Agenda item

Report by Deputy Director for Environment & Economy – Highways & Transport (CC8).

The Oxfordshire Local Transport Plan 2011-2030 (LTP3) was approved by Cabinet on 15 March 2011 and adopted as Council policy on 5 April 2011.  The 20 year timescale of the Plan gives major benefits in terms of providing a transport strategy that covers the period of the district councils’ Local Development Frameworks and allows for long term planning of major infrastructure but it does present the risk that the Plan would gradually become less relevant as time passed.  A fixed, printed text was therefore rejected for the Plan in favour of a more flexible, internet based document.

To ensure that the Plan was kept up to date it was agreed that LTP3 should be subject to a system of annual review, and also that interim changes could be made by the agreement of the Head of Transport and Cabinet Member for Transport provided that these were presented to County council for approval within 12 months.

This report outlines the changes to LTP3  that have been provisionally agreed during the year together with other suggested changes which have been the result of a review of LTP3 in the light of external events over the last year.  This includes updates to the Local Area Strategies and policy changes and clarifications concerning High Speed Rail, the county rail strategy, network classification and lorry routeing, network improvements,  electric vehicles and controlled parking zones.  

County Council are RECOMMENDED that the revised document is adopted to replace the 2011 version.

The Council had before them a report (CC8) which outlined proposed changes to the Local Transport Plan 3 as a result of the Annual Review, including updates to the Local Area Strategies, policy changes and clarifications concerning High Speed Rail, the County Rail Strategy, network classification and lorry routeing, network improvements, electric vehicles and controlled parking zones.

Councillor Rose moved and Councillor Hudspeth seconded the recommendations as set out it the report and on the face of the Agenda.

Councillor Tanner moved and Councillor John Sanders seconded the following five amendments:

“The document as revised by Cabinet is accepted except that:

(a)               High Speed 2: Policy PT6 to read: “Oxfordshire County Council fully supports the High Speed 2 rail proposals because of the positive impact HP2 will have on the British economy, including Oxfordshire”. 11.52 to read: First paragraph, delete last 2 sentences and replace with: “Oxfordshire County Council is convinced about the overall business case for HS2 and welcomes the positive impact the construction of HS2 will have on jobs and businesses in Oxfordshire especially at a time of recession.” In the second paragraph delete: “particularly” and insert “nonetheless”

(b)              Controlled Parking Zones: 5.42 delete last sentence and replace with: “We would expect that CPZs could offset the cost of their operation through charging for the issue of parking permits but that enforcement costs would be met from the Council’s general enforcement budgets as with non-CPZ areas”.   

(c)               Shores Green: 18.31and following, re-word to read: “Oxfordshire County Council welcomes the deletion of the costly Cogges Link Road scheme and agrees to take forward the alternative and more effective Shores Green scheme without delay.”   

(d)              Eastern Arc: add at the end of paragraph 13.23: “The new medical research campus at Old Road and the development of Oxford Brookes University add to the need for a new strategic approach to traffic in the Headington area of Oxford.”     

(e)               Capital Programme: “Council further resolves to amend the Capital Programme (Annexe 2 – Appendix D) to install traffic lights on the A40 at the junction with Colinwood Road in Oxford to enable vehicles to get in and out of Risinghurst and pedestrians and cyclists to cross the A40 safely at this point, using funds made available by the cancellation of the Cogges Link Road scheme”.

Following a lengthy debate:

The first amendment (a) was put to the vote and was lost by 16 votes to 50.

The second amendment (b) was put to the vote and was lost by 7 votes to 54.

The third amendment (c) was put to the vote and was lost by 9 votes to 58.

The fourth amendment (d) was put to the vote and was lost by 19 votes to 48.

The fifth amendment (e) was put to the vote and was lost by 7 votes to 56.

In response to general agreement as a result of debate, Councillor Rose undertook to ensure that future reviews of the Local Transport Plan 3 would be submitted to Scrutiny and the Local Transport Working Group prior to approval at Council.

The substantive motion was then put to the vote and was carried by 46 votes to 8, with 11 abstentions.

(Councillor Shouler requested that his abstention be recorded due to having a personal interest in the item).

RESOLVED: (by 46 votes to 8, with 11 abstentions) that the revised document was adopted to replace the 2011 version.