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Agenda item

Response to Oxfordshire County Council's Draft Local Transport & Connectivity Plan (LTCP)

Purpose

To agree a formal response to Oxfordshire County Council’s Draft Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP) which is the subject of public consultation from 5 January – 16 March 2022.

 

Recommendations

a)    To note the report; and

b)    To agree that the draft response attached at Annex A be submitted as West Oxfordshire District Council’s formal representation to the draft Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP).

Minutes:

Councillor Haine introduced the report and felt it was a very good response. He brought one paragraph in particular to Member’s attention on page 35 under road safety “whilst we support the 20mph speed limit policies (Policies 21-24) in general, we feel that this should be applied to particular streets only according to a set of criteria such as outside schools or busy pedestrian streets in a town centre rather than being applied to a wider blanket area.  By focussing these areas to small ‘zones’, they are more likely to be observed and these should be accompanied by other speed reduction measures that are appropriate and sympathetic to the character of the area.  Excessive signage should be avoided, particularly in historic areas”.  He hoped that County Council members took notice of this.

 

Councillor Haine proposed that the report be noted and the draft response be agreed as per the recommendations. This was seconded by Councillor Doughty.

 

Councillor Enright thanked Councillor Haine and officers for a very full response.  However, as a Councillor for Witney, he did not agree with the paragraph read by Councillor Haine except for the part about excessive signage being avoided.  He felt that applying the 20mph limit to all residential streets was appropriate and was about changing attitudes and expectations of drivers.

 

Councillor Coul suggested that Councillor Enright’s comments highlighted the disconnect that the response addressed between residential urban areas, and some of the very rural areas within the District.  The rural aspect of West Oxfordshire needed to be taken into account by the County Council and she hoped they would take that from this response.

 

Councillor Graham suggested it would be better for road safety to define the difference between urban and rural areas that Councillor Coul had made reference to.  Some villages were so small that it would not make sense to apply speed restriction to just school zones and should be applied to the whole village in some cases.  He felt it was a shame the response did not elaborate more on this.

 

Councillor Postan spoke as a representative of a ward with a 20mph speed limit which has been agreed but yet to be implemented.  Only one vehicle needed to obey the limit in rural areas with narrow roads to ensure all vehicles adhered to it.  He was concerned that the document did not account for technology.  The increasing cost of electricity meant that synthetic fuels would be more attractive.  These were carbon neutral and re-use existing infrastructure for transport, delivery, and supply.  Personal transport for rural communities was a lifeline and he felt that a strong comment on this should be made by the Council.

 

Councillor Al-Yousuf stated that the paragraph being discussed, as currently drafted, reflected the views of his ward and two Parish Councils.  He endorsed the existing wording.

 

Having considered the report and having heard from the Members present, it was

 

Resolved that

 

a)    The report be noted; and

b)    the draft response attached at Annex A be submitted as West Oxfordshire District Council’s formal representation to the draft Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP).

Supporting documents:

 

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