Category: Uncategorised

CONTROLLED PARKING ZONE IN COWLEY

COWLEY AREA PROPOSED CONTROLLED PARKING ZONE: SUBMISSION TO CONSULTATION (12TH November 2020)

This is the submission of the Cowley Area Transport Group to the above consultation.

We support the principle of a Controlled Parking Zone throughout all the roads specified. We feel that this in the best interests of the community due to car parking by non residents, and the significant impact of rising numbers of delivery vehicles due to the continuing growth of online shopping. We support the City and Council policy of having CPZs in all residential areas in Oxford. This is also necessitated by the greenfield housing targets of the City Council and neighbouring councils, which are likely to lead to more people trying to commute into Oxford for work – from fringe of Oxford urban extensions and proximate planned housing developments with tens of thousands of homes suggested. The efforts by drivers to avoid paying for parking in the multistorey car parking spaces available at Templars Square in Crowley are reflected in parking problems already. Put this is part of a wider problem of drivers avoiding use of Park and Ride sites in favour of trying to park within Oxford’s residential areas in general. The Controlled Parking Zone covering the Lye Valley estate certainly reduced on-street parking by non-resident vehicles in Peat Moors and in the western part of Bulan Road.

We do have some concerns give the lack of clarity in the maps associated with this consultation:

  1. The map seems to suggest double yellow lines on one side of Barns Road only, and this seems to be on the southerly side which has a cycle track subject to blocking by errant drivers parking their cars across it. If double yellow lines are intended only for this side, then the cycle track must be widened and will require frequent observation to ensure it is not parked on. We also want this cycle track to be made two way, with car parking provision only on the other side of Barns Road and kept to a minimum. Clearly, the issue of delivery vehicles and double yellow lines where they should not park is becoming an irritant in some areas and the relevant authorities may wish to consider whether a Code of Conduct for delivery vehicles is needed to deter illegal parking.
  2. We accept the need for the suggested extension of double yellow lines to prevent parking particularly on corners and across driveways. We can see this is more likely to be a sensitive issue in the Cleveland-St.Omers-Gerard Place area as road space is tight. It seems very likely that residents in this particular area may need some direct door to door consultation on this matter.

COWLEY AREA TRANSPORT GROUP – www.catg.org.uk

Hazel and Steve Dawe – 53 Bulan Road Oxford OX3 7HU – 07747 036192

Delaying Bus Gates is the wrong decision

Letter to Oxford Mail/Times

Dear Editor

I have to respectfully disagree with the Oxfordshire County Council Cabinet regarding the bus gates in Oxford (Oxford Mail 14 October). They claim now is the wrong time for bus gates. Now is exactly the right time for traffic reduction measures of any kind. Oxford’s roads are clogged with traffic levels greater than pre-Covid creating a dangerous situation. We need urgent action to reduce traffic, not even more prevarication.

The bus gates were backed by a majority of respondents to the council’s consultation, 50%. Only 42% were opposed. Why then did the cabinet back down? Connecting Oxford with more bus gates has already been consulted on. Connecting Oxford Plus, an expanded plan, has the backing of many Oxford residents and is the result of a lot of hard work by volunteers.

The problem will be made even worse by the tens of thousands of homes planned for Oxford’s Green Belt and nearby areas increasing car numbers and therefore traffic in Oxford. The County Council needs to promptly reduce traffic coming into Oxford, encouraging walking, cycling, bus, rail and deliveries when appropriate.

Please could the County stop dithering and finally take real action on traffic reduction.

 

Yours faithfully

Hazel Dawe

COWLEY AREA TRANSPORT GROUP – www.catg.org.uk

 

 

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods: far more needed in Oxford

To: letters@OxfordMail.co.uk

From: Hazel and Steve Dawe, Cowley Area Transport Group – www.catg.org.uk

26th July 2020

53 Bulan Road Oxford OX3 7HU – 07747 036192

Dear Editor,

Danny Yee’s On Yer Bike column (Oxford Mail 21/7) is a clear message about how new Low Traffic Neighbourhoods can be implemented all over the City. The Coronavirus crisis has created extraordinary boosts in support for walking and cycling measures so that we need not go back to normal traffic congestion, air pollution and noise. A recent survey showed 77% of people in favour of more initiatives to support more walking and cycling(1).

Danny Yee also mentions places in Oxford where Low Traffic Neighbourhood-type initiatives have already been taken, indicating that this is not a novel idea. Additional existing schemes include speed bumps placed decades ago in Bulan Road where we live; or the raised platforms on Magdalen Road; or the speed bumps on Barton Lane. So new Low Traffic Neighbourhoods when created are a continuation of decades of traffic management in Oxford. So why are they particularly needed now?

First, the tens of thousands of houses planned around the fringes of Oxford will generate far more car journeys into the City, thanks to the ill-judged Oxford City Plan and its implications for neighbouring council areas. Therefore, we need a variety of initiatives to prevent traffic increases. Second, even without these houses, traffic in Oxford has been increasing substantially during the last decade(2). Thirdly, we cannot cut air pollution or carbon emissions unless traffic is cut significantly as the roll out of low emissions vehicles has been very slow indeed(3). Fourth, health promotion needs a major boost to reduce pressures on the NHS, so more funding to encouraging walking and cycling is essential.

So, with public support for encouraging walking and cycling at such high levels, we need more strenuous efforts from our local councils.

Yours sincerely

Hazel and Steve Dawe – COWLEY AREA TRANSPORT GROUP

Notes:

  1. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jul/23/uk-plans-to-boost-cycling-and-walking-under-threat-from-loud-minority
  2. See for example: https://www.roadtraffic-technology.com/news/newsoxford-reports-biggest-increase-in-traffic-congestion-in-uk/ & https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17876542.councils-say-work-must-done-oxford-ring-road-prevent-traffic/
  3. Electric vehicles in the UK had reached about 300,000 by April 2020 – https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17876542.councils-say-work-must-done-oxford-ring-road-prevent-traffic/ This is against the background of 38.3 registered vehicles in the UK by end March 2020: https://www.racfoundation.org/motoring-faqs/mobility#a1