Ban on traffic ‘is going ahead' (From The Oxford Times)
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Ban on traffic ‘is going ahead'
7:30am Wednesday 22nd October 2008 in Headlines By Andrew Ffrench
The county council's vision for Queen Street
The county council has vowed to force through wide-ranging plans to pedestrianise the centre of Oxford if opponents try to derail the idea.
On Monday, the council announced multi-million-pound proposals to transform the city centre — including the pedestrianisation of Queen Street.
Traffic bans in George Street and Magdalen Street would start in the summer of 2010, with the pedestrianisation of Broad Street planned for the same year.
County council leader Keith Mitchell said the authority, which will consult the public and traders before going ahead with the scheme, was determined to implement it and was prepared to use legal powers if agreements could not be reached.
He added: "I have been speaking with the managing directors of the city's two main bus operators.
"Their view is they're very supportive of the vision — and worried about the detail. Both bus companies are committed to working with us and sorting this out.
"I'm confident at this stage we can work sensibly with them but, if not, there are reserve powers."
Mr Mitchell said the council was determined to go ahead, regardless of whether or not the £300m revamp of the Westgate Shopping Centre development proceeds.
The credit crunch has put the project on hold, with the developers expected to announce a revised timetable for the project by the end of the year.
Council senior transport planner Martin Kraftl said: "We want to work with Oxford’s bus operators on this project, not against them.
"Having already discussed these issues with the bus companies, the council is very confident that agreement will be reached on a way forward.
"There are powers that can be used, such as applying to the Traffic Commissioner to introduce a traffic regulation condition. One of these is already being used to prevent coaches from accessing Queen Street during the day.
"Traffic regulation orders could also be used. However, any of these legal powers would only be used to regulate bus operations as an absolute last resort — and given the co-operation the bus companies are showing, it's unlikely they will be utilised."
Oxford Bus Company managing director Philip Kirk said detailed negotiations would be needed "to get the balance of measures right, to ensure the continued economic well-being of the city, as well as preserving its historic core".
Stagecoach Oxfordshire managing director Martin Sutton said: "In broad terms, we are receptive to any proposals to enhance the attractiveness of the city centre.
"Oxford has the highest level of bus use of any similar-sized city in the UK and it's essential bus users aren't disadvantaged by bus stops being moved to remote and inconvenient locations.
"Good access to the heart of the city must be maintained."
Comments(14)
Aslam
says...
10:04am Wed 22 Oct 08
jockox3
says...
10:17am Wed 22 Oct 08
This is a Tory controlled council which has no representation in the ruling group from Oxford city itself. For them to say they are going to consult, but with the dark threat that if anyone demurs from their view they will force it through anyway is an appalling attack on democracy and gives the lie to the Tories being a party of "small government" (which we all knew anyway).
I asked the other day how this was to be financed, given that grand schemes elsewhere in the city and county proposed only a year ago have now been scrapped, delayed or indefinitely postponed (even ones where work has actually started) because central government funding for transport projects had been reduced.
They also need to get some bus routes sorted properly - since the demise of through buses from Kidlington to Headington it has taken me over an hour to make that five mile journey, having to cross town on foot to change buses in the process (and no doubt contributing to our unenviable position as being the fourth longest commute time in the country). It sounds to me as if this scheme will make that permanent and more or less irreversable whether the bus companies wanted to reintroduce cross city services or not.
But it is the attitude to consultation that stinks. You are our servants Mr Mitchell, not our masters. And you have no mandate from the citizens of the City of Oxford to boot. Proceed with caution and humility and you might get your way, but threats and bullying will set us against you!
In our historic city it is a thorny problem to be sure, but one that requires consensus (and as Aslam and commenters to the BBC last night have said) not merely the bus companies but the users who need to be satisfied.
Hugh Jaeger
says...
12:30pm Wed 22 Oct 08
Cllrs Hudspeth and Mitchell neither live in nor represent Oxford. Ian Hudspeth works in London, where the buses are convenient and no lunatic has been allowed to dismember the network. This proposal is for the benefit of people outside Oxford who elected the Conservative county council, and want only to come into the City centre and go straight out again. Those of us who live in Oxford, want to travel between different sides of Oxford, and elected no Conservative councillors have little to gain from this proposal and a lot to lose.
After the millions squandered in the Cornmarket scandal, jockox3 is right to ask how much this proposal would cost us. There are many more urgent things on which our County Council could be spending our council tax.
Until now I have always opposed Oxford's bids become a unitary authority. However, I find it deeply offensive that Conservative shire politicians want to make such major alterations to a city where they represent no-one. If unitary status is the only way to protect Oxford from such interference, perhaps I must reconsider my opposition to it!
jockox3
says...
1:17pm Wed 22 Oct 08
The buses from Kidlington to Barton have been split because of timing issues getting through the town centre making it difficult to manage the number of buses needed on each route to keep to the timetable. If the route through the town centre was clearer for buses then it might make sense to join those routes up again. Not fix for all time the fact that they turn around and go back the way they came.
It certainly need more thought than just how the bus companies might cope. Imagine having to walk from St Giles to St Aldates or even Thames Street perhaps to transfer from a Summertwon bus to a Headington bus! It may be efficient for the bus companies, but orindary people need to have a say in whether that is acceptable and if they don't find it acceptable Mitchell & Hudspeth's idea that they are going to force it through anyway looks absurd and dictatorial.
MrP
says...
1:17pm Wed 22 Oct 08
Sid Hunt
says...
1:18pm Wed 22 Oct 08
oxmale
says...
1:36pm Wed 22 Oct 08
1. If the entire city is pedestrianised then surely this will choke up Marston Ferry Road, Cherwell Drive, London Road, Beaumont Street, Botley Road et al even more than now? If this is to be done maybe some improvements to the ring road must be considered?
2. Alternatively, will a new road to supplement the ring road be on the agenda? A link road from Seacourt to Banbury Road would be ideal, although it will never happen.
As I said in a previous article, I am not against the pedestrianisation in principle, but surely no-one wants a divided city in which getting from one side to the other is only made easy for the cyclist who is already king in this city.
EB
says...
2:00pm Wed 22 Oct 08
Oxford is broken: it's a horrible place to visit, and has lost a lot of the charm - thanks in no small part to the chaotic buses and exorbitant business rates charged by the council.
For the good of Oxford, we must reduce buses, even consider removing them altogether and replacing with other means, ie. trams. I have no opposition to Oxford Bus Co and Stagecoach selling their buses to buy trams and PFI the rails.
Also - we now have free parking, but non-free riding - what better way to get people out of their cars?
GaryOxford
says...
2:10pm Wed 22 Oct 08
That does not sound like democracy to me. The council members were elected to represent the people, not to force through their own agendas on an unwanting electorate.
I would recommend that Ian Hudspeth buys himself a train set and plays with that, rather than forcing through unpopular and unworkable schemes.
Oxford resident
says...
3:43pm Wed 22 Oct 08
That says it all. Consultation means nothing to the arrogant Keith Mitchell and the County Council. They forced through measures like the residents' parking permits, even though the "consultation" showed that most residents opposed the idea.
Now they intend ignoring consultation again, even though they will doubtless spend money from our council taxes on a pretence of consultation.
jockox3
says...
5:04pm Wed 22 Oct 08
DanOxford
says...
11:29pm Wed 22 Oct 08
I anticipate that this will be stress- free, that my money will be spent on goods and services, not taxation in the form of punitive parking charges, and that I will contribute a significant amount to businesses in Reading, having saved up all my shopping needs for some time.
I further intend to do all my Christmas shopping in Reading.
I would dearly love to support Oxford shops and businesses, but am sick and tired of Oxford authorities treaing me as a cash cow, a pariah and a second class citizen in the city of my birth, solely because I live outside the ring road, own a car and am not a wealthy North Oxford or Jericho resident, a student or a member of any minority.
steve23002
says...
8:14am Thu 23 Oct 08
IS
says...
9:44am Thu 23 Oct 08
I'd prefer the county council to sort this out than working to put even more cafes and restaurants and more branches of chainstores in the city centre.
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