ANNEX 4 

Witney ITS Consultation Leaflet and Results

Question One – Main Objectives / Aims of the Strategy

Question One asked respondents to indicate the level of support for the overall aims / objectives of the Strategy and the results are shown in table A1 below.

Table A1 – Main Aims / Objectives of the Strategy

Question One
	Strongly Support	Support	Neutral	Against	Strongly Against	
Self Complete Questionnaires	37%	41%	13%	5%	4%	
Interview Surveys	6%	83%	8%	2%	1%	
Average of Residents Surveys	21.5%	62%	10.5%	3.5%	2.5%	
Business Responses	25%	58%	12%	2%	5%	

As can be seen the vast majority of respondents either support or strongly support the aims.

Question Two – Witney ITS Proposals

As can be seen from table A2 below there was a lot of support in principle for the development of Core Pedestrian and Core Cycle Route Networks, improvements to bus stops and shelters and a parking strategy for the town centre.  Whilst there is more limited support for residents parking schemes and bus priority at key junctions there are still more respondents supporting these than are against the proposals.

Table A2 - Consultation Responses –Question Two

Question Two	Strongly Support	Support	Neutral	Against	Strongly Against	
Development of Cycle / Pedestrian Routes 						
Self Complete Questionnaires	38.7%	35.9%	16.8%	4.7%	3.9%	
Interview Surveys	20.0%	48.0%	21.0%	8.0%	1.0%	
Average of Residents Surveys	29.4%	42%	18.9%	6.4%	2.5%	
Business Responses	29.2%	46.2%	20.0%	3.1%	2.1%	
Bus Priority at Key Junctions in the Town						
Self Complete Questionnaires	24.7%	31.3%	23.7%	12.7%	7.6%	
Interview Surveys	13.0%	44.0%	38.0%	3.0%	2.0%	
Average of Residents Surveys	18.9%	37.7%	30.9%	7.9%	4.8%	
Business Responses	9.4%	35.9%	29.7%	20.0%	4.7%	
Improvements to Bus Stops Shelters and Information						
Self Complete Questionnaires	31.1%	44.8%	20.1%	2.0%	1.2%	
Interview Surveys	15.0%	42.0%	38.0%	3.0%	1.0%	
Average of Residents Surveys	23.1%	43.4%	29.1%	2.5%	1.1%	
Business Responses	15.4%	50.8%	32.3%	1.5%	0.0%	

Table A2 Continued - Consultation Responses –Question Two

Question Two	Strongly Support	Support	Neutral	Against	Strongly Against	
Residents Parking Schemes						
Self Complete Questionnaires	17.9%	32.4%	35.3%	8.1%	6.3%	
Interview Surveys	8.0%	41.0%	46.0%	2.0%	1.0%	
Average of Residents Surveys	13.0%	36.7%	40.7%	5.1%	3.7%	
Business Responses	9.7%	27.4%	38.7%	17.7%	6.5%	
Parking Strategy for the Town Centre 						
Self Complete Questionnaires	27.7%	38.4%	21.7%	6.3%	5.9%	
Interview Surveys	12.0%	54.0%	30.0%	2.0%	1.0%	
Average of Residents Surveys	19.9%	44.2%	25.9%	4.2%	3.5%	
Business Responses	11.8%	58.1%	14.5%	1.6%	8.1%	

Question Four – High Street/Market Square Improvements

Three options were developed for improvements in High Street / Market Square for the purpose of the consultation exercise, these were: -

•	Option One - a maintenance based scheme with some limited environmental improvements.

•	Option Two - Pedestrian enhancements (such as carriageway narrowing and pavement widening) with complementary measures designed to reduce through traffic (for example banning vehicle turns).

•	Option Three - Pedestrianisation between Market Square and Welch Way (with exemptions for some vehicles, e.g. buses).  

•	This element of the consultation was drawn up to allow public opinion to be obtained regarding what degree of pedestrian improvements, if any, should be pursued in the High Street and Market Square and the results can be seen in table A3 below.

Table A3 – Results of Consultation (High Street)

Question Four	No
	Option One	Option One And Two	Option Two	Option Two And Three	Option Three	None	
Self Complete Questionnaire	1014
	25%
(250)	0.1%
(1)	19%
(190)	1.9%
(19)	48%
(488)	4%
(42)	
Household Surveys	1013	21%
(213)	-
(0)	10%
(101)	-
(0)	64%
(648)	5%
(51)	
Average of Residents Surveys	2027	23%
(463)	0.1%
(1)	14.5%
(291)	1.0%
(19)	56%
(1136)	4.5%
(93)	
Business Responses	66	25.8%
(17)	3.0%
(2)	16.7%
(11)	1.5%
(1)	48.5%
(32)	4.5%
(3)	

Whilst option three was the single most popular option, in the context of the more detailed comments made (see tables A4 to A7 below) there was no overwhelming support for any one of the options as they were presented.

 Table A4 - High Street (Option One)

Comment	Self Complete Questionnaire	Household Interviews	Business
Responses	Total	
Pavements Need Widening		192		192	
Ban HGV’s		101		101	
Pavements Need Repairing		81		81	
Traffic Will Not Stick to 20mph		71		71	
Do not pedestrianise	38		9	47	
No Need To Change	42			42	
					
Want Disabled Access	19		2	21	
Detrimental Economic Effect	15		1	16	
One Way Working/System	11		1	12	
Reduce number of Taxi’s parking (Infringing parking regulations)	9		1	10	
Safer if Carriageway And Footpaths Defined	8			8	
Detrimental Environmental Effect	5		4	9	
If Pedestrianise Close To All Traffic	5			5	
Close High Street At Certain Times Only	4			4	
Stop street clutter	4			4	
Need Pelican Crossings	3			3	
Remove / Reduce Traffic Management	3			3	
Do Not Close Until Cogges and West End Link In	3			3	
Want Access For Taxis	1				
Pedestrianisation Would Reduce Parking	1		2	3	

Table A5 - High Street (Option Two)

Comment	Self Complete Questionnaire	Household Interviews	Business
Responses	Total	
Traffic Will Not Stick to 20mph	152			152	
Worried About Effects Elsewhere	7	122		129	
Cut Off High Street As Through Route		71		71	
Allow Disabled In High Street	21			21	
Option Three Would Be Detrimental	15		1	16	
One Way System	11			11	
Keep Taxis Out Of High Street	6			6	
Restrict Parking	4			4	
Remove Street Clutter	4			4	
Support Option Three With Provisos	3			3	
Allow Taxis in High Street	3			3	
Keep Buses Out Of High Street	3			3	
Monitor Effects	2			2	
If Option Three Is Chosen Ban All Traffic	2			2	
Would Like Option Three In The Future	2			2	
Allow Buses In High Street	2			2	
Build Cogges First	2			2	
Move Taxis	0			0	
 Table A6 - High Street (Option Three)

Comment	Self Complete Questionnaire	Household Interviews	Business
Responses	Total	
Option Three Is Safer		203		203	
Fully Pedestrianise	62	122	4	188	
Option Three Would Improve the Environment		152		152	
Worried About Congestion Elsewhere		71		71	
Closure of High Street to buses/Taxi’s	58			58	
Need Access For Disabled / Mobility Impaired	27			27	
One Way System	23		2	25	
Move Taxi Rank	17		3	20	
Need a Bus Station	12			12	
Close At Certain Times / Days Only	12		1	13	
Need Access for Loading / Unloading at certain times	11			11	
Disabled Parking Only 	11			11	
Need Access for Taxis	8			8	
Remove All Parking	8			8	
Improve Parking Elsewhere	3			3	
Speed Limit Needed	1			1	
Option Three Would Encourage More Cycling	1			1	
Taxi Parking Only 	1		1	2	

Table A7 - High Street (None)

Comment	Self Complete Questionnaire	Household Interviews	Business
Responses	Total	
Need access for disabled	7			7	
Ban parking in High Street	4			4	
One way system	3		1	4	
Close at certain times of the day	3			3	

Additional Comments

Respondents were also invited to make additional comments about the proposals.  Tables A8 and A9 identify the most common comments received from each of the surveys (self complete and exhibition plans, interviews and businesses) and from the comments on the exhibition plans.

Table A8 – Self Complete Surveys and Exhibition Plans

Comment	Number	
Car More Convenient Than Alternatives / No Alternatives to the Car	478	
Used Car as Public Transport Not Viable / Not Convenient or No Services	88	
Retain Free Parking	87	
Retain Current Levels / Increase Parking	85	
New / Improved Pedestrian Crossings Needed	74	
Improve Frequency / Reliability of Buses	45	

Table A9 – Business Responses

Comment	Number	
Used Car as Public Transport Not Viable / Not Convenient or No Services	18	
Needs Cogges Link	14	
Retain Current Levels / Increase Parking	11	
Need West End Link	10	
Need Car for Work	8	
Car More Convenient Than Alternatives / No Alternatives to the Car	5	
Free Parking	5	

The results of the household interview surveys were analysed slightly differently to the self complete questionnaires and the business surveys and therefore comparison of the open ended questions between the three data sets was very difficult.  For example, the household surveys considered responses by ward, gender, age and journey purpose. A copy of the analysis of the household interview survey information is therefore available upon request.