Newcomers to Oxford Waterside
We would like to welcome you to Oxford Waterside and hope you will enjoy living here. Below you will find some information which you may find useful either now or later. Please do not hesitate to contact the Residents' Association if you have any queries about Waterside.
You may like to be aware that there is both a RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION and a MANAGEMENT COMPANY.
The Management Company
The Management Company is a formal body, with resident Directors, responsible for managing the communal areas and grounds. It agrees the annual service charges, and appoints the managing agents (currently Cluttons) who deal with all day-to-day matters including collection of the service charges.
The Residents' Association
The Residents' Association concentrates on links with the wider community including other residents' groups and local authorities, particularly on planning issues; we work jointly with the Management Company on grounds maintenance, generally take up any other matters of concern to residents, and organise social activities.
We very much hope you will join. Membership per household costs only £5.
Information Sources- newsletter, web site and notice board
We publish a regular newsletter - a copy of the latest one is here. If you have queries about a Waterside issue, we would normally be your first port of call. A list of Committee members you can contact is below. The Committee is elected annually at the AGM, generally held in June. All residents, whether tenants or owners, are welcome to be members of the Residents' Association, to attend the AGM and stand for the Committee.
This web site is intended to be the first port of call for information about Waterside. If you want any information not on the web site, you can ring committee member Richard Groves for the list of tradesmen, and Stuart Skyte for other information (see committee members' contact details).
We also have a noticeboard on the wall outside 9 Rutherway. You can use this to display notices relevant to Waterside, and for items for sale (see details on the Noticeboard itself: contact the keyholders Stuart Skyte on 559618 or Barbara Cowell on 554916).
Social activities
There is usually a Summer Party in Merrivale Square gardens. Other
social events have been ad hoc such as drinks after the AGM. There is also a regular walking group on the first Saturday of each month (contact Pat Hafferty for details). Also watch the Noticeboard and newsletter for the latest information. Ideas for other activities are always welcome.
Useful information
i. Rubbish, recycling box and green waste collections
The normal collection day is early (7.30-ish) Friday morning. There is a fortnightly cycle. One week sees the collection of the green wheelie-bin (or the official pink sacks); the second week sees the collection of the blue wheelie-bin and the green sack. The small food waste box is collected each week; you have to put waste food in compostable bags inside the box.
Green bin:. Non-recyclable material
Blue bin: Plastic bottles, plastics, foil containers, tins, envelopes, newspaper, magazines, glass bottles/jars and white printed/computer paper, coloured paper and wrapping paper. (Tins, foil and bottles should be washed out)
Green sack: Garden waste, cuttings and thin prunings, etc but not soil.
(There is a battery recycling box on the wall by the Phil& Jim school.)
You should have a note from the Council with the dates for collection (Waterside is the ‘orange’ week). Your rubbish should not be put out before late on Thursday evening. If you are going to be away, please ask a neighbour to do it rather than put it out a day early. Most people keep their rubbish, whether or not in a bin, in their house or rear garden until early Tuesday. If you keep a wheelie-bin in the front garden, we urge you to make sure that it is well hidden by shrubs or other screening, for obvious reasons.
Please note that rubbish collection days change sometimes when there is a bank holiday. Revised collection dates will be posted on the Noticeboard, on the website and in newsletters or circulars when possible. (They are also sent to you annually in advance with your Council Tax bill.)
Please do not dump household rubbish in the public litter bin next to the post box. This has caused problems in the past: the Council is not obliged to empty it if you do, and other residents may have to clear it away.
The nearest Council tip is the Redbridge Recycling Centre, right at the traffic lights just before the Park and Ride at the end of Abingdon Road (8.30 - 5.30 Mon-Sat, 8.30 - 4 Sun).
Any queries on rubbish collection/disposal: Council freephone 0800 7831957.
ii. Front gardens
As a house owner, you are responsible for maintaining your front garden. Generally, this is the small piece of ground between the front of your house and the footpath. (If you are not sure of your boundary, ask the previous owner or the landlord). The Waterside grounds maintenance contractor will not touch this patch. The committee member responsible for grounds can offer advice on pruning and maintenance. This is Gillian Skyte. Even just pulling out the obvious weeds makes a difference…..
iii. Parking
It is very important that you understand the rather complicated parking arrangements on Waterside.
Almost all properties have only one allocated parking space, which may be an off-road space or a garage. Planning permission for the development was granted on this basis, in order to restrict car ownership and thereby traffic generation. If you are a tenant your landlord or letting agent should have made it clear which space is yours. Please park with consideration for your neighbours by occupying only your own space.
Visitor spaces
Please make sure your visitors park in an appropriate space. There are three types of potential spaces for visitors:
- A few off-road visitor spaces, which are marked accordingly. Ask your neighbours if you are in doubt. These are very limited in number, particularly in certain parts of the development, and are not intended to be used to park residents’ cars (particularly second cars!) since this would seriously inconvenience and disadvantage other residents. All such off-road spaces are under the control of the Management Company and subject to the restrictive covenants forming part of the house purchase contract.
- On-road visitor parking bays (i.e. spaces marked on the road, such as in Rutherway, which indicate Permit Holders only). For these visitors require a permit issued by a resident. Visitor permits can be obtained from Oxford City Council’s Parking Shop (l40 High Street) - take proof of current residence (such as a utility bill). You are generally limited to 50 (free 24-hour permits) per annum. This on-road visitor parking is controlled by the City Council and subject to patrols by traffic wardens. There are no resident permits for these bays.
- Some inset bays in Plater Drive which are currently unrestricted (marked with a blue P), which may be used by residents or visitors with no restriction.
Access to the Canal via Merton Court
All Waterside residents have the right to use this locked gate, but you will need the security code to get onto Waterside from the canal toe-path. This is 1374.
Police contacts
We hope you won’t need them. To report a serious incident/crime, call 999. To report a non-emergency crime or to give information to the police, call 0845 8 505505.
Local Councillors and MP
Oxford still has two-tier local authorities: City and County. You are in North Ward for the purposes of local elections. Our Oxford City Councillors (both Liberal Democrat) are:
Councillor Alan Armitage (92 Southmoor Road, Tel 07799 892385; cllraarmitage@oxford.gov.uk) and Councillor Clark Brundin (28 Observatory Street, Tel 510868; cllrcbrundin@oxford.gov.uk)
Your County Councillors are Labour’s Susanna Pressel (7 Rawlinson Road, Tel 554001, susanna.pressel@oxfordshire.gov.uk) and Alan Armitage (as above).
You are in Oxford West and Abingdon parliamentary constituency, and our MP is Nicola Blackwood - Conservative - Nicola.blackwood.mp@parliament.uk Tel: 020 7219 7126
Other useful Council telephone numbers
City Works Hotline |
0800 783 1957 |
Problems with street cleaning/refuse collection and graffiti |
Free Bulky Refuse service: |
252936 |
Up to 3 items (plus fridge or freezer) |
Street lighting: |
0800 317802 |
Quote serial no. on column |
Control Plus: |
247090 |
Parking control: to report on-street infringements |
Crime and Nuisance Action Team |
252969 |
Tackles anti-social behaviour in community |
Nearest Doctors
Jericho Health Centre (Walton St): Tel. 322234, 558861 (different practices)
North Oxford Medical Centre (96 Woodstock Road): Tel. 311005
These practices are about equidistant. Both are highly thought of by local residents.
Finally….
We hope that you will join the Residents’ Association to enable you to have your say on issues that affect you and Waterside. But whether or not you are a member, please feel free to contact us.