Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Highway Management

Forward Plan Ref: 2022/082

Contact: Paul Fermer, Asst Director Community Operations, 07825 273984 / Caroline Coyne, Assistant Project Manager, caroline.coyne@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Report by Corporate Director Environment & Place (CA14).

Approve the County Council Vision Zero commitment.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

(a)                    Approve the County Council Vision Zero commitment to: “Eliminate all fatalities and severe injuries on Oxfordshire’s roads and streets, to have a safer, healthier, and more equitable mobility for all.  Work closely with partners and stakeholders to take a whole system approach, working together on infrastructure, behaviour, technology and legislation to achieve this change” 

(b)                   To note the proposed ‘Vision Zero’ programme and governance arrangements being assembledas set out within this report.

(c)                    To note the drawdown of initial funding of £0.25m from the Budget Priorities Reserve to develop and start to progress the implementation of Vision Zero. Required for additional resources and delivery of key infrastructure changes at known areas of concern for road users.

Cabinet had before it a report providing an overview of the proposed approach and scope of Vision Zero for Oxfordshire to try and reach a target of zero for fatalities and life changing injuries from road traffic collisions by 2050.

Before considering the report, the Chair had agreed to requests from a number of speakers to address the meeting.

Alison Hill, Chair of Cyclox, welcomed the report and the funding allocated and added that active travel campaign groups were ready to help.  Some local authorities were allocating £20 per person per year towards active travel and Oxfordshire needed to be up there with them.  However, the decision approving £294m expenditure on new roads would make targets more difficult to achieve.  Her group was also disappointed at what she described as the abandonment of the Banbury Road and Woodstock Road schemes.

The Chair responded that those schemes had not been abandoned.  The administration will find a way to make them happen but it will not necessarily be with Growth Deal money.

Peter Barnett stated that this was a fundamentally different approach that would need strong leadership from councillors and senior officers to make it happen.  He was disappointed to see no evidence of outside collaboration in its development.  Open access to data was important as well as the development of an action plan to lay out how the strategy would be achieved.

Danny Yee urged councillors to use the collision and injuries mapping tool that was available to see the extent of the problem.  Many rural roads had a worse rate of accidents on a per trip basis and due to higher speeds, more fatalities and serious injuries.  A cross-system approach was needed with guidelines provided and political willingness to restrict motor traffic.

Councillor Dan Levy, the County’s Active Travel Champion, stated that most accidents involving fatalities and serious injury to pedestrians and cyclists occurred at junctions, which were primarily designed for motorists.  Cycling needed to be made more convenient and having to mix with lorries seriously discouraged cycling.  Many of the changes needed will result in slowing down traffic.  This might be unpopular in the short term but he asked Cabinet to approve this new policy to promote a healthier more active county.

Councillor Andrew Gant responded to a number of points made by the speakers:

·       He thanked the campaign groups for their valued input into all such policies of the Council.

·       With regard to the expenditure on roads versus active travel, central government dictated most of this in their decisions on allocation of funds.

·       The number of accidents was not a good measure of the safety of a road.  There may be fewer accidents because people are afraid to walk or cycle on the road.

·       Schemes needed to take into account their connectivity beyond their boundaries.

Other Cabinet Members reiterated the commitment to listen to expert advice and see the implementation of this policy through.

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor Gant, seconded by Councillor Enright and agreed.

RESOLVED to:

(a)                Approve the County Council Vision Zero commitment to: “Eliminate all fatalities and severe injuries on Oxfordshire’s roads and streets, to have a safer, healthier, and more equitable mobility for all.  Work closely with partners and stakeholders to take a whole system approach, working together on infrastructure, behaviour, technology and legislation to achieve this change” 

(b)               To note the proposed ‘Vision Zero’ programme and governance arrangements being assembledas set out within this report.

(c)                To note the drawdown of initial funding of £0.25m from the Budget Priorities Reserve to develop and start to progress the implementation of Vision Zero. Required for additional resources and delivery of key infrastructure changes at known areas of concern for road users.