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ITEM EX14

PILOT HOME ZONES PROGRAMME

1. As reported to the Executive on the 19 February 2002, work has been carried out to identify suitable roads or areas for the purpose of trialling Home Zones in the County. It was agreed that when selecting the roads or areas it would be advantageous to consider the possibility of looking to trial schemes at different levels of intensity of treatment. This would enable officers to ensure that future schemes were not being over specified, and ensure that any further schemes could be assessed against the experience of developing differing types of measures at differing intensities. It does mean, though, that it cannot be guaranteed that all the schemes will meet the criteria to be signed as Home Zones (to be published by the Government later this year).
2. Home Zones are a new concept in this country and to promote their development Central Government has invested in national pilot schemes and the setting up of the Home Zone Challenge, in which Oxfordshire was successful with its bid for Saxton Road, Abingdon. Later this year the Government is expected to issue national regulations on Home Zones and an authorised traffic sign.

District, Parish and Other Groups Interested in Home Zones

3. From an invitation to District, Town, and Parish Councils and other groups, the County Council received nominations for sixteen streets/areas. These were mainly from Town and Parish Councils. Oxford City Council renominated Hertford Street, and on further investigation officers have added surrounding streets to this potential Home Zone in line with the findings from East Oxford Action and local neighbourhood associations. In addition Cherwell and South Oxfordshire District Councils have made nominations. A number of locations have also been promoted by community groups, and Environmental Service’s own Southern Area Office.
4. A checklist (see Annex 1) (download as .rtf file) has been developed to help assess each site. Photographs were taken of each area and will be on display at the meeting. Due to the developing nature of Home Zone projects, little experience/guidance is available on how to judge the suitability of each site. As a result, a physical assessment has been undertaken, supplemented by traffic survey data. The appraisal is, though, of necessity to a degree subjective.

Potential Sites for Further Investigation

5. Out of the sixteen nominated streets and areas, this report recommends four to be taken forward for further investigation and consultation. The twelve that were not selected (listed in the table below) were considered either:

1. not to have the potential to benefit from the introduction of Home Zone features; or
2. currently so close to what a Home Zone is likely to be that only minor works (eg entrance features and official signage when authorised) are considered to be required to bring further benefits to the street/areas and therefore not suitable for the pilot programme; or
3. potentially suitable for Home Zone treatment but not for the pilot trials in question due to either overall cost, value for money, or impacts of displaced traffic on the surrounding area.

Location	Classification
Canal Walk – Oxford	ii
Waterside – Oxford	ii
Bainton Road – Bucknell	i
Thompson Drive – Caversfield	i
Marlborough Gardens – Faringdon	iii
Heyford Hill lanes – Sandford on Thames	iii
Tucknell Piece Road – Charlbury	i
Tamar Way, Didcot	iii
Vicarage Lane – Henley	i
Morton Avenue – Kidlington	i
Elms Road – Botley	i
Pinnocks Way – Botley	iii

6. Where an area is classified as (i) above, it is not intended to deny that a problem may exist but rather only that it is considered that Home Zone treatment is not appropriate. For instance, there are undoubtedly traffic problems in Elms Road, Botley and Vicarage Road, Henley but these are largely associated with school access. A targeted "Better Ways to School" approach may be a more appropriate way of remedying these problems than a "Home Zone" treatment.
7. The four sites recommended for further investigation are discussed in the following paragraphs.

West/East/North/South and Centre Streets – Banbury

8. This area was nominated by Cherwell District Council and is made up of mainly terraced housing with limited off-street parking. The area has already been subject to a traffic management scheme some years ago. This appears quite poor quality compared to today’s standards. However, it does provide a good basis from which to introduce Home Zone features. The area has good walking and cycling links to the town centre and local attractions. Centre Street is wide and provides the opportunity for inventive design features to transform it into the centre of the Home Zone, with the scheme lessening in intensity in the surrounding streets.

Hughes Close/Sturt Close - Charlbury

9. This was one of two sites nominated by Charlbury Town Council. The two roads in the area are joined by a one-way system via Sturt Close, and are a typical post-war rural council house development. Limited parking is provided off-street in the form of driveways to some properties, with an area of garages located to the rear of Hughes Close, supplemented by limited on-street parking. By evidence of a number of warning signs on both streets, there is obviously an issue around children playing in the street. There is the potential for environmental enhancements in both streets and the construction of gateways at entrances. A Home Zone or similar scheme could be tailored to creating a safer environment for children, developing parking solutions and benefiting the community as a whole.

Stapleton Road – Headington

10. This site was nominated by the residents’ group from the street, showing strong local support. The street is a typical 1930’s residential road with very limited off-street parking. The street is unusual in that parking bays have been arranged so that parked vehicles are legally allowed to park half on and half off the footways - a scheme developed by the City Council. This has been implemented in order to ease the movement of traffic along the road; however, it is highly detrimental to facilities for pedestrians and especially those with access difficulties (eg disabled, parents with buggies etc). A Home Zone would enable this problem to be addressed through rearrangement of the street’s layout and use of areas, also contributing to decreasing inappropriate use of this route from Headington to the Churchill Hospital, and to provide appropriate public/children activity space. The street has wide footways and when the whole highway width is considered, there is sufficient space to introduce a Home Zone.

Silver Street/Golden Street/Barnet Street/Catherine Street/Hertford Street/Essex Street and Percy Street – East Oxford

11. As noted above, Hertford Street was nominated by Oxford City Council in our first round of invitations for schemes. A considerable amount of local consultation has already been carried out as part of the Single Regeneration Budget project for East Oxford and this has demonstrated local support for a Home Zone style project to be implemented in this area. It has to be recognised that the high level of on-street parking will limit the scope for work but some measures, such as gateways and raised junctions, could enhance the environment of the area. Alternatively, a school is accessed from Hertford Street and could provide a focus for more intensive treatment, with this lessening on surrounding streets. Facilities for pedestrian and cycle access, alongside working with other programmes such as Better Ways to School, could help in developing effective schemes.

Scheme Development and Costs

12. Prior to progressing any further, it will be essential to determine the true level of community support for the above projects. The national pilot Home Zone areas have all stressed the vital importance of local support and participation. It is anticipated that a door-to-door leaflet drop will be made informing residents and businesses of the potential schemes and asking for their opinion. Officers would recommend that unless 70% or more of responses returned were positive (no less than 50% of all addresses in the area) that schemes would not move on to further development. Due to the potential for non-support, this initial consultation would be carried out on all four schemes simultaneously. Following this consultation, resources would only allow for the development of two schemes in any year.
13. Assuming support for all schemes, a suggested outline programme could be as follows:

Start Year	Location	Treatment Levels and Approximate Costs
2002/3	West/East/North/South/Centre Streets, Banbury	Medium - £350 per metre – scheme = £210,000
2002/3	Silver/Golden/Barnet/Catherine/Hertford/Essex/Percy Street, Oxford	Low - £250 per metre – scheme = £150,000
2003/4	Stapleton Road, Headington	High - £500 per metre – scheme = £150,000
2003/4	Hughes Close/Sturt Close, Charlbury	High - £500 per metre – scheme = £250,000

14. As reported to the Executive on the 19 February, it is anticipated that if community support is forthcoming, liaison groups involving local residents and local members would be set up, in consultation with the portfolio holders for Transport and Strategic Planning & Waste Management. It would be expected that at least 12 months of consultation and design would be needed before any scheme can start.

Financial and Staff Implications

Assuming that any of the four potential schemes highlighted above meet the 70% positive response rate on consultation mentioned above, the remainder of the project would be funded through the Community Safety (Transport) element of the Local Transport Plan funding allocation. It may be necessary to commission specialist consultants to undertake some of the scheme development work, especially work related to opinion research and architectural/landscape design. If this is necessary, these costs will also be charged to capital.

RECOMMENDATIONS

15. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to:

1. select the following areas for further investigation into their suitability for Home Zones:

1. Hughes Close/Sturt Close – Charlbury;
2. Stapleton Road – Headington;
3. West/ East/ North/ South and Centre Streets – Banbury; and
4. Silver Street/ Golden Street/ Barnet Street/ Catherine Street/ Hertford Street/Essex Street and Percy Street – East Oxford;

2. agree the outline programme for the Home Zones projects, assuming that there is a positive response from local residents in the initial consultation; and
3. agree the arrangements for taking forward the development of Home Zones as indicated in the report.

DAVID YOUNG
Director of Environmental Services

Background Papers: Nil

Contact Officers: Ben Fryer Tel: 01865 810451

July 2002

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