Tories vow to stop Oxford Street pedestrianisation

[mumofoneAloneandwell]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/metro.co.uk/2026/05/08/tories-vow-block-150-000-000-oxford-street-revamp-central-london-council-win-28287239/amp/

Do you agree with them? For me, i'm not in favour. Not all disabled people use a wheelchair, some rely on the busses/taxis to see Oxford Steeet

There should be people walking around, coming home from their nights out - the nightlife in london is awful because people keep moaning about noise 😩

That's not the reason nightlife is in decline. You can't seriously think that.

I rather like the idea.

I live in Zone 1, and from my bed I can hear precisely nothing at the moment. Why should there be noise at 2am? People may come here to visit and have fun, but a lot of people live here and need to be able to sleep.

Oxford street is still a mess due to the candy stores. I would never shop there by choice. Pedestrianising it would be a disaster for the adjacent residential areas. Oxford Street is wide enough for buses to travel safely, no need to ban them entirely

Bit puzzled by central London needing a loud and buzzing nightlife until the early hours every night. Cities are places people live.

I don’t think pedestrianising Oxford street will make a positive difference to the shops tbh. The bit that is booming at the moment is the part from Oxford Circus to Tottenham Court Road be I imagine that is more down to rents. Carnaby street is also having a resurgence. The problem with Oxford street to Marble Arch is that the big department stores are falling out of fashion so you have these huge sites that are empty

Of course I do - its not the only reason! But complaints about noise and people on the council blocking nightlife (and that greggs from not being 24 hours) isnt helping 😪

I moved to zone 2 from zone 5 - i love the noises and signs of life, with the young people coming home from being out and about

Would love to be in Westminster, its my dream

Much of Oxford Street is bus and taxi only anyway

regent street and bond street have much better shops than Oxford street and businesses no longer can afford multiple branches in the same area

m&s have permission to demolish
large parts of John Lewis are closed off and unused
Selfridges seems to be thriving

I think the section from Oxford Circus to Tottenham Court Road has deteriorated somewhat in the last year. It did really feel like it had turned a corner, but lots of empty shops again when I went recently. Selfridges is quite an influencer place I think, there are always people taking selfies when I pass. The rest of the west end of the street not so much.

The roof terrace at John Lewis is nice. They need to try and make themselves more of a destination rather than just a shop

I took my dd there recently, did think the same

Lovely burger place

I was thinking, a lot of the places that had two branches of the same shop seem to have closed one

Its so sad the way Oxford street is heading, but i dont think pedestrianising will help at all!

HMV is back as well

So people living there should put up with excessive noise? Do you live in central London? Nobody should have to put up with excessive noise.

As for Oxford Street, I have mixed feelings about the plans. Shopping will be much more pleasant for sure but I am worried about people with mobility issues. As you say, not everyone uses a wheelchair.

The definition of excessive noise drastically changes though, the more central in the city you live!

Thats what the suburbs are for - or the countryside, youll have peaceful nights there, chilling next to the cows!

The country isn’t necessarily that quiet either. London is a massive city and it isn’t reasonable to expect everyone to live in the suburbs but you can live in the suburbs and have neighbours who want to play music in their garden all night. This isn’t a thread about noise but I think it is possible to have night life and have some respect for the residents too.

What an odd take - cities need people living in them. That’s part of the problem with unaffordable housing. I don’t expect silence but I don’t expect noise 24/7 either.

I lived just off Trafalgar Square for a couple of years and it was noisier Friday and Saturday night but wasn’t too bad.

I disagree girl, dont live in zone 1 and moan about noise 😩

Constand loud party noise in the suburbs would be grounds to complain imo

I agree though that the sound from the rickshaws isnt pleasant

Quite a few of us here are disagreeing with you, girl.

How is it odd?

London is huge theres loads of places to live

But the city centre comes with noise

Living off of trafalgar square, there should be noise

It makes me sad that london isnt a 24 hour city - with all of the talk about youth, we should be embracing clubs and fun 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Where i live, i'm close to a few bars but not close enough for nightclubs and the like

But there are a few 24 hr shops

I lived in Westminster for years, in Fitzrovia, and it was quiet at night, even more so once the buses stopped running. Even the pub on the opposite side of the road from my flat closed at 11.

At weekends it was blissfully quiet until I walked the 5 minutes down towards Upper Regent Street from Portland Place. It was all firmly residential, full of big mansion blocks of flats, with only a few local shops and one slightly bigger Europa supermarket. Marylebone was like a village.

Antisocial noise is just that even if it’s in a city centre. In a residential area, which that area is, people should have every expectation of a good night’s sleep.

Oxford Street is no longer any sort of premium shopping street so if it can become somewhere more pleasant to visit I’m all for it. The odd times it was closed in my day were wonderful. And I knew it well as I walked part of it to Bond Street for work every day.

Well that’s where we differ - I’m not a believer in 24 hour cities!

I think it's a good idea. There are parallel roads running very close either side of the main drag, so people with limited mobility or people using buses can be dropped off on those streets 1 minute from Oxford Street.

Almost no one drives to Oxford Street these days, and it has 4 tube stops along its length, so it's accessible and shops won't lose out from 'no parking' - only someone who's never been to central London would think that's an issue and also it's barely ever had any on street parking.

I agree it doesn’t need cars or parking but I do think it is the best street for the buses

Ahh there we are

Still, I'm super jealous that you get to live in Westminster! One day for me 🙂

I hate pedestrian only areas at night as they don’t feel safe.

I think taxis and busses should be able to go down it

And I mean, since you cant park there, whats the issue with cars driving down it? Thats what the congestion charge is for