Two New Parking Consultations in Abingdon

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Oxfordshire County Council has launched two new consultations on parking changes in Abingdon, both open until Friday 12 December 2025.

1. Centre East Abingdon – Proposed Parking Restrictions

The first consultation covers new ‘No Waiting at Any Time’ (double yellow line) restrictions in parts of Centre East Abingdon. These would extend or add restrictions on:
* Audlett Drive
* Jackman Close
* Magnette Close
* Penlon Place
* Quakers Court
* Radley Road

The aim is to stop obstructive parking, following an informal consultation with residents in 2024.

The consultation can be viewed at: https://letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/abingdon_centreeast_parking2025 .

2. Abingdon Town Centre – Proposed Parking Restriction Amendments

The second consultation covers the town centre. The main change is a small extension of the residents’ permit scheme, to include:
* St Edmunds Lane (permit-holder)
* St Helens Wharf (permit-holder or pay-and-display)

New limited-waiting bays
* West St Helen Street: maximum stay 30 minutes. These are intended to support access to local shops and services. The parking outside the Salvation Army would be removed to allow 30 minutes parking opposite. This may help the Co-op where people often park in the loading bay.
* Manor Court: maximum stay 2 hours

Other proposals include:
* Additional double yellow lines, replacing some single yellow lines, particularly at junctions where parking is already discouraged by the highway code.
* New no-loading restrictions on Abingdon Bridge.

The town centre will also get new signs showing that it is the AB residents parking area. So the sign stuck outside our house will be replaced.

The consultation can be viewed at: https://letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/abingdon_towncentre_parking2025.

These measures don’t look as controversial as the previous consultations (earlier this year) which had many people worried.

Abingdon’s Bookshops Let it Snow

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Most of us in Abingdon woke this morning to frosted grass and icy puddles. But two of our bookshops have had snow.

At The Bookstore in Bury Street, winter has taken full hold of the window display. Snowdrifts, sparkling reindeer and hibernating creatures make it look as though a blizzard has blown through the shop.

At Mostly Books, on Stert Street, snow is falling. Their window features a painted scene celebrating ‘Tell Your Dog I Love Them’, created by the book’s own author-illustrator, Harriet Lowther who will be there on December 6th. Mostly Books often invite artists to create street art in their window. I wonder whether they ever replace the glass and sell the originals like Banksy’s.

Their blackboard also reminds us that the season of stories in warm corners is upon us.

What’s on in Abingdon in late November 2025

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Friday 21 November

Farmers’ Market (monthly)
8:30am – 1:30pm, Abingdon Market Place


Community Film Festival – ‘Our Shared Futures: Climate & Migration’
Includes Thank You For The Rain (2017) and other films
Climate Emergency Centre, County Hall (starts Friday, continues a week on Saturday)

Saturday 22 November

Local Excellence Market
9am–2pm, Abingdon Market Place (food, crafts makers)


Come and Sing Handel’s Messiah (Trinity Church)
2:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Kennington Chorale wish to celebrate with friends and lovers of this wonderful
work, the fantastic achievement of this choir since 1973 in raising in excess of
£826,000 for local, national and international charities.


7pm: Abingdon Passion Play AGM + Community Choir Performance +
Talk by Jackie Sheppard on the new TV series Testament at
The Barn, Christ Church

Sunday 23 November

3pm: Arco e Vento & Friends – A Musical Scrapbook
Works by Cole Porter, Bruckner, Bach, Mozart, Handel etc.
St Nicolas Church, Free entry, donations invited.

Thursday 27 November

7:30pm: The Mellstock Band – ‘The Christmas Hearth’
Music, songs & stories from Thomas Hardy, Dickens, Barnes
Unicorn Theatre, Abingdon | £15 (£12 students)

Saturday 29 November

Abingdon Community Christmas Extravaganza (Abingdon Town Centre)
Donkeys, carols, Christmas market, parade, entertainers, local bands, lights switch-on


Christmas Cheer – 4pm
Informal Christmas concert in aid of Abingdon Bridge
St Michael and All Angels Church, Park Rd
Tickets £10 (£2.50 under 16s)

Lodge Hill – Changed Priority at A34 Slip Road

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Traffic heading towards Lodge Hill through Bagley Woods on the A4183 (Oxford Road) should be aware that the junction layout has now changed. A new Give Way has been introduced at the south-facing slip road onto the A34, meaning vehicles travelling from Abingdon and joining the A34 now have priority. Drivers are given advance warning with Give Way signs at 200, 100, and 50 yards, as well as at the junction itself, along with two Changed Priorities Ahead signs.

Even so, it’s an unusual layout and has taken many people by surprise. Thanks to Nick for highlighting the change. It was mentioned on a local WhatsApp group yesterday by someone who was nearly caught out by it; signage appears to have improved since then.

Elsewhere on the A34 slip-road works, earthmoving continues and has expanded. From ground level, it’s still hard to get a sense of the final layout at this stage.