To be concerned about this....Oxford **You tube channel from Katie Hopkins** Title edited by MNHQ

[TarasHarp55]

fb.watch/hOHYM5ObFs/

Should we be concerned about this? It all seems very "Hunger Games", or is it a good thing? Would like to hear opinions. I don't normally like KH but she does seem to have a point.

I would imagine a lot of people have children in one neighbourhood with thembut attend school in another neighbourhood and may not have options to cycle, walk or get public transport to school and then go on to work, so will drive. Longer journey, more pollution

Also people whose doctors surgery, or dentist or other public services they use are not in the same neighbourhood.

They've floated this idea in our city too but they haven't seemed to consider the huge amount of traffic that would be forced into the 'ring road' as people travel between city districts, which they would because the city is small and there just won't be multiple supermarkets, swimming pools etc in each district. There's only one pool in the city, there are 4 supermarkets, 3 next to eachother.

It would be great if they also put in clear cycle paths (not lanes) between each district but that wasn't in their plan. The plan was simply push people from the city to the ring road, which goes through small villages and estates on roads that aren't fit for that level of traffic.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Well, you're right but public transport is so far from being affordable, accessible and reliable in Oxfordshire it's a joke. It's expensive, inaccessible and shit. I used to live in a rural community near a European city with good public transport and we didn't own a car because public transport was excellent - the comparison is night and day.

I live in a town just outside of Oxford, because we can't afford Oxford house prices (despite initially working in Oxford - I now WFH full time) - unaffordable Oxford house prices seem to have been completely ignored in these plans.

The buses are absolutely dire. It's not unusual to have to wait for 40 mins to an hour for each bus, and often you need to get several to get where you're trying to go - journeys for us by bus are about an hour longer than by car. There's no easily obtainable up to date info on when the bus is coming, the app is dire and doesn't work, the bus stop nearest us is on the grassy verge next to a 60mph speed limit road, so quite unsafe for anyone infirm, in a wheelchair or young children (and everyone else to be fair, just they're more likely to be able to get out of the way of a speeding car).

The park and ride is expensive and also quite unreliable with long waits - you have to pay to park and ride separately, so also inconvenient. It's hugely stressful and damaging to health to be standing in the cold for hours every day. DH, who still gets the bus, has been so ill since September and caught every bug going and I'm sure this is a factor. I am encouraging him to get a job not in Oxford.

Agree with others also that getting a blue badge isn't that easy even if you're infirm or disabled enough that walking to the closest bus stop and standing on a muddy verge for an hour with nowhere to sit is an issue. The UK's economic growth is below other comparable countries and the level of chronic disability is part of the reason, it's not surprising given how shit public transport is and how alternatives are being removed in this way.

I will be doing kids clubs in Kidlington and Bicester instead from now on, I will let the clubs they used to do in Oxford know why.

Given that several times recently with my elderly parents we've been told to take them to A&E at the JR by car because the wait for ambulances is too long and 'you'll be seen sooner' this is going to cause people to die. (and just in case anyone says the ambulances will be able to move more freely - maybe, but it's not going to reduce ambulances unable to offload or make the wait for ambulances quicker - it'll mean people can't get to A&E under their own steam though).

Also I saw mention in the news article of a city that is my nearest city. We cant get bus back from there after about 630ish (might be 7) and the park and ride doesnt operate on Sundays

Thats our nearest city and we wouldnt even be able to get the bus home from work. There is a train, but its the long way round and prohibitively expensive and I would then need to get a bus from the station to get home.

Useless.

Haven't clicked in case KH gets a royalty but dense urbanisation is a key tool in addressing climate change as it's really the only way to reduce car dependency. However, it's v difficult to retrofit holistically. The most you can really do is reduce massive service gaps. Going back to an entirely catchment based school system might help.

And don't get me started on the "cycle lanes" which are indeed just lines painted on the road with no extra space.

Again, the European city I used to live near had proper cycle lanes. Oxford cycle lanes are not. They are unsafe and I'm astounded they've been allowed under Health and Safety when you can't fit two cars going in different directions without encroaching on the cycle lanes.

40,000 people a year who die from diseases related to particulate emissions.
How about the lives and health of those (and the clues in my username) that live on the roads outside the LTN? This has been a very controversial and divisive scheme. But it's ordinary stupidity and obstinacy that has implemented this, not the freaking Illuminati, since they travel by spaceship. KH remains as wrong as ever.

I don't think it's possible to go back to a catchment based school system without plugging gaps in school funding and in particular fully funding good SEND provision in all schools rather than requiring schools to somehow find the money from budgets where they already can't pay for books. A lot of SEND students need to travel to specialist schools also.

People who live in Oxford and work from home, but cycle to the nearest artisan baker for bread and get their shopping delivered by Waitrose, seem to be pretty keen on it. That is who it will benefit.

Given that several times recently with my elderly parents we've been told to take them to A&E at the JR by car because the wait for ambulances is too long

I appreciate that ambulance stats are shocking right now, but if a patient is ambulatory and can be driven to hospital, that's pretty much always going to be the best option for them. That's not a new thing - ambulances are for people who need treatment within minutes/seconds or they'll die (e.g. cardiac arrest), and people who cannot physically be brought to A&E in a car/cab.

Anything that reduces the dependency people have on cars is a good thing.

Well yes, and those living on the boundary roads are likely to be lower socioeconomic status than those living in central Oxford, so probably more vulnerable to poor air quality.

I also wonder how many will die or become long term disabled by waiting for hours in the cold for buses, or being killed or injured when cycling to school or work. If anything, buses going faster is going to be more dangerous for cyclists - most near misses I've seen have been with buses and cyclists. There was a death near Botley where a bus hit a cyclist not that long ago and one near Kidlington with a lorry I believe (and presumably the lorries delivering to the businesses in Oxford will be exempt).

I agree, the point is these changes will mean that people can't drive to A&E without a massive detour (or possibly at all - ? - if they need to cross zones to get anywhere near the hospital) so will have to call an ambulance.

Oxford could easily ban all woodburning stoves in the city to improve air quality. But that would affect the richest most so is unlikely to happen.

I would imagine in that situation you would just drive and take the fine.

“The park and ride is expensive and also quite unreliable with long waits - you have to pay to park and ride separately, so also inconvenient”

Went to Oxford on Friday and bought parking and the bus together on the Ringo app. 16 hours was £5 for 1 car, 2 adults and children under 16 are free. 1 car and person was £4. Pretty reasonable imo.

It really is a case of "be careful what you wish for". I seldom go to our local city because they are so anti-car. I haven't been to Oxford in years because ditto. Nobody will want to shop there, go to entertainments, offer services (eg plumber, electrician, etc).
They will kill off cities but that may not be a bad thing. We need less concentration of people in the South / SE.

If they put bollards in that need a pass to operate, that won't be possible - I believe that's one option being looked at (it'll be fun when they break also, which they inevitably will, for the buses and ambulances).

Let's hope common sense prevails with that at least.

Years ago I tried to drive into Oxford, went round in circles for ages, it was strongly discouraged and practically impossible to drive in then.

She's also been batting on about everyone in Wales having to drive at 20mph (to stop them going out anywhere apparently). Leaving out the bit about in residential areas, as is becoming more common everywhere in the UK.

Pretty sure they have, my Mum has to burn smokeless fuel in hers...

news.oxfordshire.gov.uk/joint-statement-from-oxfordshire-county-council-and-oxford-city-council-on-oxfords-traffic-filters/

It's going to be ANPR controlled - no actual gates, just fines in the post if you aren't exempt

@MincePiesAreMyJam Still not good for air pollution. They should be banned in all cities and towns. They are the major contributor to small particulates.

So if this is about pollution, I assume electric cars are excempt?