Oxford's historic Covered Market will benefit from a new partnership agreement between Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council to help fund important repair work.

Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council have put £50,000 each into a special project budget to pay for a programme of work at Oxford Covered Market that has been discussed with the Traders Association.

Oxford's Covered Market is renowned for its fresh food, specialist shops and high quality cafes and is has a very special place in the city's retail offer. Further discussions will take place next month on the precise terms of the renovation programme.

Councillor Bob Price, Leader of Oxford City Council said: "We are delighted that the county council is willing to use some of its Business Growth funding from government to double the £50,000 that the city had already allocated for next year's programme of renovation. This reflects our common objective of protecting jobs and small businesses in this difficult period.

"We are also working together to develop a joint management arrangement for the whole of the city centre with a new jointly funded City Centre Manager."

Councillor Keith Mitchell, the Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: "The recession is having a negative impact on every area of life in Oxfordshire at the moment. Local government is no different. However we feel we have a responsibility in these harsh economic times to help preserve important local institutions and events where we can.

"The Covered Market is a unique and precious Oxford attraction that draws people in from all over Oxfordshire and beyond. It could currently do with a little help from its friends. It has earned those friends over many years of providing high quality goods and customer service and helping preserve Oxford's reputation as a world class city."

MAY Morning revellers will be faced with barricades and road closures at Oxford’s Magdalen Bridge for at least the next three years to stop people jumping off it into the River Cherwell.

The bridge has been fenced off for the past three years after 40 people were injured and 12 needed hospital treatment after jumping in 2005.

The decision has upset residents and faith groups from East Oxford, who said they felt excluded from the annual May Morning celebrations, as they could not cross the bridge to join in.

However, the police, ambulance service and city and county councils have now said the policy would remain in place for another three years before they reviewed it again.

Ian Travers Smith, of the county council’s emergency planning team, said: “We came to an agreement to run this policy for a period of three years and that lapsed last year.

“The decision has been made to continue with that for another three years, when we’ll review it again.”

Imam Monawar Hussain, of Oxford Central Mosque, said: “I’m very disappointed. This is a physical way of excluding quite a substantial number of Oxford citizens.

“Three years is a long time. I think we should have a review of this again as soon as possible – and it should be open for the people of East Oxford to have their say.”

Every year at sunrise on May 1, thousands of people gather at the bridge to hear choirsters sing Hymnus Eucharisticus from Magdalen College tower.

Organisers claimed East Oxford residents could still enjoy the event if they were across the bridge by 5am.

Last year, the authorities said the official re-opening time would be 8.30am, but police removed the barriers at about 6.30am, when four young men jumped off the bridge. No-one was injured.

This year, the closure will officially end at 7.30am.

However, despite last year’s incident, organisers said they planned to have the bridge re-opened before 7am.

Insp Jim O’Ryan, who will co-ordinate the event, said: “This is about striking a balance between people that want to go about their day-to-day activities and those that want to jump off a bridge.

“Oxford is a city of 150,000 people and the number we’re talking about jumping off a bridge is a handful.

“Non-closure of the bridge isn’t an option. We have to look back at 2005 and the stretch on public services caused, which was great, and whether people can potentially lose the services, with quite serious consequences.”

The Home Bursar of Magdalen College, Mark Blandford Baker, said it was a myth that jumping from the bridge was a long-standing tradition.

He said: “This kind of thing has only been going on for the past 20 to 30 years.

“The ancient tradition is the gathering of thousands of well-behaved people to hear the choir at dawn – it has nothing to do with bridge jumping.”

The event will cost the city and county councils around £7,000. The city council bears the majority of that, with £3,500 being spent on barriers.

They said the cost would remain the same whether the bridge was open or closed.

Original Article Source

Researchers hope to get a picture of what the original structure looked like during a month long project.

Subsidence work carried out last year uncovered evidence a ten-sided tower once stood on the site.

The ground will be scanned and then excavated in July and the results put on display. The Oxford Preservation Trust is behind the work.

Debbie Dance, trust director, said: "This is a fantastic chance to find out more about the original castle.

"We are delighted to have the chance to share the excitement with schools and young people bringing history and science together."

Original article source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/8007871.stm

The county council took buses out of Cornmarket Street 10 years ago, but artist Sislej Shafa brought one back, with contemporary artwork Elegant Sick Bus.

At 3pm, five unemployed men pushed the four-tonne Mercedes bus from the George Street junction to Carfax.

The stunt was part of Modern Art Oxford’s new exhibition Transmission Interrupted, which runs from today until June 21.

Frances Arnold, a spokesman for the Pembroke Street gallery, said the bus-push was designed to reflect the replacement of manufacturing in Oxford with tourism.

Shopper Matt Boyle, 27, from Banbury, said: “I have never seen a mirror-covered bus in Cornmarket before, although I did once see a jeep covered in fake gems when I was in Cape Town.”

Ms Arnold said the artwork would be parked near the Malmaison hotel at the Oxford Castle site off New Road until the end of the exhibition.

Original article source: http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/4300350.City_shoppers_take_a_shine_to_artwork_bus/

Blake Lapthorn is pleased to announce that its joint submission with Oxford Inspires has won the nationally recognised Hollis Sponsorship Awards 2009, in the Best Sponsorship (under £50,000) category. The Hollis Awards are the premier national awards for those involved in sponsorship links between business, arts, sports and culture.

Blake Lapthorn, one of the leading law firms in the UK, and the charity Oxford Inspires, the cultural development agency for Oxfordshire, have built a strong partnership through collaboration on a number of projects in recent years. Oxford Inspires offered the firm the opportunity to sponsor the Earth from the Air exhibition and the Planet Earth Season, which has resulted in this win.

The sponsorship opportunity provided Blake Lapthorn with a high visibility association with a comprehensive and multilayered season of work that encouraged individuals to think about Oxfordshire’s commitment to the environment. It also provided the firm with a link to the University of Oxford Environmental Change Institute resulting in a ‘Green Breakfast’ series attracting over 150 business people in the area. As part of the sponsorship, Blake Lapthorn was prominently acknowledged as the Major Local Corporate Supporter of the Earth from the Air at Oxford Castle exhibition and the Planet Earth Season.

The 'Green Breakfasts' were held at the firm's offices in Oxford and proved to be the most successful part of the sponsorship. Developed via new links forged through the sponsorship with the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute, the breakfasts took place at the end of 2008. Topics included 'jargon' in the climate change sector presented by the Environmental Change Institute, carbon offsetting, technology and energy management. The firm is currently running its second series of Green Breakfasts which conclude at the end of May and will look to also conduct the series in other regions.

Through the sponsorship, Blake Lapthorn was also able to focus on internal awareness, staff morale and Corporate Social Responsibility. An internal staff 'green' awareness week was carried out by the firm, which included office pledges and an electronic discussion forum called 'ECOjam' via the firm's Oxford office intranet.

Kathelene Weiss of Oxford Inspires said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won this award, which highlights the successful collaboration between us and Blake Lapthorn for this exhibition and the Planet Earth Season."

Jonathan Lloyd-Jones, Senior Partner at Blake Lapthorn said: "The link between businesses and cultural organisations remains as important as ever in the current economic climate. To have been able to link this sponsorship to the environmental and climate change issues that are very high on the agenda not only for our clients but also for our staff was a win-win situation for us as a business and for Oxford Inspires as a local charity. To have won a national award in recognition of this partnership is very satisfying."

For more information about Blake Lapthorn, please contact:
Daniel Baber, Public Relations Manager
DD – 020 7814 5489
Mobile – 07771 930 084
Email – daniel.baber@bllaw.co.uk

Post a review, thought or comment