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ITEM TIC8

TRANSPORT IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE - 6 DECEMBER 2002

OXFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL (OXFORD ROAD, CHIPPING NORTON) (PROHIBITION AND RESTRICTION OF WAITING) ORDER 200*

Report by Director of Environmental Services

1. The report considers comments received during the formal consultation on the proposals.

Background

2. Chipping Norton is a thriving market town and over recent years environmental improvements have been made to the town centre area. This has led to a small reduction in the amount of car parking in this area.
3. Although Chipping Norton has a good provision for car parking, like many small towns these car parks are generally well used and spaces are sometimes hard to find.
4. One of the main concerns in Chipping Norton is the lack of parking for residents in the older parts of the town who do not have the facility to park off street and these proposals have arisen predominantly from requests received from residents of Chipping Norton and the Town Council.
5. The proposed restrictions will have the effect of freeing up space on the carriageway to provide small areas for residents of these older style properties to park during the evening and weekends.
6. The other reason for the proposals is to eliminate parking in certain areas, which is currently causing obstruction and concern for some emergency service vehicles and for household waste collection vehicles.

Consultation

7. The initial consultation took the form of a walk around the Town with members of the Town Council, District Council, Thames Valley Police and Environmental Services staff highlighting the problem areas. Subsequent site visits have also been held with representatives from Thames Valley Police and the Town Council.
8. A Public Notice appeared in the Oxford Times on 27 September 2002 and street notices were erected at strategic points throughout the proposal area.
9. During the consultation period only one letter has been received from Thames Valley Police Traffic Management Unit indicating that they had no objections to the proposals.
10. During the consultation period representations were received from three members of the public suggesting minor amendments to the proposals. They are detailed in Annex 1.

Environmental Implications

11. The restrictions will have the effect of providing on street parking for local residents and where this parking takes place the parked cars will act as informal traffic calming making the environment safer for all road users.
12. Some inconvenience may be experienced by some residents where more stringent restrictions are being proposed and some displacement of parking may occur, however, it is felt that this will be minimal.

Financial and Staff Implications

13. The introduction of these waiting restrictions will, if approved cost approximately £5000 and will be funded from the Environmental Services Local Safety Schemes budget with a contribution from Chipping Norton Town Council.
14. Much of the earlier consultation work has involved input in the form of officer time discussing the proposals with Thames Valley Police and other bodies however this time has been minimal.
15. The preparation of the draft Order has been carried out by Environmental Services Northern Area staff as part of their normal duties.

Conclusion

16. It is not considered that the suggested amendments amount to a substantial change, which would require the proposals to be readvertised.

DAVID YOUNG
Director of Environmental Services

Background papers: Nil

Contact Officer: Paul Wilson, Area Traffic Engineer, Bicester Tel: 01869 241144

November 2002