Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Travel & Development Strategy

Forward Plan Ref: 2022/158

Contact: Joanne Fellows, Growth Manager (Central), 07990368897

Report by Corporate Director Environment & Place (CA5).

To seek approval of the content of the Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

a)              Approve the Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan including recommended changes listed in this report.

b)              Delegate the decision on the final Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan document, including graphical format, to the Corporate Director for Environment and Place in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Travel and Development Strategy.

The Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan (COTP) was the first area travel plan to have been produced.  The report before Cabinet set out the results of a public consultation on the draft COTP document and recommended approval of the plan.  The report also set out a number of recommended amendments to be made to the plan following public consultation.

Councillor Duncan Enright, Cabinet Member for Travel & Development Strategy, introduced the report.  He noted that all parties in the Council had supported the Local Transport and Connectivity Plan which was designed to ensure the greatest access to every part of the County.

The Plan took account of the climate emergency, the city’s heritage in car manufacture and the huge congestion problems.  The routes in and out of Oxford were included in the consideration.  Local Plans would need to take account of this Plan.  The changes were needed to support public transport services to be more affordable and reliable.

Other Cabinet Members added comments:

·       There was a need to flesh-out the idea of mobility hubs quickly as they could make a significant contribution to connectivity.

·       The plans for tens of thousands of houses around Oxford, approved by the previous administration, have meant that doing nothing was not an option.

·       Most of the discussions around this have been between the city and council councils.  The districts need to be represented too.

·       The poor are the most reliant on public transport and we must reduce congestion to allow the buses to run reliably.

·       The proposals on new railway branches were very welcome, particularly for areas of population growth.

·       Were the various proposals being implemented in the correct order?  If the workplace parking levy had been brought in sooner, it would have alleviated some of the concerns around the other measures.

A number of amendments were proposed:

Councillor Enright proposed an amendment to the report: on Agenda Page 7, delete the first bullet point titled “Wider commitment to/ a better balance on 20mph speed limits”.  This was seconded by Councillor Sudbury and agreed.

Councillor Bearder proposed an additional recommendation:

“Request that the Corporate Director for Environment and Place brings to the December Cabinet meeting a programme for the other measures mentioned in COTP.”

Following discussion with officers as to when they could produce such a report, Councillor Enright proposed that such a report be brought to the January 2023 meeting.  This was seconded by Councillor Sudbury and agreed.

Councillor Glynis Phillips proposed an amendment to recommendation b) to append “and for Cabinet to be informed of any changes”.  This was seconded by Councillor Enright and agreed.

Councillor Sudbury left the meeting.

Councillor Andrew Gant proposed a further amendment to recommendation b): insert after ‘graphical format’, “and amendments to bring the document in line with any Scrutiny recommendations subsequently agreed to by the Cabinet”.  This was seconded by Councillor Enright and agreed.

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

RESOLVED:

On Agenda Page 7, delete the first bullet point titled “Wider commitment to/ a better balance on 20mph speed limits”

a)              Approve the Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan including recommended changes listed in this report.

b)              Delegate the decision on the final Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan document, including graphical format and amendments to bring the document in line with any Scrutiny recommendations subsequently agreed to by the Cabinet, to the Corporate Director for Environment and Place in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Travel and Development Strategy and for Cabinet to be informed of any changes.

c)              Request that the Corporate Director for Environment and Place brings to the January 2023 Cabinet meeting a programme for the other measures mentioned in COTP.