A large number of residents who live south of London Road have contacted us about the newspaper stories concerning planned road closures in Lime Walk and Latimer Road. We have been looking into this and have written to all residents with an update. Here’s the text: 

We were as surprised as many of you to hear from the press that it had been decided to close Lime Walk and Latimer Road for a trial period of a month. The press story has created a lot of controversy and we have been investigating exactly what has been decided. Here are the facts:

 

• There has been no decision made to close any roads.
• Highfield Residents Association has, for a long time, been rightly raising the traffic problems in the Lime Walk / Stapleton / Bickerton Rd area. One of their suggestions, among many, has been to close Lime Walk and Latimer Rd.
• The County has agreed to look at the feasibility of trial closures but made no commitment to do them. There is no timescale or detailed plan for them.

 

We have talked to residents regularly and know that some of you are keen to see road closures and others are dead-set against them. Whatever your view, you have all been let down by the way the press was persuaded to run with an inaccurate story. It has only served to heighten both expectations and alarm.

 

But we need to look ahead and consider what are the next steps. Our position, as your local councillors, is clear: road closures should not be the only proposal on the table. And any proposal must go to proper consultation with all affected residents between London Road and Old Road.

 

There is, of course, a danger that a trial closure could prove a dead-end. The County could judge the experiment a failure. If no other proposals were on the table, Highfield area would be left back at stage one, with no answer to the real problems residents endure. The solution that will work is one which helps Highfield but does not put extra strain on Windmill Road, which is already congested, or on smaller residential roads. We are committed to working with you to find that solution and get it put in place.

We have also been in contact with the traffic group of Highfield Residents Association to discuss with them their meeting with the County and how best to get a result which works for all of Headington. This is, of course, a big issue that won’t be decided with one news story: we’ll be here to carry on working with all residents on the very real traffic problems in our area.