Oxford: East Oxford LTNs - Traffic Restrictions & ANPR Enforcement

This consultation is now closed.

Our cabinet decided at a meeting on 17 October that the east Oxford LTNs would remain in place, with some changes, after their trial ended..

Cabinet members considered a wide range of information when making their decision, including reports from public consultations, monitoring and evaluation reports which investigated traffic levels, transport habits and air quality, and submissions from speakers at the meeting. They also considered how the LTNs aligned with transport and overall council policy.

We received 2,130 survey responses to this consultation (2,086 online and 44 paper responses) and 139 submissions by email.  The analysis of all the responses was undertaken by an independent company and their report was considered by the cabinet when making their decision. Their report can be viewed here.

All the background documents that supported this decision are available to read on our additional cabinet paper documents webpage and the meeting recording can be watched on our cabinet paper page.

Legal orders

Following the cabinet decision, the traffic order(s) relating to the scheme have recently been ‘made’ – meaning they have, or soon will, become legally enforceable subject to appropriate signs and lines being in place (works at some locations may not yet to be completed).

Please see the 'East Oxford LTNs made' public notice in the right hand column for further information, which includes definitive dates.

If you would like a copy of the full legal Traffic Regulation Orders email eastoxfordltn@oxfordshire.gov.uk or visit https://letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/made_tro.

If you completed this consultation and asked to be kept up to date, you may have received an email from us updating you on these legal orders. You do not need to do anything, but if you do have a question, please note that we may not be able to respond directly to all questions or queries raised in reply to this email. We will provide copies of the paperwork in the format requested should this be required. Should you have comments you wish to share on the scheme in general, these will be logged towards ongoing monitoring. All personal details will be kept confidential in accordance with Oxfordshire County Council’s privacy policy (easy read pdf).

Next steps

Further details about when we will be implementing these changes will be published shortly on the East Oxford low traffic neighbourhoods project page on our website.

*This consultation has now ended and the survey is closed*

Thank you for visiting our consultation page. We are asking for people’s views on proposed changes to the east Oxford low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), and for feedback on the impact of the LTNs since new bollards were introduced in March. Any changes made will be subject to a decision on whether to continue with the east Oxford LTNs, expected in October this year.

The survey is open from 12 noon on Monday 5 June and your response should be completed by 5pm on Thursday 20 July 2023.

note: There are six traffic regulation orders (TROs) associated with this consultation, these are the legal documents that cover the restrictions. They have now been made available on this site as the proposals have formally been published in the local press on Thursday 8 June.

Background

Low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) are areas where motorised traffic is prevented from taking shortcuts through a residential area. LTNs are part of the county council’s local transport and connectivity plan and are intended to make residential streets safer and more comfortable for walking, wheeling, and cycling. As part of the central Oxfordshire travel plan, they are designed to work together with other measures to reduce congestion and improve air quality.

The council introduced three LTNs in the Divinity Road, St Clement’s, and St Mary’s areas of east Oxford in May 2022, on an experimental basis. Since the trial began, frequent vandalism has prevented a thorough impact assessment, because bollards were often missing. In March 2023, new bollards were introduced.

The council has also been gathering and analysing the first years’ worth of feedback to understand the trial’s impact and to help inform future decision making. We have listened to this feedback, and we are proposing some changes which could be introduced only if the council decides to continue with the LTNs.

This consultation is an opportunity for people to:

1. comment on the east Oxford LTN area, as a whole now that the bollards have been replaced
2. highlight the impact of the proposed changes
3. and to raise any further changes.

Feedback from this consultation will form part of what is considered when a decision is made on the trial as well as all previous consultation comments.

A six week traffic regulation order (TRO) consultation is the best way for us to gather this feedback before the end of the east Oxford LTNs trial in November. It also enables us to introduce changes to the scheme, which could not be made as part of the experimental traffic regulation order process due to time constraints.

Supporting information

There is more information about this consultation in the Frequently Asked Questions.

You can also download a report from a previous six-month consultation, a short monitoring and evaluation report, and other supporting documents to help inform your survey response.

The proposed changes are laid out below and you can download and view detailed location maps on this page.

These changes would only be introduced if the council decides to continue with the east Oxford LTNs.

ANPR is being proposed as a result of ongoing engagement with the emergency services.

Have your say

Please read the detailed information provided on this consultation page and take the time to complete the survey as your views and opinions matter. The survey is open from 12 noon on Monday 5 June and your response should be completed and returned by 5pm on Thursday 20 July 2023.

Whilst we will try to answer simple questions during the consultation, any that are more complex will be added to the feedback gathered during this consultation, and answered when the consultation closes.

You can also request a paper copy of the survey and any supporting documents by emailing eastoxfordltn@oxfordshire.gov.uk or writing to ‘Freepost OXFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL’ marking the envelope: ‘East Oxford LTNs – six-week consultation’ in the top left-hand corner of the envelope, before 17 July 2023. Paper survey copies can be picked up and dropped off at Oxfordshire County Library (in the Westgate) and Cowley Library.

All consultation responses must be returned to the council before 5pm on 20 July 2023.

What happens next?

When this consultation closes, the county council will review the responses and an independent report will be produced. Reports from public consultations, including the one held last year, will form part of the resources when the council’s cabinet makes the decision on the future of the east Oxford LTNs, being taken at a cabinet meeting in October this year. The council will also consider other evaluation information, including transport and air quality data, which will be looked at in the context of the vandalism and wider transport behaviour changes.

The cabinet meeting in October will be public meeting at which members of the public may apply to speak. The agenda and reports for meetings will be made available on the Oxfordshire County Council web site about a week before the meeting (please note that occasionally it is necessary to defer reports to a later meeting, and it is therefore advisable to check the agenda ahead of attending a meeting). The Forward Plan of decisions meetings can be viewed here.