October

POPULAR PINK PARADE

WITNEY turned a sea of pink for charity as hundreds braved the rain to support breast cancer research. The annual Witney in Pink event saw live music, stalls, cakes and even a spot of belly dancing all to raise money for Abingdon-based charity Against Breast Cancer. Volunteers behind the 16th annual event and local businesses decked out High Street in hundreds of pink balloons and helped raise £3,671.27 for their efforts throughout the day.

STADIUM TALKS ‘POSITIVE’

TALKS to sell the Kassam Stadium and make it a community-owned facility were revealed for the first time. Landlord of Oxford United’s ground Firoz Kassam said that negotiations were in the very early stages but confirmed he wanted to see the long-running stadium passed into community ownership. Mr Kassam, who said he will not sell the stadium to any individuals, has been in talks with OxVox, the club’s supporters’ trust, who said discussions had been both ‘highly constructive’ and ‘positive’.

HALF MARATHON HEROICS

MORE than 7,500 runners raced across the finish line for an array of good causes for the Oxford Half Marathon 2016. Spectators lined the streets from the city centre along Banbury Road and into the finish line at Marston for the 13.1 mile race. The cold October morning brightened up as the sun mercifully came out to welcome the thousands of runners turning out to raise thousands of pounds for charity.

BUSES GO CONTACTLESS

BUS passengers in Oxfordshire became the first outside London to take advantage of revolutionary ‘contactless’ card payments.

The move, hailed by transport bosses as a ‘giant leap forward’, now allows bus travellers to use ‘wave and pay’ bank cards or smartphones to get their bus tickets on board. The Stagecoach roll-out was installed at 180 buses across the city.

‘POSHFEST’ COMING TO AN END

IT WILL be the end of an era for a highlight of Oxfordshire’s summer music festival scene as organisers announced the three-day Cornbury Festival would play its last gig in 2017. Music lovers, celebrities, royals and even former prime minsters have turned out for what has affectionately been dubbed ‘poshfest’ for its well-heeled clientele.

Sadly all good things must come to an end and festival director Hugh Phillimore declared that next July’s festival would be the grand finale, with Bryan Adams the main act.

November

KILLER LORRY DRIVER JAILED

THREE months after he killed a mum and three children, lorry driver Tomasz Kroker was jailed for 10 years. He was on his mobile phone changing music for almost a minute before he smashed into the back of a car on the A34 and killed Tracy Houghton, her sons Ethan and Josh and her step-daughter Aimee Goldsmith.

After his sentencing police released a harrowing video from his dash cam showing him flicking through music before ploughing into a row of cars.

MILLION POUND DRAMA

THEATRE lover Pam Aird from Botley had a magical twist of luck as she won £1m on the lottery.

The 58-year-old won the Millionaire Maker feature of the EuroMillions and has pledged to spend some of the money to upgrade the lighting at the Unicorn Theatre in Abingdon.

She said: “It was a magical experience on all counts.”

IT’S THE GREAT MoD SELL-OFF

THE county will be changed forever following an announcement by the Ministry of Defence that three of the county’s biggest military bases will be sold off. St David’s Barracks in Bicester, Vauxhall Barracks in Didcot, and Dalton Barracks in Abingdon will close by 2029. The move will affect thousands of servicemen and their families is part of a review of sites across the country to save £140m. Neil Porter, who worked at Dalton Barracks for seven years, said: “It’s bad for Abingdon. Once it goes part of Abingdon will be dead.”

TOO TAKING TO PAY UP?

THE Lord Mayor of Oxford was revealed to be one of four councillors who had been summonsed to court for not paying council tax. Mohammed Altaf-Khan called for improvements to be made to the reminder system after being ordered to pay £216.29 and £65 court costs. Colin Dingwall from West Oxfordshire District Council, his colleague Peter Kelland and Banbury deputy town mayor Nicholas Turner were also caught out. Mr Kelland said: “I’m just completely stupid when it comes to paying the bills.”

TOWERING VISION

Plans for a £60m revamp of Templars Square in Cowley were unveiled for the first time. The transformation of the centre will see a new hotel, restaurants and a 200-home apartment block built. A drop-in session detailing the proposals is expected to be held in January. Oxford city councillor for Cowley David Henwood said: “The centre is in need of regeneration and introduction of new, quality jobs presents opportunities for Cowley residents.”

December

THE SECRET SUPERTRUST

SECRET plans to create a ‘super health trust’ were revealed.

Doctors, health watchdogs and MPs said they had been kept in the dark about the proposals, which could completely overhaul the way the NHS works in the county. If it goes ahead, the trust would be based on an American model and would be responsible for all health services in the county.

It could be in place by March, and there had not yet been any public consultation. Oxford GP Helen Salisbury said she felt “flabbergasted” by the news

HEADS UNITE AGAINST MAY

AFTER the Government controversially proposed in the summer that it would bring back grammar schools there was opposition from teachers in the county. It came to a head when 37 headteachers wrote to the Prime Minister to object to the ‘retrograde’ plans, which they said would damage Oxfordshire’s economy and leave children behind.

The signatories included Kate Curtis, headteacher of Theresa May’s old school Wheatley Park. She said a well-rounded education in comprehensive schools was the best way forward.

JUSTICE AT LAST

VICTIMS of killer drivers hailed a planned change in the law that could see people convicted of death by dangerous driving jailed for life.

Paul Baker, Malcolm Ruecroft and Nicci Saunders have all lost loved ones on Oxfordshire’s roads. But they were all angered by the sentences handed down by the courts to the drivers who took their relatives’ lives. All three welcomed the proposed change to sentencing and called for the Government to extend it to careless drivers who kill.

NEW FRONTIER FOR RAIL

For the first time in more than 100 years a major British city got a new rail link to London as services began running from Oxford to Marylebone.

The Chiltern Railways service came after a £320m project which included the opening of Oxford Parkway station last year. Trains from the city now travel through Bicester and on to London via High Wycombe. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling hailed the link as a huge improvement and a ‘new frontier’ for rail travel.

SCHOOL’S DIY HOMES PLAN

AN OXFORD school frustrated at the city’s housing crisis decided to take matters into its own hands. Oxford Spires Academy has revealed proposals to build flats for new teachers on its East Oxford site. It comes after schools said they were struggling to recruit staff because of the high cost of living in the city.

Headteacher Sue Croft said it was a win-win situation as it would give teachers a home below market rates and bring in rental income.