Issue - meetings

This Cabinet meeting will be held virtually in order to conform with current guidelines regarding social distancing. Normally requests to speak at this public meeting are required by 9 am on the day preceding the published date of the meeting. However, during the current situation and to facilitate these new arrangements we are asking that requests to speak are submitted by no later than 9am four working days before the meeting i.e. 9 am on 20 May 2020. Requests to speak should be sent to sue.whitehead@oxfordshire.gov.uk together with a written statement of your presentation to ensure that if the technology fails then your views can still be taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9 am 2 working days before the meeting.

Where a meeting is held virtually and the addressee is unable to participate virtually their written submission will be accepted

.

Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

The Chairman had agreed the following requests to speak:

The Chairman had agreed the following requests to speak:

Ms McAllister, Jericho Connections submitted a petition with 671 electronic signatures and a further 252 paper signatures, requesting that Oxfordshire County Council carries out due diligence by re-opening Walton Street for 6 months whilst baseline data is collected prior to a formal consultation. Ms McAllister commented that Jericho Connections did not disagree with the aims of the Council to improve air quality, improve conditions for cyclists and pedestrians, and to reduce congestion and rat-running. However, they disagreed with the way in which OCC had gone about shutting Walton Street. They believed that baseline data had not been collected prior to the closure to provide comparison and that the closure failed to address the stated aims.

Councillor Pressel, local councillor for Jericho & Osney, spoke on the closure to Walton Street. Whilst recognising the difficulties experienced by local traders and the inconvenience to some local residents commented that most local people were delighted by the improvement to air quality and the quieter streets. Councillor Pressel hoped that officers would work with local people to make Walton Street a “Low Traffic Neighbourhood”. She noted that in other areas outside Oxfordshire this had led to footfall in local businesses going up and vacancies in retail premises falling. The measures to ease congestion for cyclists were particularly important at the current time in view of the need for social distancing but were also essential for the safety of local residents going forward.

RESOLVED:  The petition was received and referred to the Director Community Operations for response.