Agenda item

Councillor Nicholas Field-Johnson had given written notice of the following question to Councillor Yvonne Constance:

‘I have been asked by the St. Johns Street Resident Association to put forward their case re: the exclusion zone.

These residents are among the worst and most directly affected by the congestion and poor air quality in Oxford city centre. As such, they welcome serious efforts by the City and County Councils to tackle both problems. 

They are however concerned that the following aspects of the current proposals will have a disproportionately disadvantageous effect on their members: 

 1. The Worcester Street “bus gate” would mean that St John Street Area residents needing to travel west or south by car would have no option but to drive a long way north to join the southbound A34 at the Pear Tree interchange. To give one practical example: the Botley Road Retail Park and our nearest large supermarket are currently just over a mile away; that journey would become seven miles via the proposed detour. Adding 12 miles to the round trip would increase rather than decrease congestion and air pollution.

 2. The Marston Ferry Road and South Parks Road “bus gates” would also lengthen our residents’ eastbound routes by forcing them north to join the ring road at Cutteslowe. The journey to the Headington roundabout for the southbound M40 would be about 20% longer, but of greater concern is the doubling of the distance to the hospitals, to which bus travel is not always appropriate 

 What appropriate help is being given to those residents living inside the exclusion zone?’

Councillor Constance replied:

‘Connecting Oxford could deliver many benefits for residents and businesses including reduced congestion and improved public transport connectivity, better air quality and reduced carbon emissions, and more people participating in active and healthy travel.

It is however fully acknowledged that the proposals, including a further “bus gate” in the city centre and Oxford’s Eastern Arc, will need to be carefully designed and assessed to ensure any adverse impacts are mitigated and those directly affected, whether residents, employers or businesses, also benefit.

Proposals are still at a relatively early stage with more detailed feasibility work and consultation required before any decisions to implement them can be made.

The feasibility work will however consider when the “bus gates” should operate (days of the week and times of day) and whether there should be exemptions and how these would be administered in practice, with the supporting transport improvements required to maintain accessibility and connectivity also being developed.’

And before carrying out any consultation, the above will be informed by engaging directly with those affected including St. Johns Street Residents Association, with details of this to be announced once plans for engagement have been sufficiently developed.

Supplementary question: When will the consultation process start and end?

The intention was that the consultation would take place in late Summer. This was to give time to analyse the findings of the first engagement at the end of 2019 where 300 replies had been received and to work on the business case.

Councillor Field-Johnson had also given written notice of the following question to Councillor Liam Walker:

‘The County Council has some rising bollards installed in the highway at locations in Oxford City, where they are old, time-expired and hence unreliable or broken. This causes considerable nuisance to some businesses and residents. What has been holding up their replacement, and when will they be replaced by new and properly functioning bollards?’

Councillor Walker replied:

‘The rising bollards in Oxford will be replaced and operational by 31 March 2020. We are working with our various suppliers to ensure that the new ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) system will be fully tested and operational so that the rising bollards can go back online and provide the road space protection authorised by the Traffic Regulation Orders.’