Matt Morton's mouth organ
Groovy Jazz Tunes from the Sultry Steph Pirrie
Brilliant Balderdash from the barking Benji Ming
Musical Acrobatics by Ivan Inversion
+ Further Acts to be confirmed...
+ Then for your dancing pleasure...
The Galvanising Rhythms of the genii Gees
+ DJ (to be confirmed)
Only 90 food tickets to go >:-O!
£££££10/£12 to JCB members/non-members - Txt Bruce (07840562782) with your name and 'vegetarian' or 'omnivore' to make sure you're booked in.(Membership available on the door)
££3/£5 entrance to those not eating but preference will be given to those who are: this is a fundraiser after all.
(NB. Prices are slightly higher than last time so we can afford free entrance for artistes and JCB directors as a 'thank you' because they deserve it!) Book Now or by 24th for a boomshanka boatie night out!
Hosts: Bruce'the breeze'Heagerty


v The JCB Xmas Bash

Destination: The Canal Club, Ulfgar Road, Wolvercote (just along from The Plough)

Time: Saturday 15th December, 6.30pm till 1am
Food: Delicious Thai food by Sasi (vegetarian too) at £5 a head.

Entertainment: A cabaret in which you are invited to take part. Come and do a short comedy skit or a song!

We already have: comedy by Benji and various skits by Giles, Violin by Pierre, Jazz Singing by Steph, pantastic poetry by Stephen Hancock and the awesome rhythms of the Gees.. Hooray!

Bonfire: There will be a bonfire outside to keep the smokers and jugglers warm, so if you have a car, bring wood if you can.

Parking: There is a car park but we recommend booking yourself a taxi as the people who run the bar have cheap beer and are threatening to make us a rum punch...

Entry: A mere £3 entrance fee to members, £5 to non-members..or they could join.. (All profits to JCB and the continuing effort to obtain a boatyard).

It promises to be a highly entertaining evening and we look forward to seeing you there.

Thanks for your continuing support!

All the best for Xmas if you can't make it (don't be silly!), The JCB Crew

Any questions or offers to entertain or help out to Bruce 07840562782,



WE WON THAT SKIRMISH....

Tuesday 11th December
We are advised that the application will come to an Area Committee on this date; starting at 5:30 pm in the Assembly rooms, Oxford Town Hall.

Please be there at 5pm for a silent demo outside the Town Hall .





Sat. 8 th December


Saturday 8th December - Oxeye Daisy Xmas Party OXE EYE EVENTS

Redox, The G's, Spiderwoods, Cinema, Cafe, In aid of Radley Lakes, Warnford Meadow, Castle Mill Boatyard.
www.oxeye.org.uk / email: mjdmorton@ecocentrus.co.uk / Tel. 01865 721366
6pm till 12:30 £6

East Oxford Community Centre, 44b Princes Street (corner of Cowley Rd), OX4 1DD.


There will be a City Council Area Committee meeting at 5.30 on Tuesday 9th October at St Barnabas School, Jericho.
Although the planning application on Castle Mill is not an Agenda item, the first part of the meeting will be an Open Session where members of the public can raise any matters of concern.
In addition, two British Waterways managers will give a presentation on winter canal maintenance and will be available to answer 'any questions about the canal in Oxford and about future plans'.
Please go if you can


We are having our second Annual General Meeting at the Town Hall in Oxford centre at 7pm on 15th of October. Everyone is invited to hear updates on the campaign for a boatyard and to vote on the new directors. Those people who are not already members can join there and anyone who hasn't yet paid their subscription for this year can pay their £5 on the door when they get their voting slip. Hope to see you there!

This from the July British Waterways Board meeting .





PROPERTY SHARK DEMO Sat 8th Sept.

Around 80 -100 people turned up at a demonstration opposite the boatyard to show their anger at Spring's planning application. It was featured on both local BBC and ITN news.

Sunday 27th may 7.30pm East Oxford Community Centre screening:
The coconut revolution (60min). Following the lives of the people of Bouganville who have claimed independance from papua new Guinea who they have been at war with. Despite a total economic embargo and dangerous lifes these people have survived and created fuel, medecine, oil, from the most abundant resource in the island: coconut.

The battle of the gyptians (23min) - The story of the Castlemill boatyard occupation.
Cost: £ 2.50 . All costs revert to the social club funds.

BOAT SINKS ON CANAL 27th Feb 2007

Fortunately friends were at hand in Daryll White and Peter Darch. Mr Darch said that the weed hatch can't have been fixed on properly.
The weed hatch is a hatch above the propeller behind the engine that allows you to remove weeds or anything else that get wrapped around the propeller. They are usually in the form of a metal plate held down by a metal bar that is trapped by metal rings. The rings and metal bar weren't there in Claire's case.

6 months ago Claire's was one of eight boats that was forcibly put back in the water by British Waterways when their owners occupied Castlemill Boatyard in a protest against it's closure.
Claire had the bottom of her boat angle-grinded and blacked to protect it. She was also having the wooden upper sides of her boat replaced.
"I didn't know about the weed hatch being down there" she said. "I was pregnant at the time with two kids to look after and all I saw were a load of oil-covered bricks down in the engine room. That must have been what was holding the hatch down. I couldn't keep my eye on everything that was going on and a lot of people were helping me with the work I was having done on the boat. Then British Waterways arrived at dawn with loads of security guards and put all our boats back in the water."

This is the first time that Claire has made a journey under her own steam since she was put back in the water. She was on her way to crane her boat out at Gunpowder Wharf to the north of Oxford so that she could do more work on her boat but tragically she never made it. When the propeller went round it splashed water up into the engine and after a while the boat began to sink. Luckily she and her children were able to get out in time before it sank but all of their possessions: their clothes, phones, toys, food were all mixed up in a sodden mess on the boat floor. A lot of other belongings had floated off down the canal and friends helped her recover them in a motor boat. British Waterways had promised to come and help her on Wednesday but luckily Daryll White and Peter Darch were on hand to refloat her boat before they were needed.

The terrible thing is that if we don't get a boatyard soon, then this kind of tragedy may not be the last of its kind.

This is the third boat to sink on the Oxford Canal since the closing of their local boatyard. A lot of people living on the canal can't afford comercial boatyard prices and would opt to do the work themselves or hire local craftsmen there. This is why Castlemill Boatyard was so important to the Oxford boaters: It brought the boating community together with local handymen who could help with the repairs such as welding, carpentry, engine work, plumbing etc.

When British Waterways sold Castlemill for real estate they were selling our community down the river. Castlemill was the hub of the community, where problems like Claire's were solved before they arose. We no longer have anywhere like that and boats are beginning to sink because of it.