Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am two working days before the meeting, ask a question on any matter in respect of the Cabinet Member’s delegated powers.

The number of questions which may be asked by any councillor at any one meeting is limited to two (or one question with notice and a supplementary question at the meeting) and the time for questions will be limited to 30 minutes in total. As with questions at Council, any questions which remain unanswered at the end of this item will receive a written response.

Questions submitted prior to the agenda being despatched are shown below and will be the subject of a response from the appropriate Cabinet Member or such other councillor or officer as is determined by the Cabinet Member, and shall not be the subject of further debate at this meeting. Questions received after the despatch of the agenda, but before the deadline, will be shown on the Schedule of Addenda circulated at the meeting, together with any written response which is available at that time.

Councillor Dan Levy

“It is probable that Oxfordshire will be awarded some money by central government as part of Tranche 3 of the Active Travel Fund.  Can I ask whether the County Council has plans to spend such money in the absurdly short timescales such funding normally requires, and if the Botley to Farmoor to Eynsham B4044 route is included in those plans, in part or in whole.  It is desperately needed, and must link to the equally vital Eynsham/Salt Cross to Hanborough Station active travel route that is also needed by people to encourage them out of private cars.   Has the authority considered building the facility in parts?”

Cabinet Member for Travel Development & Strategy

“The T3 bid has not yet been announced. The bid was submitted on 9 August 2021. A response from DfT was expected by the end of 2021 but it is quite typical of the DfT to take longer to announce successful bids.

The funding is to be spent by March 2023, so over the next financial year. The bid included funding for the Eynsham to Botley cycle path, split into different sections. Funding to build the first sections were included in the bid (£4,650,000) from Oxford to Farmoor. Because of greater challenges over the next section, the bid included £430,000 for feasibility/preliminary design from Farmoor to A40 Eynsham.”

Councillor Dan Levy

“Can Cllr Enright give an update on the progress of the HIF2 scheme, please.  There are still a number of details which will need to be sorted out, including such things as the same area of land in Eynsham simultaneously having existing planning permission for vehicle access to new housing from the centre of Eynsham and being planned to be a part of the walking and cycling facilities to the Park and Ride.  In addition, the report of the Inspector on WODC’s proposed Area Action Plan for the Garden Village area is expected quite soon – will the County be willing or able to reflect in the A40 plans any of his recommendations relating to infrastructure if they impact on the County’s plans.”

Cabinet Member for Travel Development & Strategy

“Good progress continues to be made with the delivery of the A40 HIF2 Smart Corridor project. The planning application has been submitted and validated in December 2021 with the statutory consultation period due to commence in early January, with determination targeted for late spring 2022. A report is due at Cabinet in January to seek authority to make the compulsory purchase and side roads orders required to underpin delivery of the scheme. The orders will be progressed in parallel with the ongoing land acquisition discussions now in place with a large number of affected landowners.”

Councillor Dan Levy requested that Oxfordshire County Council and their contractors take care to ensure the interests of the residents of Eynsham, South Leigh and Cassington are taken into account as they will bear the brunt of the work without less benefit to their village.

Currently council meetings are taking place in-person (not virtually) with social distancing operating in the venues. However, members of the public who wish to speak at this meeting can attend the meeting ‘virtually’ through an online connection. Places at the meeting are very limited due to the requirements of social distancing. While you can ask to attend the meeting in person, you are strongly encouraged to attend ‘virtually’ to minimise the risk of Covid-19 infection.

Please also note that in line with current government guidance all attendees are strongly encouraged to take a lateral flow test in advance of the meeting.

Normally requests to speak at this public meeting are required by 9.00 a.m. on the day preceding the published date of the meeting. However, during the current situation and to facilitate these new arrangements we are asking that requests to speak are submitted by no later than 9.00 a.m. four working days before the meeting i.e. 9.00 a.m. on 29 December 2021. Requests to speak should be sent to lucy.tyrrell@oxfordshire.gov.uk. You will be contacted by the officer regarding the arrangements for speaking.

If you ask to attend in person, the officer will also advise you regarding Covid-19 safety at the meeting. If you are speaking ‘virtually’, you may submit a written statement of your presentation to ensure that if the technology fails, then your views can still be taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9.00 a.m. 2 working days before the meeting i.e. Friday 31 December 2021. Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

Forward Plan Ref: 2021/196

Contact: Natalie Moore, Transport Planner Tel: 07917 534327

Report by Corporate Director Environment & Place (CMDTDS4).

This report details the impact of the Burford Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) which placed a 7.5t weight restriction on roads within Burford including the A361.  The scheme has brought benefits to Burford and neighbouring areas, but the consultation has highlighted the impact of the dispersal of rerouting Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) traffic on other communities.  An areawide weight restriction is likely to remedy many of the issues but will take some time to implement.  A decision is required on whether to make the Burford ETRO permanent until this is in place.  An expansion of the current permit system would be required if the Burford restriction is made permanent.

The Cabinet Member is RECOMMENDED to

a)    APPROVE officers to consider the costs and benefits of developing area wide restrictions across Oxfordshire including close working with neighbouring authorities, as part of the county wide freight strategy, as soon as practicable. Noting any future approval of area wide weight restrictions would likely see existing environmental weight restrictions revoked subject to consultation.

b)   EITHER:

                                      i.                REVOKE the Burford Experimental Traffic Regulation Order of 7.5t weight restriction. Therefore, not making a permanent order.

OR

                                    ii.                APPROVE the Burford Traffic Regulation Order of 7.5t weight restriction with associated Permit Scheme, subject to Burford Town Council committing to indefinitely run the Permit Scheme outlined in this paper. Should the Permit Scheme be revoked the county council will re-evaluate the impacts of the order.

The Cabinet Member for Travel Development and Strategy had before him a report which detailed the impact of the Burford Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) which placed a 7.5t weight restriction on roads within Burford including the A361. The report advised that the scheme had brought benefits to Burford and its neighbouring areas, but the consultation had highlighted the impact of the dispersal of rerouting Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) traffic on other communities. It reported that an areawide weight restriction is likely to remedy many of the issues but will take time to implement and a decision is required on whether to make the Burford ETRO permanent until this is in place, otherwise, an expansion of the current permit system would be required if the Burford restriction is made permanent.

Also attached to the report was the background paper ‘Burford Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) Final Report, December 2021’ and the following annexes:

Annex A: Map of Burford ETRO Study Area

Annex B: Consultation responses received related to the permit area

Annex C: ETRO

Annex D: Burford Town Council Burford Weight Limit Exemption Permit Scheme

Annex E: Burford HGV Weight Restriction Exemption Permit Application From

Annex F: Burford ETRO Consultation responses by theme

Annex G: Burford ETRO Consultation responses – originals

Annex H: Additional representations received since July 2021

Annex I: Directional Tracsis Traffic Flow Data and proportion of slow moving traffic

Annex J: Officer note of meeting with Farmers and Hauliers

The report recommended the Cabinet Member to

a)    APPROVE officers to consider the costs and benefits of developing area wide restrictions across Oxfordshire including close working with neighbouring authorities, as part of the county wide freight strategy, as soon as practicable. Noting any future approval of area wide weight restrictions would likely see existing environmental weight restrictions revoked subject to consultation.

b) EITHER:

i. REVOKE the Burford Experimental Traffic Regulation Order of 7.5t weight restriction. Therefore, not making a permanent order.

OR

ii. APPROVE the Burford Traffic Regulation Order of 7.5t weight restriction with associated Permit Scheme, subject to Burford Town Council committing to indefinitely run the Permit Scheme outlined in this paper. Should the Permit Scheme be revoked the county council will re-evaluate the impacts of the order.

The following requests to speak were received, of which all were allowed by the Cabinet Member.  These were considered by the Cabinet Member as follows:

Mr Mark McCappin and Mr Jan de Haldevang presented on behalf of WiVTAG (Windrush Valley Traffic Action Group) which represents 14 parish and town Councils, 1 district council, several farms and 51 businesses in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.  Mark McCappin spoke in support of the first recommendation, however he requested that a zonal weight restriction for the West Oxfordshire area is developed and implemented as a matter of urgency and advised that they had outlined such a scheme in their Final Report to OCC and noted that Gloucestershire CC had submitted a strong formal objection to the Burford ETRO requesting that it is not extended  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.