CALLS to build a multi-storey car park at the John Radcliffe Hospital have been put aside, with a focus on alternative solutions for the site instead.

A shuttle bus service to the hospital is being considered as it was ruled that increasing car parking makes traffic congestion worse, rather than improving it.

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More than 6,000 people had signed a petition calling for a multi-storey car park to be built at the hospital.

It was set up by Independent Oxford City councillor for Marston Mick Haines back in April 2019.

At an Oxford City Council meeting on Monday, Mr Haines called on the council to reaffirm its motion in 2019 where the council agreed to work with Oxford University Hospitals Trust ‘as a matter of urgency’ to help them to review sustainable transport to the hospital and its car parking capacity.

Labour councillor for Carfax and Jericho Alex Hollingsworth proposed an amendment to this motion, scrapping the idea of a multi-storey car park.

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Instead, he proposed working with both the hospital Trust and Oxfordshire County Council to introduce sustainability measures such as shuttle buses that can bring patients and staff to the site.

His amendment said: “This Council believes that evidence shows that increasing car parking makes traffic congestion worse rather than improving it, and urges the Trust to explore genuinely sustainable solutions to its transport challenges, such as improving the range of direct bus links to the site and introducing shuttle buses from remote parking sites for those able to use them, rather than schemes that can only make the situation worse.”

The amendment was passed unanimously and supported by Mr Haines who said: "After hearing today's issue on this I'm quite willing to go along with Alex's situation because it's good to know that lots of people seriously consider this situation, and if they can work together to get one solution, then I'm quite happy to go along with it."

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Councillor Hollingsworth told us after the meeting: "There never has been a plan for a multi-storey car park, but that being said if the Trust found the money to do it and thought that was the best use of the money then that would be a matter for them.

"There's lots of things they could do like increasing the share of spaces for patients, they could make it more cost-effective for their own staff to use public transport and on the site itself if buses weren't stuck in traffic jams caused by cars they'd be much more attractive for people."

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