City Council invites public’s views on transport in new Oxford Local Plan consultation

Oxford’s population is expected to grow by 20 per cent over the next 20 years. The new Local Plan aims to guide the city’s development and tackle some of its major challenges, such as transport, housing and managing economic growth while ensuring protection of the environment.

Over half the city’s workforce commute to work from outside, which puts substantial pressure on transport infrastructure. With limited road space and ongoing problems with congestion, the city will require innovative solutions that prioritise walking, cycling and public transport over the private car.

The Council is keen to consider proposals about how to make walking and cycling routes safe, direct and attractive. These measures may require the reallocation of road space, such as separating walking and cycling routes, or where there are two roads running parallel to each other, using one for cars and the other for buses, walking, and cycling. Public transport also requires improvement so that the number of buses coming into the city centre does not increase as the population increases as projected. 

Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, Board Member for Planning, Transport and Regulatory Services, said: “Oxford is a medieval city with 21st century transport problems in it. We need to think about how to provide working solutions within the constraints of space that we face while catering for a growing, high tech economy. We are calling on the public to get involved in our Local Plan by attending scheduled events in your area or visiting our website and taking part online.”

The first-steps period of public consultation started on 27 June and will run until 5 August. To participate in the consultation online, or find out about scheduled consultation events in your area, please visit our Local Plan page.