RESIDENTS in Headington will get the chance to quiz hospital staff over a controversial £14.8m pipeline.

They have been given a provisional date of Tuesday to meet officials from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUHT) to discuss the project.

County councillor for Headington and Quarry Roz Smith said: “We’re really pleased that we’ve managed to pin down the trust where we can hold them to account for their poor communication.

“They left it all to the last minute and never gave any thought to the residents who might have carers who need to get in and out of their drives or people who need access to their cars in order to get to work.

“They should have consulted us when the ideas were first thrown about because we have an intelligent group of people here in Headington and we could have prevented this mayhem from happening.”

The trust wants to install underground heating pipes as part of its Hospital Energy Project – to meet growing demand for heating and hot water at the John Radcliffe and Churchill hospitals.

Last month the trust was accused of keeping residents in the dark and at a meeting earlier this month director of the project Mark Neal apologised to people for the lack of communication.

Work to install the 2.2km pipework will be taking place in stretches of 120 metres along All Saints Road, Stapleton Road, Old Road, London Road and Latimer Road and will take 18 months.

It is set to begin in All Saints Road on January 4.

Mrs Smith said they had no choice but to work with the trust.

She said: “Some people don’t want to because they’re angry about what has happened so far but we have to work together to resolve the issues for the sake of the community.”

Headington resident Tony Turton said that although he was pleased a meeting had been arranged he wasn’t confident it would be beneficial.

He said: “In principle it’s great that they’re going to meet with people from Headington but I’m not entirely sure that it’s going to amount to much. They have left it a bit late.

“To my mind, they’ve given an apology but no explanation.”

Director of the project Mark Neal said that he was looking forward to the meeting and pushing forward with the development.