SENDRA (St Ebbe’s New Development Residents’ Association) was set up in 1981 when a few neighbours got together, having recently moved into a completely new community. 40 years on we are still going strong and we are justly proud of our achievements. Everything is done by unpaid volunteers so that our neighbourhood is as pleasant and safe as possible. Our purpose is to foster and maintain good relations between members and to promote and safeguard their environmental interests.¹

St Ebbe’s by the River is a green, pleasant residential neighbourhood in the heart of the City of Oxford. We overlook the Castle Mill Stream and Oxpens Meadow, with its population of geese and other wildlife, the River Thames and the Nature Reserve beyond. Only a 5-minute walk from the Westgate Retail Centre, the library and 10 minutes from Carfax, we are one of Oxford’s best kept secrets. The estate was built in the 1980s following the clearance by the City Council of small, cramped Victorian streets of tiny, unmodernised houses and the rehousing of the residents.

If you live, or are coming to live, in the area between Thames Street and the River Thames (North-South) and Castle Mill Stream and Friars Wharf (West-East), do think about joining our voluntary neighbourhood group SENDRA. There are 109 houses in our community and some 70% of these are SENDRA members.

A Committee is elected each year at the AGM and its members work together to protect the interests of all members. Over the years, these have been some of SENDRA’s achievements:

• Early on, a successful campaign for our own Royal Mail Collection box and for double yellow lines to prevent city centre car parking along our streets.
• An agreed restriction on the use of Oxpens Meadow for noisy or messy events. Including an agreement that such events should not take place during the birds’ breeding season.
• Between 1993 and 1996 a sustained campaign against a large Leisure Centre next to the Ice Rink – a multiplex cinema, a nightclub with capacity for 2000 people and car parking along the Thames riverbank were proposed. This was rejected after careful, legally-based argument.
• In 2012 Oxpens Meadow was registered as a Queen’s Jubilee Field in Trust, permanently protected as an open space.
• In 2015 the installation of a memorial garden bench in Sadler Walk to thank SENDRA “pioneers” for all their efforts on behalf of us all.
• In 2017, the installation of wooden bollards along both sides of Blackfriars Road and in other spaces to prevent further, random car parking.
• Air quality monitoring conducted in co-operation with both the City Council and Clean Air UK.
• Regular discussions with the Environment Agency and other local bodies involved in reducing the threat of flooding. Including monitoring of Flood Zones, maps and modelling.
• In 2016 SENDRA carried out an optical survey of threshold levels of some houses along the Castle Mill Stream and Dale Close.
• The tracking of the Westgate retail centre during its planning phase and the securing of a much-improved frontage onto Thames Street.
• On-going dialogue with the City Council for a properly integrated approach to plans for the ‘West End’, the area between Westgate and Frideswide Square.
• Bi-Annual Litter Blitz in conjunction with OxClean (Oxford Civic Society)
• Regular social events, including Spring Drinks, Summer Party, Coffee Mornings, Christmas Party etc.
• A popular Book Club

Throughout its 40 years, SENDRA has maintained regular contact with the City and County Councils and Thames Valley Police.  The County Council is the Highways Authority responsible for our roads and footpaths and our only access via Blackfriars Road. Our own elected councillors, two for the City Council and one for the County Council, are sources of great support. 

The Castle Mill Stream path is part of the Bio-diversity corridor running through Oxford. SENDRA has ensured that the green spaces we enjoy are maintained and improved.   Our paths are largely litter-free, peaceful and quiet. We will continue to protect our community to ensure that it continues to be a pleasant, safe place for people to live in the heart of the City of Oxford. 

¹ Objectives of the Association as stated in the Constitution

20th May 2021 SENDRA