Oxford Open Streets 2009
Past examples
Divinity Road Area Residents’ Association (DRARA)
DRARA organises several community events a year, most of which involve closing a street to traffic, which provides a rare and wonderful opportunity for residents to relax, play and socialise right outside their homes.
Regular events are “Meal in The Street” at the beginning of July and “Film in the Street” on Streets for People Day in September”. Other events have included Street Fairs, Room in the Street, Art in the Street, Playtime in Sinnet Court, and Cricket on Oriel Playing Fields.
Horspath Area Residents and Tenants (HART)
HART held a "Street fiesta" in June last year. It was a very successful event and they will be holding it again in July 2009.Their aim is that other parts of the city could hold events over successive weeks, so that residents could go to something every weekend throughout the summer. This is similar to continental community events.
New Headington Residents' Association
New Headington Residents' Association arranged a street party on a large grass patch in Norton Close on the Saturday afternoon preceding 22 September 2008.
The area was decorated with bunting, tea and coffee was provided and there was a bring and share for food. There was a seed swap and some unwanted bikes found new homes. Somebody brought along a giant Jenga set, there was face painting for kids and even a visit to some local hens. It was a great success with residents coming from a wide area who appreciated the chance to meet each other.
http://www.headington.org.uk/lowcarbon/streets_people/index.html
Highfield Residents’ Association
Highfield Residents Association organises two street closures each year for street events. One is in June and one coincides with the City's Streets for People events in September.
All ages, especially children are involved. A street cafe is run throughout so refreshments are always available.
http://www.headington.org.uk/lowcarbon/streets_people/index.html
Last year the association had a Street Cinema evening in All Saints Road, with a showing of "Brassed Off".
Friends of Headington Quarry
On the Streets for People day in 2008 Friends of Quarry campaigned for 20mph speed limits in local streets. Posters were displayed in windows and on lamp posts and a leaflet was provided to all homes. Some children and their parents from the local school took part in a news story.
St Ebbe's New Development Residents’ Association (SENDRA)
SENDRA has been in existence since about 1982. They are located beside Oxpens Meadow (beside the ice rink) and have applied for town green status for the Meadow.
Each June SENDRA have an Open Gardens afternoon followed by a Summer Party on one of the grassy areas. SENDRA members consider themselves fortunate that their streets are dead ends for motor traffic. They think this is part of the reason why they have a very good community spirit.
Beech Croft Residents’ Association
Beech Croft Residents' Association (BCRA) conducted Britain's first every do-it-yourself street makeover experiment. It's a preparatory step in what will likely be an interesting two year experimental pilot to be run jointly by Bristol-based transport charity, Sustrans, and the BCRA, with possible funding from the Esme Fairbairn Foundation.
Beech Croft Road was approached by Sustrans to apply to the scheme as one of only eleven streets in the UK as a 'pathfinder' street on account of The Roadwitch Trial's 4 year body of work. They want to find out just how cheaply 'psychological traffic-calming' devices can be created, and how residents sort out the technical and social difficulties presented by such an endeavour.
Below are photos of some of the experiments. Oxford City Council kindly delivered and picked up "ROAD CLOSED" signs at no charge.
Lye Valley Neighbourhood
The Lye Valley area, off the Slade in Headington, is bordered by a nature reserve and golf course, and local residents are treated to spectacular views, wildlife and beautiful green spaces. Some residents wanted to celebrate this unique feature of the area, while getting to know their neighbours and also recreating a memorable event from their childhoods: the street party.
So, a party took place in August 2008, next to the unique sloping gardens on Lye Valley road. Using scrap material from the local scrap store – Orinoco – bunting, other decorations and ‘road closed’ signs were created. Tables and chairs from churches and community centres were borrowed, and old carpets were brought out to create a space to play Bowls (Boules).
Having the street closed created a festive atmosphere, which encouraged people out of their homes. People took part in a talent competition – with dancing and didgeridoos – tried their hand at a game of Boules, and took part in the very first Lye Valley Pudding Competition. Everyone stayed warm and dry while tasting dozens of desserts, and the creator of the best pudding received an engraved brass plaque.
Since then, several residents have met to plan other events, in addition to just saying hello to familiar faces they first encountered at the Street Party. With lessons learned from last year, another Street Party is planned for 2009.
Wolvercote
The village of Wolvercote created a vision of life without oil in the Saturday autumn sunshine as they replaced the car on its streets with hopscotch, an outdoor café and a van covered in wrapping paper. It was ‘reclaim the streets’ day in Lower Wolvercote, inspired by community action group, Low Carbon Wolvercote. As Ben Gill from LCW explains, “In our battle to reduce our village’s carbon footprint, we wanted to reclaim our streets from the car, instead filling them with fun, games and a strong community spirit. At the same time, we wanted drivers to consider the impact of their journey and pay a voluntary contribution to drive through our village”.
The Wolvercote café enticed villagers and passers-by into the street for hot drinks and homemade cake, sharing village gossip around tables, complete with the odd vase of flowers! Meanwhile, children brought the street to life with po-go sticks, football and hopscotch. This brought a number of confused faces from passing cars. LCW representatives stopped cars, explaining the reasons for the event and asking for a voluntary contribution towards solar panels for Wolvercote Village Hall. The event raised over £500 towards the cause. A villager exclaimed, “It’s a truly empowering experience reading my newspaper sat in the road!” Others pleaded for it to become a regular event.
