Consultation on City Centre traffic proposals (including no buses in Queen Street)

 

The  proposed Traffic Regulation Orders for the County’s latest proposals have been advertised in the Oxford Times today; Thursday 25th May 2017, and are also available on the Council’s consultation pages below.

Click here to view the revised proposals and have your say.

Oxfordshire County Council consulted during 2016 on proposals to remove the buses from Queen Street and various related changes in the city centre. A number of comments and objections were received in response, so the county council has now developed revised proposals which seek to address the feedback it received in the previous consultations.

The revised proposals being put forward consist of two elements:

  1. Experimental closure of Queen Street to buses, taxis, and private hire vehicles, for a period of 18 months from October 2017
  1. Permanent public transport infrastructure, pedestrian, cycle and traffic management improvements in the city centre.  These improvements would remain in place whether or not Queen Street remains closed after the 18 month experimental period.

This consultation is primarily about the permanent changes and the associated Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) that are required to implement them. However, comments are also invited on the proposals for the experimental Queen Street closure, but note that you will also be able to comment on the closure at any time during the first six months of the experimental period, starting in October 2017.  Comments received during this time, along with other evidence gathered, will be considered by the council before a decision is made on whether or not to make the experimental closure permanent, this will occur at the Council’s Cabinet meeting on the 18 July 2017.

Arrangements can also be made so that you can view the proposals in person at: County Hall, New Road, Oxford, OX1 1ND, between 9am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday.

Please note that the deadline for responses is 23 June 2017

Ruth is working on a response to these proposals on behalf of City Lib Dem Group. Please copy her into any comments you may have. The bus companies are not happy with some of the proposals and the removal of buses from Queen Street is of particular concern for public transport users.

Gridlock in Headington

 

There was traffic chaos in Headington this morning when Thames Water did not move off site by the time agreed with the County Council.

Permission had been given by the County Council’s street works supervisor for planned work to go ahead to install a new water supply to a flat above the shops in London Road (and install pipework for a second) so long as working time was between 7pm and 6am.

Thames Water arranged for a grab lorry to take away the spoil at 2am, but an emergency cropped up and the grab lorry was sent to another location instead.

The street works supervisor became aware of the problem when he started work at 5:45 and saw it on the cameras, and chased Thames Water. It was clear there were no Thames Water staff on site dealing with the problem, and it’s rumoured that traffic was backed up as far as the M40.

The County Council has made it clear to Thames Water that London Road must be clear by 6am (likely 4am) tomorrow morning otherwise a stop notice may be put on further work.

Apparently Thames Water is paid to put in new water supply connections by the developer.

Councillors will check this doesn’t re-occur tomorrow.

If anyone wishes to complain, we advise you to contact Thames Water Customer Services at customer.feedback@thameswater.co.uk

We are satisfied that the County Council had been given assurances that London Road would not be affected during the daytime. It appears that there was no second grab lorry available for Thames Water to clear the site.

 

Events in Oxford over the Bank Holiday weekend

Upcoming events

  • Friday 19 May, Charles I Entry into Oxford Parade (part of Ashmolean’s Live Friday Nights), Broad Street to the Ashmolean, from 6.30 pm. Celebrate with Elias Ashmole, founder of the Ashmolean Museum, as well as King Charles I and a parade of Civil War Cavaliers & Courtesans. http://www.ashmolean.org/
  • Friday 19 and Saturday 20 May, Stand for Freedom, Bonn Square, 3 to 9 pm (Fri) & 9 am to 3 pm (Sat). Aware raising demonstration with the goal of increasing public understanding of the extent of modern day slavery. https://www.justloveuk.com/oxford.html
  • Saturday 20 May, Dementia Oxfordshire Raising Awareness Walk, Florence Park, 11 am to 3 pm. Service users and their families are invited to walk together to raise awareness and fundraise. www.dementiaoxfordshire.org.uk
  • Saturday 20 May, 8th Oxford Summer Mela, Rose Hill, 11 am to 5 pm. Oxford Mela is a celebration of dance, song, food, fashion and activities for the whole community.http://www.oxfordhindutemple.org/
  • Monday 22 and 29 May, Sri Chinmoy Races, Cutteslowe Park, 7 to 7.30 pm. Self Transcendence race series held every summer in Cutteslowe Park.https://uk.srichinmoyraces.org/races/oxford
  • Friday 26 – Monday 29 May, Hebborn’s Fun Fair, Blackbird Leys Park, 1 to 10 pm. Family Fun Fair including games, rides and entertainment. www.hebbornamusements.co.uk
  • Saturday 27 May, Bonn Week Bürgerfest, Broad Street, 12 to 4 pm. Celebration of 70 years of friendship between the twin cities Oxford and Bonn with performances, food and drink and family activities.  https://www.oxford.gov.uk/bonnweek2017
  • Sunday 27 May, The Oxford Singers busk for Cancer Research UK, Bonn Square, 10 am to 5 pm. Acapella singing and charity collection. www.oxfordsingers.org
  • Saturday 27 May, Saturday Series Orienteering Event, Cutteslowe Park, 10 am to 2 pm. Small scale orienteering event by the Thames Valley Orienteering Club specifically aimed to attract newcomers to the sport. http://www.tvoc.org.uk/index.php
  • Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 May, Common People Festival, South Park, 10 am to 11 pm. Common People is back in South Park with a great line-up and the best from the local music scene. www.oxford.commonpeople.net
  • Wednesday 31 May, World No Tobacco Day, Bonn Square, 10 am to 4 pm. World No Tobacco Day is a global Stop Smoking Campaign to encourage those who consume tobacco in any form, to refrain from doing so for at least 24 hours.http://www.solutions4health.co.uk/
  • Wednesday 31 May, Wild Park and Gardens, Hinksey Park, 11 am to 3 pm. Find out what you can do for local wildlife conservation. www.bbowt.org.uk

Up and coming events in Oxford

  • Thursday 11 May, Mental Health Awareness Week, Bonn Square, 10am to 3pm. Oxford City Council and partners from Public Health, Aspire, Restore and OxSPA are coming together to promote Mental Health Awareness Week. www.oxford.gov.uk
  • Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 May, British Heart Foundation London to Oxford Trek, finishing at Oxpens Meadow, 2pm (Sat) to 4pm (Sun). From the Capital to the historic university city of Oxford, heart trekkers can walk 100 km through the day and through the night. www.bhf.org.uk
  • Saturday 13 May, OxHoli 2017, Cowley Marsh, 12pm to 4pm. Celebration of the Indian festival of colours, organised by the Oxford University Hindu Society. www.facebook.com/groups/2202237652
  • Sunday 14 May, Town & Gown, route through the city centre finishing at University Parks, 8am to 12pm. Annual 10k charity road race through Oxford City Centre. www.musculardystrophyuk.org
  • Sunday 14 May, Jewish Culture Fair, Broad Street, 2pm to 6pm. Event celebrating Jewish culture including music, art, food, history display and crafts.www.oxfordchabad.org
  • Friday 19 May, Charles I Entry into Oxford Parade (part of Ashmolean’s Live Friday Nights), Broad Street to the Ashmolean, from 6.30pm. Celebrate with Elias Ashmole, founder of the Ashmolean Museum, as well as King Charles I and a parade of Civil War Cavaliers and Courtesans. www.ashmolean.org
  • Friday 19 and Saturday 20 May, Stand for Freedom,Bonn Square, 3pm to 9pm (Fri) and 9am to 3pm (Sat). Aware raising demonstration with the goal of increasing public understanding of the extent of modern day slavery. www.justloveuk.com/oxford.html

Headington Lib Dems support the Migrants Welcome campaign

Lib Dem general election candidate Kirsten Johnson joins the team to support the One Day Without Us campaign (2nd from left)

There will be an exhibition of photos by Fran Monks showing gratitude to migrants living in Oxford. The idea is to show that Oxford is a city which welcomes immigrants by photographing British born people with people who were born overseas to whom they are grateful. The gratitude can be for anything, big or small, and the photos will be exhibited outside the SAID Business School as part of the Oxford Festival of the Arts all summer.

 

Fran has taken a photograph of Ruth and Altaf – we have seen a copy already but are keeping it secret until the Festival starts on 24 June!

Roz is re-elected with a greatly increased majority

 

Roz re-elected! Photo courtesy Oxford Mail

Congratulations to County Councillor Roz Smith on her re-election with 55% vote share last Thursday. She increased her majority over Labour from 31 votes in 2013 to 892 in 2017. Altaf and Ruth are delighted that Roz continues as a valued member of the Headington Lib Dem team and we look forward to lots more work ahead of us in the coming year.

You can find the full set of County Council election results here

Ruth comments: “Oxfordshire Lib Dems did well in the local elections, getting increased vote shares in every council division compared with 2013. We  gained two extra seats as well as retaining those we already held, and achieved some very good second places too. It’s important to have effective opposition parties for better decision-making at County Hall.

“We are waiting to find out who will make important decisions on the Access to Headington scheme and the 20MPH consultation in Windmill Road, as Cllr Nimmo-Smith lost his seat and the Conservatives are short of an overall majority;  there are a lot of negotiations going on at time of writing.”

 

 

Two buildings proposed for Old Road Campus site

The University of Oxford has sent out the following letter to residents:

You will recall previous consultation exercises relating to developments being undertaken at the Old Road Campus site. The University is now looking to submit an application for the provision of two small specialist waste storage facilities at the site. The application will also propose improved ground works and landscaping. 

The two buildings will comprise a total of 40 square metres and will be located to the north of the Henry Wellcome Centre on the northern part of the Campus. The buildings will sit immediately adjacent to the side of the Henry Wellcome Centre and will be constructed of profiled metal in a grey colour to tie in with the adjacent buildings. Landscaping will sit to the east of the buildings and minor ground works are required to provide a level surface for the siting of the building and to enable level access.

The proposed buildings will replace the existing facility on site and provide an improved waste storage facility for the users. The facility will be used to store packaging waste associated with materials used within the buildings on site and will be emptied by specialist waste contractors who are appropriately licensed. 

Surface water drainage from the building will be dealt with by the existing road network drainage and the sealed nature of the building will ensure that no waste water will enter the surface water drainage system.

This letter is to inform you of the application submission and to invite you to view the plans for the proposed development on Oxford City Council’s website. Once the application is registered there will be a consultation period of 21 days during which you will have the opportunity to submit any comments to the Council.

Should you have any questions in the meantime, you can contact us via public.consultation@admin.ox.ac.uk.

Bridge and road closures in London 29-30 July

On Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 July, as part of a weekend of Prudential RideLondon cycling events, certain roads in east, west, central and southwest London and Surrey will be closed to traffic.

There will be bridge and road closures from early morning on both days. Road users are advised to plan journeys well in advance. Many bus routes will be on diversion or will stop short of their normal destination. Stations along the route may get busy at certain times. More information will be on our website closer to the time.

For the most up to date information, please visit tfl.gov.uk/ridelondon