Three Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTN) in East Oxford have been made permanent on Tuesday after an 18-month trial.
It came after three other Oxford LTNs were made permanent in July last year.
The Oxfordshire County Council, which is led by a Liberal Democrat Green Alliance, agreed to keep the controversial traffic limiting scheme around Divinity Road, St. Clement’s, and St. Mary’s on Tuesday after a heated three-hour meeting which became rowdy at times.
However, traffic-blocking bollards will be replaced with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras so emergency services, taxis, bin collectors and postmen can drive through.
Defending the scheme, Andrew Gant, the Liberal Democrat cabinet member for highway management, said “going back is not realistic” because of traffic jams in the areas in pre-LTN times and said the LTN scheme is about giving people “choices and good alternatives, and try to encourage those alternatives that are better for Oxford as a city.”
A resident opposing the plan accused councillors of disregarding the “pleas and suffering” of the people and businesses “in favour of a selfish minority of idealists, adding, ”We will vote you out.”
LTNs sprang up across the country in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, with barriers, planters, bollards, or road signs stopping motor vehicles from entering an area at all times or some of the time.
The LTNs in East Oxfordshire were introduced in May 2022, followed by protests against the scheme and the removal and damaging of bollards.
The planning concept shares some of the stated aims with traffic-limiting policies, including reducing carbon emissions and improving health and safety.
Oxford County Council’s official report recommended the cabinet keep the LTNs despite the overwhelming negative feedback from the consultations.
According to the report, consultations for the three areas received similar results, with the proportions of positive feedback ranging between 32 to 34 percent and those of negative feedback ranging between 59 and 61 percent.
Supporters cited improved access and safety for cyclists and pedestrians, quieter streets and cleaner air, and a “stronger community feeling,” while opponents raised concerns such as difficulties in accessing essential locations such as schools, work, and hospitals; impacts on the elderly and people with disabilities; the pushing of traffic and pollution elsewhere; and increased travel times and costs.
Speaking first during the meeting on Tuesday, Labour city councillor Anna Railton acknowledged that the LTNs have led to delays in bus services but insisted the schemes “have delivered on most of their objectives.”
“Air pollution has improved for over 10,000 people, there’s been increases in cycling both inside and out, and there’s been big reductions in vehicle movements inside and around the scheme,” she said, adding that the scheme also reduced traffic accidents.
However, Labour councillor Mark Lygo argued the LTNs are “simply not working,” adding, “It was an experiment, and strength is knowing when to stop.”
Conservative shadow highway management chief Liam Walker said the LTNs “disrupt the very fabric of life in this area,” and caused ”more harm than good.”
Mr. Gant defended the schemes, saying people had forgotten how crowded the streets had been.
Speaking of congestions that were pushed on other roads, he said, “Do we take a large amount of that congestion and put it back where it used to be, in residential streets? My answer is an emphatic no.”
He said it’s unrealistic to remove the LTNs as “there are plenty of us here who remember what Divinity Road was like. Cars parked on both sides, cars going in both directions.”
Several members of the public spoke during the meeting.
Restaurateur Clinton Pugh, father of actress Florence Pugh, said he has “noticed a huge decline” in his businesses, with one of them “taken back” because he was behind with rent.
“I’ve lost hundreds of thousands of pounds,” he said.
“We continue to struggle, and if you go up and down the county road and St. Clement’s, you will notice that nearly 10 percent of the businesses are shut, many of them replaced by other people hoping to have a go and they will also end up closing down,” he asserted.
Mr. Pugh also claimed he had been “bullied” by the council, which he accused of refusing to engage with him.
Resident Anne Stares said she has struggled to travel to attend mass and to visit her mother in a care home, and claimed the LTNs “directly discriminate against people including the elderly, carers, women. and those seeking access to worship.”
“In a mock show of democracy, you will ratify a decision you made long ago, long before your consultations were rolled out in which any objections were ignored,” she claimed in an emotional speech.
“The people and businesses of this city will not forget your disregard of their pleas and suffering in favour of a selfish minority of idealists who whine that they want to amble in the road whilst you continue to ignore the devastation and misery you brought to this city,” she added.
Alexandra West, bursar of Magdalen College School in Oxford, told councillors the LTNs, when implemented without traffic filters, “are making traffic on the main arteries exponentially worse.”
She said they have led to pupils being late, school coach operators refusing to work with the school in the city, and people “choosing not to take jobs” at the school.
She called on the councillors to remove the LTNs at least until the traffic filters are introduced.
Ms. Railton also noted that the Labour line 18 months ago was that the LTNs should have been introduced “as close as possible to the traffic filters.”
The proposed traffic filters, if implemented, would divide Oxford into six “15-minute” neighbourhoods, according to Duncan Enright, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for travel and development strategy.
Resident Zuhura Plummer urged the council to “hang on in there,” saying it’s “generally moving in the right direction.”
“Fundamentally, we all have to swap out some car journeys to keep the city moving,” she said, adding, “and we simply do not acknowledge the downsides of private cars and the price that we all pay from the tsunami of poor health due to inactivity,” citing microplastics from tires as an example.
Last year, Oxfordshire County Council voted to make LTNs permanent at Church Cowley, Temple Cowley, and Florence Park.
Westminster is currently reviewing schemes such as LTNs, with a focus on the importance of local support.
