Oxford 'climate lockdowns' and '15-minute city' - can anyone local explain their views on this?

[unsureatthispoint]

This news has been published in several media outlets and being talked about ATM.

Road blocks stopping most motorists from driving through Oxford city centre will divide the city into six "15 minute" neighbourhoods, a county council travel chief has said.

And he insisted the controversial plan would go ahead whether people liked it or not.

Duncan Enright, Oxfordshire County Council's cabinet member for travel and development strategy, explained the authority's traffic filter proposals in an interview in The Sunday Times.

He said the filters would turn Oxford into "a 15-minute city" with local services within a small walking radius.

Mr Enright said: "It is about making sure you have the community centre which has all of those essential needs, the bottle of milk, pharmacy, GP, schools which you need to have a 15-minute neighbourhood."

The aim is to reduce traffic in the city centre and make city living more pleasant, but critics say the plans will negatively affect businesses and the city centre's economy.

Here's the link

www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23073992.traffic-filters-will-divide-city-six-15-minute-neighbourhoods-agrees-highways-councillor/

Are local people aware of this and what's their take on it?

I also live in a town in West Oxfordshire. Due to the twattyness surrounding the attitude to cars we rarely go into Oxford unless we can really help it. We would rather travel to other cities for say music venues etc. I rarely shop in Oxford

@RoseAndGeranium @Delphigirl I do understand that many people move to outlying villages because Oxford is expensive to live in but I also know, after living here for some time, that there is a cachet to village living that is a lifestyle thing. And it's not just the people in Kingham, it's the people in Weston on the Green and Lower Heyford and Beckley etc. Many of the villages around Oxford are more expensive than living in Oxford so it's not all dire straights. Lots of the doctors I know do not live in Oxford and I'm sure they would put up a stink if there was a congestion charge for their drive into the JR.

Anyway, my comment was primarily about the fact that OxCounty Council chooses who to pick on and has chosen the poorer communities to pick on in Oxford and I think intentionally avoided the north and not done anything about congestion charges for those outside the city because they'd get more pushback.

Ok. But this will massively affect those commuting in from the villages. (And yes, I agree with you about the North being left unaffected.) We love south east of Oxford and I’m hugely worried about how we’ll manage to commute in. If we still lived in town I’d be far less anxious. Sorry if i’m
still missing your point.

I think what the council maybe don’t realise is that for many this policy isn’t just inconvenient. It could really wreck their life.

I no longer live in Oxford but live in a village outside the city where I work. In my case the city is much more expensive than the villages to live in. As a single parent with two children in childcare I cannot see any way of staying in my current area and keeping my current job if this policy was introduced. The public transport takes far too long and is far too unreliable for nursery drop offs and pick ups. My children would probably still be waiting for me at nursery at 8 in the evening.

If I moved into the city I might just about manage it but I’d have to live somewhere very small in a grotty area and even then it would be a real struggle. I’d then effectively be stuck in said grotty area by the policy. I’d then frequently have to drive out of the city to facilitate contact with my ex who is currently living in the same village.
The negative affect on my and my children’s life would be massive. My only hope would be that my employer would agree more home working but obviously not everyone can do that.

If public transport was much better and cheaper people who can use it would be incentivised to do so and there would be much less need for this sort of policy. Some places in the US have experimented with making public transport free, which would likely be cheaper than what the council are proposing. There is a time and cost saving in people not having to pay or present tickets when they get on.

Yes, I've seen. Exemptions for "Professional health and care workers". I won't hold my breath that this includes me, as I don't work for the NHS and my profession has been excluded before, despite doing a similar job to, say, an NHS Speech and Language Therapist.

sounds like a fancy way of saying 'your a prisoner to your area'
would be horrible

It's akin to something you hear about in North Korea or communist countries of yesteryear. It's appalling. I'm not particularly worried about it spreading elsewhere in the country because most people simply wouldn't tolerate it and I'm amazed that people in Oxford are.

People in Oxford who object to the plans are protesting about them. And because this is not North Korea or another communist dictatorship they are able to do so without fear of arrest or "disappearing".

Oxford has a traffic problem. There is too much for the streets (it is an old city pre dating cars after all). The pollution levels are too high and there have been a number of high profile fatalities on the roads. However, there are also clearly concerns about how this particular scheme will affect businesses and residents, and concerns about how it has been handled by the council. It is already a heated issue and the hyperbole of comparing the situation to a communist dictatorship does nothing to help the debate.

There is no country in the world that does not place restrictions on the behaviour of its citizens - we just happen to be used to most of them because we grew up with them and (for the most part) they don't inconvenience us. Unfortunately, if we are to address the issues this planet faces, our generation is likely to face restrictions or higher costs on things that we have taken for granted up to now. So we are going to continue to face debates such as the one in Oxford and have to find our way through them. Problems are going to arise if we are expected to go back a few decades in terms of car ownership etc without the government taking public transport and local infrastructure up to the level it was a few decades ago.

@DuncanEnright

Our GP and dentist are in the city centre so they absolutely will be effected. I'm not looking forward to having to take a sick child into town on the bus. I have not spoken to a single person who is in favour of this. Will you be sharing the results of the consultation?
I'm pretty certain that this will also have been unanimously against the proposals and yet the council continues to proceed, completely ignoring the wishes and best interests of the people who live in Oxford.

@Ineedcoffee2021

I wouldn't put it like that but frankly I do think we all need to be spending more time either at home or in our local areas for environmental and health reasons.

It is simply not sustainable to continue with the constant gallivanting our for dinner multiple times per week etc..

Visiting cities will need to become more of an occasional treat as it was in the past.

Blimey, you still winding people up? your life must be very boring.

I like the whole idea of it. I think it will shake down OK over time. The idea is for bus travel to be a lot quicker and more reliable because there are fewer car journeys, though of course you can still drive. Lots of business exemptions. I like that they're doing something big and ambitious that fits with what people were complaining about before they announced it - ie that the traffic in Oxford is nightmarish.

Yes, I've seen. Exemptions for "Professional health and care workers"

I'll put money on the exemptions including council workers ( and politicians) as well.

I work for one of the councils. Apparently my boss is going to try and get us included. But we are currently not despite having a role that involves us travelling across the city daily.

This seems to me to be based on a fantasy that everyone who lives within the ring road works within the ring road and can ride their jolly bike to work in dry weather or hop on a frequent bus after dropping their kids at a lovely primary school across the road that they got a first choice place in after a lovely breakfast of locally baked sourdough. And they don't have to rush back and can wait for buses because they share a nanny or have found a lovely childminder who works til 6. Because a small number of well off people do live like this in certain nice parts of Oxford (Florence Park I'm looking at you).
Also the fantasy is that the university, hospitals and schools are staffed by people like this and these plans won't hinder recruitment.
The reality is that lots of people who work in public sector jobs can't afford to live in the city and commute in via various buses, ring roads and park and rides. And then there are those that can afford to live in Oxford but they're commuting out to other cities.
The ring road could well get clogged up by people who can't get from one part of town to another without going in and out meaning people like me won't be able to get to work on time by bus or car.
I am absolutely dreading trying to get my parents to hospital appointments at the JR or Churchill if they do this.
Also the A34 forms part of the Oxford "ring road" so increased congestion could affect more than just the city.

*Universities

I went to Oxford last week what a bloody nightmare that was…even getting to the park & ride was an absolute nightmare.

I am on side Oxford CC have thought this through properly seems like a recipe for disaster

I am not sure ffs

It's a joke. A fucking joke. Council workers make these rules, expect people to abide by them and them make themselves exceptions and don't have to adhere to their own rules. They all need to be gone and now. It's a fucking disgrace that this is being allowed to happen.

The issue with having lots of exemptions is that the whole thing becomes pointless. Personally I'd allow a single exemption for NHS key workers and that would be it.

The message to everyone else should be: walk, get the bus or find a job closer to home. Covid taught us that it's just not necessary to have people commuting for miles every day.

A lot of comments seem to be 'the traffic is really bad, how is this going to work?' It's supposed to work by reducing the traffic.

I think it will take time and ingenuity to make it work in terms of improving access to the city. I think it could though.

You are so ridiculous. How many teachers would there be in oxford schools if they all went and found jobs where they can afford to live, I.e near Banbury or in Berinsfield or wherever. Who would be caring in the care homes of north oxford if they had to get a non-existent night bus from brize Norton. Honestly, it is the logic of a toddler “just find a job nearer to home”.

And by the way those teachers and care workers and nurses and people who can’t work from home but can’t afford to live in oxford and are in fact desperately needed to work in oxford have what in common? They are mostly female.
yes, the women will be screwed again. What a surprise. No doubt you are just fine with that, too.

Absolutely this. The whole scheme has indirect discrimination scribbled all over it in red. How many women were on the committees that drew up and out through these proposals, @DuncanEnright ? Love to know.

The message to everyone else should be: walk, get the bus or find a job closer to home.

I have a that I need to drive to. There is nothing within walking distance that will pay anywhere near what I earn now. How do you suggest I manage that?