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ITEM TIC3

TRANSPORT IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE – 8 JUNE 2006

Minutes of the Meeting commencing at 10.00 am and finishing at 10.35 am

Present:

Voting Members:

Councillor David Robertson - in the chair

Councillor Roger Belson

Other Members in Attendance:

Councillor Bob Johnston (for Agenda Item 6)
Councillor Jean Fooks (for Agenda Item 6)
Councillor Anne Purse (for Agenda Item 10)

Officers:

Whole of meeting: G. Warrington (Chief Executive’s Office); R. Dix, D. Seroczynski; S.

Tharme, N. Newson, A. Vidovic, D. Deriaz.

The Committee considered the matters, reports and recommendations contained or referred to in the agenda for the meeting, together with a schedule of addenda tabled at the meeting, and decided as set out below. Except insofar as otherwise specified, the reasons for the decisions are contained in the agenda, reports and schedule, copies of which are attached to the signed Minutes.

26/06 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 27 April 2006 were approved andsigned.

27/06 PETITIONS AND PUBLIC ADDRESS

The following request to address the meeting had been agreed:-

Request from	Agenda Item
Graham Jones (ROX)	) 6. Pilot Parking Charges Oxford City Centre On-Street Parking ) 8. Expansion of Oxford’s Park & Ride Facilities ) 9. Oxford, City Centre Cycle Parking Measures

28/06 BICESTER, RESIDENTS PARKING AGENCY AGREEMENT

(Agenda Item 5)

The Committee considered a report (TIC5) which set out a request from Cherwell District Council for an Agency Agreement to introduce residents parking in Bicester. Mr Dix confirmed that Cherwell District Council intended to introduce charges in respect of this scheme in order to conform to County Council policy that all resident parking schemes should be self-financing.

RESOLVED: to approve the request from Cherwell District Council for an Agency agreement to introduce and administer a residents parking scheme in Bicester.

29/06 PILOT PARKING CHARGES OXFORD CITY CENTRE ON-STREET PARKING

(Agenda Item 6)

On 22 June 2005 the Cabinet had agreed as part of its manifesto pledges that charges for parking at on-street locations in Oxford City Centre in the evenings Monday to Saturday and all day on Sunday should be removed for a trial period. That period had been implemented on the 1 December 2005 for 6 months and the Committee now considered a report (TIC6) which set out the results of surveys undertaken to monitor the effects on traffic volume and parking behaviour. The Committee also had before it the advice from a panel of members of the Environment & Economy Scrutiny Committee as set out in the addenda sheet. Mr Jones expressed support for the recommendations on behalf of ROX and the local business community.

Councillor Fooks speaking as the City Council’s Cleaner City Portfolio Holder expressed concern at the lack of consultation with the City Council. The tenor of the report seemed to suggest that the proposal had had no effect and yet pollution levels in the City remained high.

She suggested that charges be reintroduced in the evenings and the proposal as a whole reconsidered after further consultation with the City Council.

Councillor Johnston could not support the proposal and expressed concern that the County Council seemed to be sending out mixed messages with regard to traffic policy.

Councillor Robertson felt that the exercise had been a success as borne out by the results of public surveys and advised that the County Council was in consultation with the City Council on the whole aspect of parking in the City.

RESOLVED: to continue to:

(a) permit free parking Monday to Saturday between 6.30pm and 8am;

(b) permit free parking all day Sunday restricted to 2 hours maximum.

30/06 PARKING CHARGES OXFORD CITY CENTRE ON-STREET PARKING

(Agenda Item 7)

Item withdrawn for reconsideration at the 20 July meeting of the Committee.

31/06 EXPANSION OF OXFORD’S PARK & RIDE FACILITIES

(Agenda Item 8)

The Committee considered a report (TIC8) which set out some of the background issues to meeting the expected rise in demand for Park & Ride space.

Mr Jones recognized the possible need for more remote park & ride sites but expressed reservations whether a park & ride system would in fact provide a real choice for visitors to the City particularly as a result of an expansion of retail facilities following the West End development and the potential redevelopment of the Westgate Centre.

RESOLVED to:

(a) note the strategy for reviewing the case for expansion of Park & Ride capacity;

(b) authorise officers to develop options and undertake informal consultation before reporting back to Committee seeking authority to submit any planning applications.

32/06 OXFORD, CITY CENTRE CYCLE PARKING MEASURES

(Agenda Item 9)

The Committee considered a report (TIC9) which set out and considered the results of a public consultation carried out on planned new cycle parking facilities in Oxford.

Mr Jones expressed general support for the proposals but stressed the need to avoid cluttering City Centre streets and for extra vigilance to remove bicycles, which had been irresponsibly parked.

Councillor Robertson expressed his thanks to officers for their work in bringing these measures forward.

RESOLVED: to approve the implementation of 108 new cycle parking spaces as listed at Annex 2 to the report.

33/06 WHEATLEY TRAFFIC CALMING PHASE 2B: LONDON ROAD (BETWEEN THE TWO OLD LONDON ROAD JUNCTIONS

(Agenda Item 10)

The Committee considered a report (TIC10) on the need for traffic calming and environmental improvements in London Road.

Mr Deriaz advised that Wheatley Parish Council had now confirmed its support for the proposals. He also reported the receipt of two further emails. The first from Gwendolen Birks (Wheatley Parish Council) had confirmed the decision of the Parish Council as stated above but also referred to the need to address the issue of through traffic through Wheatley. The second from Arriva the Shires had advised that although the Company were willing to accept Option B they continued to express reservations regarding ramps along this length of road particularly as this bus route had now been designated a premium bus route with increased services. He advised that the proposed ramps would be less severe than those introduced on the Cowley Road and as no complaints had been received from bus operators on those routes he was confident that that would be the case in Wheatley. With regard to paragraph 14 he advised that no objections had been received regarding the resiting of the zebra crossing near the junction with the Avenue

Councillor Purse expressed support for the scheme.

RESOLVED: to authorise implementation of the recommended scheme, as described in the report TIC10 and shown on drawing No 0014190/B4505, subject to authorising the Head of Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport to resolve any concerns orcomments which might result from the Road Safety Audit process.

.......................................................................................... in the Chair

Date of signing............................................................................ 2006

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