Oxford Council has unveiled new plans that aim to control the spread of student housing in the city.

The council’s proposals, which have been approved by a government inspector, plan to restrict the development of new student accommodation to the city centre.

The plans aim for there to be no more than 3,000 students from Oxford Brookes University and the University of Oxford living outside of university-provided accommodation.

In her report, planning inspector Shelagh Bussey highlighted “the tension that exists between provision for student accommodation and general purpose housing”. She also spoke of the need “to strike a balance between these two uses that often compete for the same sites to ensure that housing, and particularly affordable housing delivery, is not compromised.”

She added, “This conflict is exacerbated by the growing trend for colleges not associated with the two universities to locate and expand in Oxford, building on the ‘Oxford’ name, for which speculative student accommodation is being provided. The intention is that this would free up homes that are suitable for the general housing market.”

The plans also acknowledge that purpose-built student accommodation must be away from residential areas to minimise disturbance. The council proposed that student accommodation should be mainly located in the city centre, or adjacent to a main thoroughfare, to relieve pressure on residential streets. Current plans are to impose a cap of 20% on the number of houses of multiple occupations (HMOs) allowed in any 100-metre stretch of residential road.

A spokesperson for Oxford City Council applauded the plans, adding, “Public consultation revealed a local concern that having halls located in quiet residential streets can mean that some anti-social behaviour affects other residents at night. The Council responded to this by directing halls away from quieter residential streets. Whilst there are some limits on the location of student halls, our assessment did not consider that this unduly restricted opportunities for student accommodation in appropriate locations in Oxford.”

A spokesperson for the University added, “The 3,000 figure is not new and the collegiate university is in the process of expanding its provision of housing for students by building new accommodation, in order to stay below this threshold and ease the burden on Oxford’s rental market. The Castle Mill student accommodation project is the latest example.”

Rio Jones, Co-Chair of the Oxford Unviersity Lib Dem Society, claimed, “This is not only going to affect students. By setting a cap like that you are also hitting young professionals working in the city who can’t afford a house of their own in a place where housing is already in short supply. This could have really harsh consequences for already struggling tenants.

“This cap is essentially saying, ‘we don’t want too many of your lot in this area’, when I don’t think that students and young people are necessarily the creators of ‘disturbance’. I really do think these proposals should be a cause for concern for students and young people throughout Oxford; and having your own circumstances sorted shouldn’t be an excuse to not care.”

A JCR motion proposing ‘meat- free Mondays’ at Somerville College has caused split opinion amongst undergraduates.

The motion to provide only vegetarian choices in the Dining Hall on Mondays was put to the JCR at the end of Michaelmas term, and

initially passed with 27 students voting for the motion and 20 against. Two students abstained.

However, once the motion was passed, Somerville students who were unhappy about the result took to their college Facebook page, the ‘Somerville JCR noticeboard’. Marsha Sudar, Somerville JCR President, told Cherwell, “There was constant posting for a good three hours, and a group created against the motion. Nothing like this has happened at Somerville before. I’ve only been here two years, however I’ve been told by grad students who were at Somerville three or four years ago that there really never has been such a passionate response from the JCR to a JCR motion.”

One student, in opposition to the motion, wrote: “The funniest thing is, you’ve all ignored the fact that the college veggie options are uniformly awful…Why not vote for something everyone can get behind (and that there’s actually a chance that college will listen to you about) and petition them to make more palatable veggie meals?”

Another stated on the page, “I just can’t believe people complain about the motion passing, when they were too ‘busy’ for the 15 minutes that the motion lasted to attend, yet they somehow have the time to make hours of fuss over it straight after.”

A petition against the motion was handed to Sudar and a referendum on the issue was then called. One poster encouraging students to oppose the motion stated, “As adults, why are we being limited in what we can eat?” However, in response, Somerville student Richard Nias noted, “Hall not serving a certain type of meal does not stop you eating it. There are things called supermarkets and kitchens.”

Sudar further commented that, despite the heated discussion of the Facebook group, “Hustings went quite smoothly. It was exactly what the JCR executive had hoped for: an open discussion about various facets of the issue at hand. Around 50 people came, and many agreed afterwards that it was a very positive and worthwhile event.”

Somerville student Florence Avery agreed that it had been a positive experience. She commented, “I’m glad it passed and I think the discussion really got people thinking more about the impact of their food, which is great. Our JCR President, Marsha, handled everything brilliantly. It all happened really close to the end of term but she got straight on it and organised hustings and the referendum really efficiently.”

Other Oxford students were also receptive to the idea of ‘Meat Free Mondays’. Jamie Harris, founding member of Oxford Students for Animals, a group campaigning to increase vegetarian and vegan options throughout the University, commented, ‘Meat Free Mondays’ is a fantastic idea. With a bit of luck and lots of campaigning, hopefully the concept, or something similar, can be established more widely in public and private institutions throughout the country.”

Despite opposition, the motion still stood. With a turnout of 54 per cent, 119 people voted in favour of the motion, with 91 against. Nine people abstained. The Somerville JCR are now waiting for a response from the Somerville MCR before they approach the catering department.

‘Meat-free Mondays’ faced similar controversy at Wadham this time last year, as their SU voted to re- instate a meat option on Monday after a two-year involvement in the campaign. 

Oxford University researchers have located two genetic faults which increase the risk of individuals with a history of bowel cancer in the family developing it themselves.

The research was carried out by the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford and Cancer Research UK, and established a high correlation between bowel cancer development and mutations in two specific genes, POLE and POLD1, which are involved in the DNA repairing processes.

The research found that defects in these genes can cause an accumulation of DNA damage in the body that may contribute to bowel cancer.

The Cancer Research UK-funded project selected twenty people as study subjects, eight of which had previously been diagnosed with bowel cancer whilst the rest had a first-degree relative who developed the illness. After sequencing the genomes of the 20 participants, the scientists found both of the faulty genes in all subjects with bowel cancer or malignant tumours in the bowel.

To further consolidate the result, the research team broadened their inspection base to 4000 people with bowel cancer and a control group of 6700 without the disease. Not a single case of genetic deficiencies in POLE or POLD1 was found in the control group, while the researchers found 12 people with POLE fault and one person with POLD1 fault in the bowel cancer group.

However, Oxford Professor Ian Tomlinson who led the study pointed out: “There are some families where large numbers of relatives develop bowel cancer but who don’t have any of the known gene faults that raise the risk of developing the disease.”

Professor Richard Houlston from The Institute of Cancer Research, a co-leader of the research commented, “Uncovering gene faults like these two is extremely important, as inherited susceptibility plays a role in the development of about a third of all cases of colorectal cancer. This is one of the most important discoveries in bowel cancer genetics in years.”

“It should allow us to manage families affected by inherited bowel cancer much more effectively, and it offers new clues for the prevention or treatment of all forms of the disease,” he added.

According to NHS, bowel cancer, or more formally known as colorectal cancer (CRC), is the second most common type of cancer among women in the UK, second after breast cancer. It is the third most common cancer among men behind prostate and lung cancer.

Currently under NHS, everyone between the ages of 60 and 69 is offered bowel cancer screening every two years.  Almost three quarters of the people affected are over 65.

Like many other cancers, early diagnosis is crucial in the treatment of bowel cancer. The survival rate five years after detection of the cancer is about 90% if found in early stages, compared to the 6% in the most advanced stage. The average chance of surviving five years after diagnosis of bowel cancer is approximately 50%.

The University Church of St Mary the Virgin saw its extensive restoration project completed in time for Christmas, with a mainly positive reaction from students and the congregation.

The conservation work to the church building, parts of which date back to the 13th century, concentrated on the maintenance of both exterior and interior stone, woodwork and windows and a newly painted celure was added to the ceiling.

Particular care was taken over the conservation of the Old Library, which was built in 1320. Considered the first non-college building of the university it provided a physical centre point for the construction of other university buildings. New disabled access has also been installed.

The preservation of the historic church site, which housed the trial of the 16th century Oxford Martyrs, was funded by a £3.4 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The money was given on the condition that particular focus will be placed on educational schemes telling the heritage story of the University’s link with the Church.

Project managers worked to keep the church and its famous 13th century tower, a popular tourist attraction, open to both the congregation and the 300,000 tourists who visit throughout the year.

The Revd Canon Brian Mountford commented, “Although there still remain a few loose ends to tie up, the Church is substantially complete and was ready in time for the Christmas celebrations.”

He went on to stress the importance of the church to the daily life of the university, explaining, “While the Church is foremost a place of worship attended by a cross-section of age groups, it remains an important concert venue, is used by the Saïd Business School for degree ceremonies, and holds the Bampton Divinity lectures. Most of the congregation is University connected, and there are quite a lot of undergraduate and graduate attendees.”

The project encountered no major problems, despite fears that a heating failure on Christmas Eve would threaten services on Christmas Day. However, this was fixed at the last minute by an emergency engineer.

The congregation are said to be extremely pleased with the improvements, with many commenting on the beauty of the refurbished Church. Altogether, almost 800 people attended the Crib Service, Midnight Mass, and Christmas Day Services.

David Bagg, a third year Classics student from Balliol recognised the important of the recent preservation work. He said, “It’s brilliant that the University and Oxford Thinking Campaign benefactors have worked so hard to protect the University’s Christian heritage. The University Church (where OXFAM was founded in 1942) is now in a great place to amplify that heritage by serving the hungry, homeless and hopeless.”