Agenda item
Review of Temporary Traffic Restrictions in Witney High Street
Purpose
To report the results of the consultation survey on the temporary restrictions in Witney High Street and for members to consider next steps in light of current pandemic situation.
Recommendation
It is recommended that Cabinet:-
a) Support the retention of the temporary traffic restrictions in Witney High Street for a further period until January 2022;
b) Support the immediate removal of the temporary pedestrian guard rails whilst retaining a measure of pedestrian/ vehicular separation through strategic use of planters;
c) Supports the Oxfordshire County Council pursuing funding for design of public realm enhancements that could support more permanent changes to traffic movements;
d) Requests that the Highway Authority undertakes additional public consultation on any design alternatives prior to any final decision on any scheme design or permanent changes.
Minutes:
Members received a report from the Business Development Officer which reported the results of the consultation survey on the temporary restrictions in Witney High Street and asked Members to consider the next steps in light of the current pandemic situation.
The report explained that temporary traffic restrictions had been put in place in Witney High Street and Market Square to enable improved social distancing, as par of the national Covid pandemic response. Restrictions had been lifted in July 2021 but, as cases of Covid remained high, officers had followed advice from Public Health to only gradually ease restrictions.
A public consultation was carried out to establish views on the measures and options for the future of the High Street. A copy of the consultation responses was attached at Annex A to the report and these showed general support for the measures. A number of options were detailed in the report and OCC had advised that they were considering the long term future of the arrangements, although concepts were at an early stage.
The alternative options were detailed in full in the report.
The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Coul introduced the report and she recognised that there had been issues in relation to the signage and there was some misinformation about the future options being considered. She outlined the Cabinet’s preference to support the retention of the temporary traffic restrictions until the end of January 2022 and the immediate removal of the pedestrian guard rails. Councillor Coul felt it was important to support OCC and the Highway Authority whilst they looked at the longer term options for the High Street.
Councillor Mead seconded the recommendations whilst reporting that the response to the public consultation had been the largest to date. She assured the meeting that officers and members had listened to the public and it was hoped the measures would make visitors and residents more comfortable, whilst being environmentally friendly as well.
Councillor MacRae added his support and highlighted the importance of including consideration of the affected bus routes when further consultation was carried out.
Councillor Coles supported the proposals and advised that he had received a lot of correspondence from residents on both sides of the argument. He thanked Mr Ball for attending and addressing the meeting today and reminded Members that the High Street had been struggling as a consequence of the change in shopping habits. He reiterated the ethos of Build Back Better in order to encourage users back to this important part of the town.
Councillor Graham welcomed the report and agreed that he too had been contacted by residents from other areas of the District about the issue. He felt that Witney was a town for the whole district to enjoy and requested that any future consultation include reference to the disabled parking bays.
Councillor Prosser supported the recommendations and raised a query relating to enforcement. In response, Councillor MacRae clarified that the Parking Wardens could only issue parking tickets and would not have the jurisdiction to get involved in traffic management.
Councillor Postan referred to an excellent pedestrian site in Exhibition Road in London, which used level paving of differing colours to distinguish the pathways.
In response to a query from Councillor Cooper relating to funding, the Chief Executive explained that the temporary measures had been funded through the Welcome Back to Town Centre scheme, introduced by the Government, post Covid restrictions.
Having considered the report and having heard from the all parties present, it was
Resolved that
a) the retention of the temporary traffic restrictions in Witney High Street is supported for a further period until January 2022;
b) the immediate removal of the temporary pedestrian guard rails is supported, whilst retaining a measure of pedestrian/ vehicular separation through strategic use of planters;
c) support for Oxfordshire County Council pursuing funding for design of public realm enhancements that could support more permanent changes to traffic movements;
d) the Highway Authority is requested to undertake additional public consultation on any design alternatives prior to any final decision on any scheme design or permanent changes.
Supporting documents:
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