The work on cutting the corner at the Peachcroft Roundabout is planned to run from 31 Jul 2023 – 17 Aug 2024 and so is probably half way there. It should allow traffic from the Dunmore Road to cut the corner going up Lodge Hill. So far the work has affected footpaths more than carriageways. This corner is the boundary of the Abbey Fields development.

Despite interest rate rises, there has not been much slowdown in the house building on the Abbey Fields development. This is the view from the footpath from Sunningwell, where it crosses the Abbey Fields development. Abingdon must be a very popular place to live.

In the news today was the story that Barratt are to buy rival Redrow for £2.5bn.

A lot of the new homes in Abbey Fields have a notice from Barratt Homes saying ‘Please be courteous. This house is occupied.’

A cycle way runs from the Abbey Fields development through Tilsley Park (sports ground run by Abingdon School) and then comes to a stop just before the Kings Gate development.

Resourceful walkers have made their own short cut a short way from the main route.

A new road name that has appeared on the Kings Gate estate is Dyson Mews. It is not named after Sir James Dyson, knighted for his vacuum cleaner and hand drier innovations, and not even named after Star Wars R2D2 creator Tony Dyson who did live in Abingdon. It is named after Tony’s mum Ada Dyson who was Mayor of Abingdon. According to the obituary of Ada on the Abingdon and District Twin Towns Society website (July 2008), Ada had bright red hair and a determined northern character and was a formidable fighter.

The Abingdon Tesco Extra petrol station is getting a revamp and will be reopening on March 1st, 2024. They’re making the pumps and forecourt area more spacious by raising the roof to a minimum of 5 meters, according to planning application P23/V1925/FUL (Replace canopy and increase height to Min 5M.)

The Abingdon Tesco petrol station has been around since 1981, and the canopy was just 4.15 meters high.

So, whether you’re filling up your car or your average double-decker bus (4.5 to 4.7 meters), you can do so easily from March 1st! What won’t fit is a giraffe trailer (6 meters).

A developer has put in a new planning application for the land adjacent to the new Aldi on what was previously called the Circus Field in North Abingdon. This area had been marked for development in the Vale of White Horses District Council’s Local Plan to 2031, and it’s the last big chunk of Abingdon land on the plan that hasn’t already started being built on.

The plan is to build up to 40 houses, a day nursery, and a care home. The houses won’t be decided on yet, but there will be a mix of sizes, and some will be affordable. (This is an outline plan, and the details will follow). The day nursery will be two stories and have a garden. The care home will be three stories and also have a garden. (The nursey and care home plans are full plans). There will be new parking and a new road into the site from Copenhagen Drive. Three trees will be removed to make way for the road.

The plans can be seen and commented on at: https://data.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/java/support/Main.jsp?MODULE=ApplicationDetails&REF=P23/V2861/O.