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CABINET MEMBER FOR TRANSPORT – 26 MARCH 2009
ADDENDA
1. Petitions
and Public Address
Speaker
|
Item |
Hugh Jaeger, Bus Users UK |
4. Oxford City Centre Low Emission Zone |
Mrs Seedhouse, Hayes Close
Mrs Beryl Potter, Hayes Close
Mr David Porter, Hayes Close |
)
) Marston South CPZ
) |
Councillor Roz Smith (Shadow
Cabinet Member)
4. Oxford
City Centre Low Emission Zone
Additional Representations
Dilwyn Vaughan Roberts,
Operations & Marketing Director, RH Transport Service
“In view of your meeting regarding making Oxford City Centre LEZ
euro 5 proposal it might be an idea to survey the possibilities
for all the London/Airports and other inter city services not to
operate to/from Oxford City Centre as the users of these
services come from all corners of the county,there is or could be
sufficient Park & Ride services from the city centre available to
serve a new inter city bus station on the outskirts of Oxford(next to Thornhill
P&R) and as a result Gloucester Green could be freed up and adapted
for local services,this method would eliminate a large volume of
buses from the city centre and therefore assist with the levels of emissions.
Gloucester Green would also serve as a solution to the public transport
issues in Queen Street and possibly other Streets in the city centre, local
bus services would have a bus station sensibly located to serve
routes heading North and South out of the city.
LEZ euro 5 is a very good way forward and
should be a rewarding health and environmental
friendly move benefiting residents and other users of the city
centre, but please consider a minimum time of approx 4 years for operators
to convert vehicles as this will be a very costly operation.”
Additional recommendation
(iii) carry out a detailed assessment of the impact of the
proposed LEZ on low frequency bus services, particularly subsidised services or
services whose commercial viability is uncertain but where it is important to
retain a service for residents.
8E Bus Service Subsidies
Additional Representations
David Dare, parish Councillor, Lower Heyford Parish
Council
“I write on
behalf of Lower Heyford Parish Council with the authorisation of its Chair, Mrs
Robin Hepworth, to act on her behalf .
It has come to our attention that you may
be attending a meeting on 26th March 2009 at which a proposal will be put
forward for OCC to financially assist the introduction of a Sunday bus service
along Route 59 between Oxford and Banbury.
Bus route 59 paralells the existing
summer Sunday rail service between Oxford and Banbury through the Cherwell
Valley that has been hard fought-for and financially supported by the Parish
Councils of Tackley and Lower Heyford, and by Cherwell District Council for the
last four years. An excellent working relationship and award-winning Partnership
exists between these councils, British Waterways, Oxfordshire Narrowboats, and
the train operator that has seen the service transformed into an
almost break-even operation, but one that must perform successfully
in 2009. This situation has been driven both by inbound tourism (leisure
walkers, cyclists, sightseers etc) and by outbound local patronage -
primarily to Oxford and Banbury. The train service has had no direct
financial subsidy at any point from OCC, despite previous requests from the
Partnership.
Lower Heyford Parish Council is deeply
concerned that the potential (subsidised) provision of a Sunday bus service
will jeopardise the Sunday train service that we have all worked so hard for,
and would ask you to seriously consider your support for such a venture. We
contend that it would be only fair that (at the very least) any such subsidy be
evenly split between the bus and train services and that timings of each are
planned so as not to directly compete with one another. (Train times for
summer 2009 are already set as required by Network Rail). We beleive that
OCC funds would be much more expeditiously spent supporting an existing
transport link rather than potentially diluting the viability of it by
introduction of a competitor bus service.
Should the Sunday train service fail to
prove profitable this year, First Great Western have made clear that the
service will not operate thereafter. Should the service prove profitable FGW
have undertaken to petition DfT to write such provision into the Franchise for
FGW.
We trust that you are now fully appraised
of the importance of the Sunday train service to the Cherwell Valley villages and that we can rely upon you to come to a decision that is proportionate and
fair to those in the Valley who have worked so hard to reach the position we
are in today. At the very least we ask that you support the delay of any
decision until a proper consultation time is allowed for the local communities
to be involved.”
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