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Oxfordshire, like many other parts of the country, has experienced its share of significant events in 2024 – from community challenges and public safety campaigns to innovative infrastructure developments, ongoing debates around public policies, and cultural milestones. Indeed, this year has been filled with moments that inspired, united, and, at times, tested its communities.
Here’s an first look at the stories and moments that shaped Oxfordshire in 2024 based on insights from our readers. We aim to capture the essence of life in this region, so don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have a story you think we should consider.
January
Banbury’s historic Whately Hall Hotel reopened under new management. Tulip Hotels and Real Estate announced the long-awaited reopening of the town-centre hotel, marking a significant milestone for the local hospitality industry.
Clarkson submitted new plans to build a 36m-long barn at his Diddly Squat Farm in Chipping Norton Road near Chadlington, citing an “urgent need” for the development. It comes after Mr Clarkson has been involved in previous planning disputes with West Oxfordshire District Council several times as he sought to expand the facility.
February
Oxford United Football Club submitted a full planning application for its proposed £130 million stadium near Kidlington to Cherwell District Council. The 16,000-capacity venue, designed to replace the Kassam Stadium by 2026, will include a restaurant, conference centre, and hotel.
Oxford University tutors – Rebecca Abrams and Alice Jolly – won their claim for employee status at an Employment Tribunal hearing that took place in January. The pair taught at the University of Oxford for over 15 years and have always been employed on personal service contracts. The judge described how the tutors were not guest lecturers or speakers and ruled they were engaged on fixed-term employment contracts and should be classed as employees.
Jeremy Clarkson announced the temporary closure of his Diddly Squat Farm shop until March, stirring interest among fans and locals alike.
March
Work has started on Oxford streets to prepare for six traffic filters as part of a trial approved by Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet in November 2022 to reduce traffic, make bus journeys faster and make walking and cycling safer.
April
Work started to repair the water-damaged theatre floor in the main auditorium at The Mill Arts Centre in Banbury. The water damage meant the arts centre had to make arrangements to reschedule, relocate or cancel the programme of live performances.
Christ Church’s Picture Gallery celebrated the recovery of its seventeenth century painting ‘A Rocky Coast, with Soldiers Studying a Plan’, which was stolen from the gallery on 14 March 2020. The Italian Baroque landscape by Salvator Rosa was handed to authorities in Romania and recovered by officers from Thames Valley Police and Jacqueline Thalmann, curator of Christ Church Picture Gallery.
May
In the May 2024 local elections, Labour failed to regain a majority in Oxford City Council, with the Green Party making significant gains, highlighting a shift in the city’s political landscape.
Labour secured 20 seats, four short of a majority, while the Greens increased their total to eight. The Liberal Democrats held nine seats, the Independent Oxford Alliance gained four, and non-grouped Independents secured one seat.
In the General Election, Oxford’s MPs retained their seats, with Anneliese Dodds (Labour) representing Oxford East and Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat) holding Oxford West and Abingdon. However, the Conservatives suffered a complete loss across Oxfordshire.
Labour’s Sean Woodcock defeated Victoria Prentis in Banbury, and Liberal Democrats Olly Glover, Freddie Van Mierlo, Charlie Maynard, and Calum Alexander Miller won in Didcot and Wantage, Henley and Thame, Witney, and the new Bicester & Woodstock constituency, respectively.
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods or LTNs continue to generate debate, with householders living in an LTN street in Oxford sharing their thoughts on the findings of a damning report saying businesses find the contentious scheme “damaging”. 10 out of 15 respondents living on Magdalen Road in Oxford “strongly believed” the LTNs “had a negative impact on their business”, and the overwhelming answer was apparently that the scheme had been “a disaster”.
The university witnessed a series of pro-Palestinian protests, including campus occupations and sit-ins, leading to multiple student arrests and debates over free speech and university policies.
Detailed designs for three new interconnected buildings, which will be YASA’s new UK HQ based at Bicester Motion, were approved by Cherwell District Council, marking a significant leap forward for the 444-acre future mobility estate in Bicester.
YASA, a spin-out from the University of Oxford and wholly owned by Mercedes-Benz Group, is pioneering new electric drive technology. It has agreed on a 15-year lease to pre-let its new HQ, which will total 88,000 sq ft (8,220 sq m).
At the same time, Construction reached a major milestone at Oxford North, the new £700 million innovation district in Oxford. The first phase topped out with the Red Hall’s cantilever roof and completed steel frames for two lab buildings.
When completed, the development will include one million sq ft of laboratories and workspaces, 480 homes and amenities, including a market square, a hotel, a nursery, a cafe, a bar, and three public parks.
Season 3 of Clarkson’s Farm, the popular Prime Video reality show chronicling Jeremy Clarkson’s attempts at running his Oxfordshire farm, premiered to much fanfare.
June
Oxford City Council has granted planning permission for ‘Ascent,’ a cutting-edge, energy-efficient life science building at the ARC Oxford campus in Cowley. The 1.3-hectare (3.2-acre) site, previously occupied by several office buildings, will, upon completion, provide approximately 105,000 sq ft of lab-enabled office space alongside supporting facilities.
Sphinx Hill, an Egyptian-inspired property in Moulsford, Oxfordshire, has been Grade II* listed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. It was designed by John Outram Associates and built between 1998 and 1999, making it one of the youngest listed buildings in Britain.
The Gaza protest encampment outside the Museum of Natural History in Oxford, where students were protesting against the war in Gaza, was dismantled. Oxford University said it had closed the site “in the interests of public safety and to prevent damage to the infrastructure beneath the lawn”. The protest camp was set up outside the museum on 06 May.
July
The world-renowned Puy du Fou, famous for its immersive historical experiences, officially announced plans to open a new £600 million park in Oxfordshire, bringing its unique blend of storytelling and spectacular performances to the heart of England.
Meanwhile, work on the £200 million site Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park resort in Chesterton was temporarily paused in the summer. In an update, the the company said it was taking some time to explore the best way possible to bring Great Wolf Lodge to the UK, including the potential of multiple resort locations to reach a wider audience of UK families.
August
After being denied permission to open a restaurant at Diddly Squat Farm, Jeremy Clarkson opened a pub, The Farmer’s Dog, in Asthall, near Burford.
However, he later reported challenges running the establishment, including the theft of over 100 glasses in a single day, with some appearing on eBay. Clarkson indicated substantial operational costs made profitability difficult despite good customer turnout.
September
County Hall in Oxford, including the 1971 office building and the historic 1841 council chamber, has been put on the market as Oxfordshire County Council plans to relocate its operations to the under-utilised Speedwell House on St Aldates, adjacent to the courts.
While Old County Hall (the original chamber) is being marketed as part of the sale, the council has yet to make a final decision on whether to sell it. They aim to “assess market interest and make an informed decision about the future of the building.” Proceeds from the sale will fund the refit and upgrade of Speedwell House to net-zero standard.
Over a month’s worth of rain fell across Oxfordshire within 24 hours in September, causing widespread disruption, including school closures and issues with roads and public transport. Intermittent heavy rainfall persisted throughout the week and Oxford University researchers confirmed it was the wettest month in Oxford in 250 years, as recorded at the Radcliffe Meteorological Station.
South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils have finalised their joint Local Plan, which outlines development through to 2041. The plan identifies sites for 31,000 new homes, focusing on expanding existing settlements like Oxford and Didcot and establishing new “garden villages.”
October
Botley Road remains closed at the rail bridge as part of the major redevelopment works at Oxford Rail Station. Work around the bridge started in January 2023 and is highly complex due to the need to divert utilities, including the water supply and sewer system.
The works were scheduled to finish in October 2024, but an announcement was made in July that this would no longer happen as planned, signifying the third delay by the company on the project. It is still uncertain when Botley Road will be reopened or when an announcement of a reopening date can be expected.
Jeremy Clarkson revealed he had undergone a heart procedure after experiencing concerning symptoms, including clamminess, chest tightness, and pins and needles in his left arm. Later in October, Clarkson issued a message to farmers following the announcement of reforms to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR), set to take effect in April 2026.
November
Lord Hague of Richmond was elected as the 160th Chancellor of the University of Oxford, succeeding Lord Patten of Barnes. Hague, a former Conservative leader and alumnus of Magdalen College, secured 53% of the final vote in a notable election.
The iconic Shark House in Oxford faces potential closure as an Airbnb after losing a planning appeal. Oxford City Council decided that the change from residential use to short-term let required enforcement action following public complaints. The property will be available for long-term lets starting March 2025.
Jeremy Clarkson published Diddly Squat: Home to Roost, the latest instalment in his popular series of books about life on the farm.
December
Oxford United Football Club formally submitted additional information and studies requested by Oxfordshire County Council and Cherwell District Council for its stadium application. The planning application is expected to be considered in 2025.
The future of England’s district councils and how this could affect local authorities in Oxfordshire came to the fore after Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced plans for the biggest reorganisation of local government in England in over 50 years.
The proposals for devolution, which could see district councils abolished and the introduction of mayoral combined authorities at the regional level, have been welcomed by Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of Oxford City Council, who confirmed discussions with neighbouring councils about the potential creation of a Thames Valley Mayoral Combined Authority.
Jeremy Clarkson was featured in Autocar Magazine, showcasing his driving skills as he hustled a Lotus Emeya around the Cadwell Park circuit.
Thomas Johnson, the 19-year-old who drove his car at dangerously high speeds while under the influence of nitrous oxide (also known as laughing gas), was sentenced to over nine years in prison for causing the death of three young men in Marcham in June 2023.
Larry Ellison’s Ellison Institute of Technology Oxford announced a partnership with the University of Oxford, investing at least £100 million in joint research to address global challenges and enhance the commercialisation of scientific discoveries in the UK.
Meanwhile, the university’s Opportunity Oxford programme to reserve nearly 10% of undergraduate seats for “disadvantaged” students who do not meet traditional entrance standards came under scrutiny.
This initiative aims to diversify the student body by prioritising candidates from low socio-economic backgrounds and under-represented postcodes, but critics fear standards may be compromised to accept ‘disadvantaged’ students who would not otherwise be offered a place in a bid to hit diversity targets.
The £332m ‘HIF1’ relief road project from Didcot across the Thames to Culham and Clifton Hampden has finally gained planning permission. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner confirmed the approval, overturning a decision by Oxfordshire’s planning committee in July 2023. Construction is anticipated to start on site in early 2026 and last approximately two years.
