Planning decisions – will they listen?

Full Council meets at 4 pm on Monday 15 December to discuss a proposal that has been driven through by the Labour administration without any consultation with the public. Nor has there been any consultation with Group leaders of opposition parties or the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of area committees. The proposal is to take away the powers of the area committee members (local City councillors) to make decisions on planning applications in wards they represent. The administration and officers have also refused to let this badly-argued paper be properly examined by the main scrutiny committee.

This proposal spurns local democracy

  • You have emailed us and told us this proposal will not result in better decisions
  • You have phoned us and told us this proposal will not save money
  • You have written to us and told us this proposal will turn away local people from getting involved as active citizens
  • You have organized written and verbal statements to full Council to tell all councillors that making changes like this without engaging with the community is fundamentally wrong

But will they listen? We will know Monday night.

Bus proposals in County Plan

There seems to be some movement in the County Council’s Transform Oxford proposals on buses. More details can be found on their website but I have copied and pasted an extract below. David and I attended a meeting at County Hall last week and asked some questions about bus services for East Oxford residents that seemed to provoke some irritated comments, and it seemed to me that the public transport proposals for East Oxford are causing considerable concern and re-consideration. I wonder if there is scope in this text for bus routes to operate into Oxford City Centre from East Oxford? See what you think!

So far, we believe that there are three options for achieving a reduction in bus flow in High Street and St Aldate’s:
1.
Re-route certain services that do not necessarily need to use the High Street and St Aldate’s to other routes – for example Abingdon Road or Marston Ferry Road and Banbury Road. Because of the detours involved, this approach may only be appropriate for a limited number of services but will still help us achieve a reduction in bus flows.

2.
Use larger vehicles to serve the routes that feed into the High Street, but reduce the service frequencies – i.e. carry the same number of passengers on fewer, larger vehicles. This could mean significantly fewer vehicles not only in the city centre but throughout the routes into the city from the east.

3.
Use “normal” size buses to serve the routes that feed into the High Street but terminate those buses to the east of the High Street. There are two points where routes converge – at The Plain and at London Place. There appears to be scope at both locations to create an appropriately landscaped terminus. Travel onwards into the city centre would then be by a very high capacity, high frequency (leaving at least every five minutes) transfer bus (some vehicles are available that take almost four full “normal” bus loads) or on foot or, possibly, by a hired bike.

Options 2 or 3, probably in conjunction with option 1, could result in at least a 50% reduction in bus flows in High Street and St Aldate’s.
From a passenger’s perspective, option 1 could mean longer journey times. Option 2 means lower service frequencies but no need to interchange; option 3 maintains high frequency services but means an interchange. Making the options work well for passengers is clearly vital and that will be the focus of our work.

We will consult stakeholders and the public on these options to try to find the right balance between convenience for bus passengers and local environmental improvements.
Because of the huge amount of work involved, we are not expecting to deliver major bus reductions in High Street and St Aldate’s before 2011.

Poppies: red or white?

A festival of remembrance will be held tomorrow in St Giles at 10.45 am. This is a very important day for so many who lost members of their families in action and it will be a very moving ceremony. There will be a march past the War memorial by units from the armed forces, by scouts and guides, by the Red Cross and St John Ambulance Society and the Royal British Legion among others.

I have a real personal dilemma at this time of the year. I am profoundly saddened by the loss of life suffered in battle to preserve the freedoms of our country, and I want to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to help others.

But I fundamentally believe that security can be achieved without violence, and that all human life is of equal worth. There are many alternative ways to resolve conflicting interests, and we need to educate our generation in the ways of peace. The Lib Dems opposed the war in Iraq, and let us hope that the troops are recalled home as quickly as possible

poppydisplay1.jpg

So should I wear a white poppy or a red one? Or both? I have one of each, and I have been wearing a white poppy at work this week to support the Peace Pledge Union Yet I know that some people would be very offended if I were to attend tomorrow’s Remembrance Day service wearing a white poppy as well as a red one to commemorate those who died.

I would be interested to hear your views.


Oxford City Centre plans

We know there is a lot of interest and speculation about the County Council’s ideas to pedestrianise the centre of Oxford, and there have been a lot of hits on our previous post which summarises a briefing given to City Councillors by the County Leader and his Cabinet member for Transport

There’s been nothing tangible to report on this since then, but there is a lot of political to-ing and fro-ing behind the scenes. The chief concerns reported to us from our residents are that the east of the City would effectively be cut off from the rest under the Tory plans, and people who live in Headington and commute regularly to London are extremely concerned about the implications of the scheme for the Oxford-London bus route. David and I are speaking to the top people at both major bus companies and to bus users but cannot report back at present until more details are known.

There are also big concerns about the lack of identified cycle routes in the new scheme, but it would be fair to say that most people would ideally like to see the middle of Oxford pedestrianised, and this is something that Lib Dems would be keen to look at (and have done so many times over recent years).

Like most new ideas, some of what is suggested is worth consideration, and other parts of it appear to be unworkable. Please do contact David and me with your views; we would be interested in any alternative suggestions residents may have for maintaining the current quality of bus services between London, Headington and Oxford whilst reducing the number of buses passing through the City Centre itself.

Please press the comment button above to record your views, or by all means email David or me at:

david.rundle@oxfordlibdems.org.uk

ruth.wilkinson@oxfordlibdems.org.uk

Royal Mail doublespeak?

The 2008 Key Customer Update from Royal Mail has provoked some interest from political commentators, including Mark Pack. One passage states

Within the next 5 years, by the end of 2010, we want to have identified all significant sources of water leaks within site boundaries and taken steps to mitigate them.

and

Within the next ten years, by the end of 2015 we want to recycle all water that we use outside of normal personal use.

This seems to defy the laws of mathematics
Another phrase that I can’t quite get my head around is:

We have decided to re-phase the deployment of Walk Sequencing so as to better align all our programme activities. This will ensure the right technical, operational and deployment approaches are in place, to enable a smooth and effective migration, where the changes are embedded and sustained.

Perhaps we should encourage the wordsmiths to get out on the streets in Headington and deliver some parcels before 9.00 am?!

County Council’s city centre plans

Please click here to see the County Council’s plans to pedestrianise the centre of Oxford

I went to a briefing on this tonight. I get the impression that very few people have been consulted. This is

a vision, not a solid immutable blueprint (Keith Mitchell).

Their view of the City Centre is that there are too many buses, dirty
cluttered streets, and poor quality pavement materials

The exemplar of good practice they want to aspire to is the Castle redevelopment

They are aiming for:

  • more pedestrianisation
  • low-emission buses (trams are too expensive)
  • optical registration of bus routes
  • significantly reduced no. buses but the same no. passenger journeys
  • smartcard bus ticketing
  • cleaner streets
  • better pavement materials

The buses from East Oxford via Cowley Road/Iffley Road/St
Clements/Marston Road will turn round at the Plain – that’s the
current thinking. But they will think about extending the route for
through buses from further out if this is not possible. From St
Clements? From Gipsy Lane? From London Road roundabout? From Park
and Ride? That’s all up for debate and the bus companies will have a
big role in sorting this out. But at present they are assuming the
buses from our end of Oxford will turn round at the Plain and will not
diminish in frequency. People will then change onto buses that run through the City Centre

Buses from North Oxford will turn round at a strange new turning place by
the Ashmolean short of the Martyrs’ Memorial, councillors are concerned
this will upset St John’s College

Mr Hugh-Jones (Env/Econ) mentioned talks starting about running a bus service
between Thornhill, the hospitals, and Peartree.

A bendy bus had been superimposed on the presentation slides, it resembled an airport bus for people to stand in, with very few seats. “What about the elderly? What about
people with luggage?” we exclaimed! But the type of bus has not been decided upon yet

Ian Hudspeth and Keith Mitchell seem to think the scheme frees up the options for London buses to depart from other areas of the City. I pointed out that 25%
Tube passengers get on the coach between the Plain and London Road
roundabout, that many Headington residents have bought houses here in
order to access the London buses, and that proprietors of bed and
breakfast accommodation and hotels in Headington had acquired premises
precisely because they were on the main route to London.
I pointed out that the bus companies would be hard to persuade that
their established routes should be changed as they stood to lose a lot
of money, at least initially.

They want to pedestrianise Broad Street and pave it with high quality
materials funded from developer money! (from where? Where can they
develop Broad St.?)

They have no budget for this at present. They are interested in
getting money from the Transport Innovations Fund and they think
they’d be successful, although this would not be enough

Bus stops would move from Queen St to Castle St. and New Road

They will do an audit of cycle racks, then decide where to site new
ones. Lots of concern about the need for cycle routes – The Plain may
become a death trap for cyclists? They would like a rent-a bike scheme as in Barcelona

Phase 1 is putting a non-stopping bus lane down the middle of Queen St
with pedestrian walkways either side.

The plans for consultation are not yet firmed up, but residents will be able to give their views via the County Council. There’s a lot to sort out before plans get as far as that!

London Road – crossing signal failure

That’s it. We’ve had enough. We are organising a press call and photo shoot with the Oxford Mail regarding the power failure of the crossing lights at the Latimer Rd/Windmill Rd junction

Ruth is calling the Oxford Mail Friday morning to arrange for a photographer to take photos of elderly folk from Latimer Grange who have had extreme difficulty in accessing the shops, church, and the doctor’s surgery, along with David as City Councillor. This is the last chance for the utility company and the County Council to address this issue before it goes to the press

Calling OCH tenants and residents!

Last Wednesday and Friday mornings, I took the opportunity to work shadow our local estates manager, Adrian Stone, accompany him on a walkabout in the ward, and go with him on a series of visits to Oxford City Homes tenants and leaseholders.

He showed me how he runs off reports from his database to produce visit lists – the software automatically prioritises the frequency of visits needed to different tenants, and produces a list of the next 60 properties for him to visit. It’s important to make these visits as the information kept about tenants and leaseholders, like mobile phone nos. etc and personal circumstances, can change frequently, and it’s also a good opportunity for residents to tell him what needs repairing or updating in the property. If an elderly person is living on his/her own, then s/he will be allocated a higher priority for visits.

Councillors deal with similar types of issues so Adrian and I learned a lot from each other, things like liaising with Oxford City Works and the Crime and Nuisance Action Team. Adrian’s job includes notifying surveyors of work that needs doing like insulation and arranging for visits and quotes to be made, and ensuring that repairs are done.

David and I will be going on another walkabout in the ward at 2 p.m. on 18 September and are keen to identify areas near Oxford City Homes properties that require ‘sprucing up’ – we shall be accompanied by the officer with the appropriate budget for this. One area I’d like him to look at is an area in Mattocks Close where we’d like to have shrubs planted, and there is a stretch of uneven pavement there that needs attention. If you are an OCH tenant or leaseholder, and know of similar situations, please let us know and we’ll make sure we ‘walk about’ in a useful direction! If you see us about, stop and say hello!

National traffic statistics

untitled1.JPGThe Department for Transport’s annual road statistics have been published this month. They show that traffic has increased by 14% and that there are now 7,000 more roads since Labour came to power.

The statistics also show that HGVs have increased by 9.4% since 1997, and that 82% of them break the 50 mph speed limit on non built-up dual carriageways.

In the last fortnight, Ruth Kelly announced yet another £6bn to widen motorways.

Speaking in 1997, John Prescott said: “I will have failed if in five years’ time there are not many more people using public transport and far fewer journeys by car. It’s a tall order but I urge you to hold me to it.”

Is the Green Belt sacred?

green-belt.JPGgreen-belt.JPGgreen-belt.JPG

This is the title of an interesting article in this week’s “Total politics” magazine about the importance of the Green Belt. Some figures are quoted by the Chief Economist at Policy Exchange that are quite surprising.

Which of these would you agree with?

75% of England is developed

50% of England is developed

25% of England is developed

15% of England is developed

or less than the above?

The answer is that, although 54% of survey respondents thought half of England was developed, the real answer (including garden space in cities) is 9.8%.

Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Areas, Special Areas of Conservation, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Parks account for 55.2% of England’s land.

More than 1.6m hectares in England (12.9% of land) is classed as Green Belt.

It’s important that we discuss the issues around the Green Belt in a measured, non-emotive and rational way. Local residents are best placed to consider housing and other economic needs in our communities, not national government. We need to keep up pressure on central government to give us greater powers of decision-making in any future review of the County’s Green Belt.