Witney High Street and Market Square enhancements

Welcome to the community engagement page where we are seeking your views for the Witney High Street and Market Square enhancements project. This project supports walking, wheeling and cycling objectives, and aims to deliver street improvements that support and maintain the new traffic arrangement in Witney High Street and Market Square.

Our vision is for Witney High Street and Market Square to be a healthy, attractive and historically rich environment that complements the character and vibrancy of the market town whilst managing the impacts of climate change through improved opportunities for walking, cycling and the use of public transport.

To deliver the vision, we are proposing five key objectives that could be achieved by the project:

• Enhance public spaces while protecting the town’s history and character
• Support local businesses and the markets
• Make it easier and more enjoyable to walk, wheel and cycle
• Upgrade access to public transport
• Improve safety for all users

Why is this project important?

Last year Oxfordshire County Council decided the traffic restriction on Witney High Street and Market Square should remain. The Witney High Street and Market Square enhancements scheme to aims to deliver street improvements that support and maintain the new traffic arrangement.

Now that there are many fewer vehicles travelling through the High Street and Market Square we can look again at how space could be reallocated to make the town centre a better place where people spend more time relaxing, shopping and socialising. The improvements would aim to complement the town’s history and character but would also help to improve the look and feel of Witney for visitors and for those arriving by walking, cycling or public transport.

Providing feedback

The scheme is at an early stage and a design yet to be developed. We are seeking the views of Witney residents, businesses and visitors to help shape the designs by finding out what is important to the local community. This information will be used to develop a draft (preliminary) design. We will then consult on the draft (preliminary) design through a further, formal consultation early next year.

Please read the supporting information on the right hand side of this page. There is an online survey below where you can share your views and an interactive map that you can also contribute your comments to.

The online survey and interactive map are open from 12:00pm on Tuesday 5 September until 11:59pm on Tuesday 3 October 2023.

We are also holding two drop-in events on 9 September and 19 September where you will be able to see the information in person and speak to the project team. The information on this page is the same as at the events, Please see the Drop-in events section on the right hand side of this page for more details.

The Frequently asked questions (FAQs) section provides answers to common queries about the scheme.

You can also provide feedback using a paper survey. Details are provided on how to access a paper copy in the paper copies section of this page. Once completed, your paper survey can be returned to the reception/service desk of the facility where you collected it by Tuesday 3 October 2023. Alternatively, you can post your survey to

Freepost OXFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Please write ‘Witney High Street and Market Square enhancements’ on the top left corner of the envelope, so we can easily identify what is inside the envelope.

What happens next

After this consultation closes, we’ll review all the responses received. These will be used to develop a draft (preliminary) design.

During spring 2024 we will invite people to look at the draft preliminary design and feedback on what works well and what might need adjustment, during spring 2024. That feedback will then be reviewed and used to make any necessary amendments to the design to finalise it in summer 2024 before construction begins in the autumn.