Oxfordshire County Council’s announcement that most of the roads in Witney will be reduced to a 20mph speed limit has again drawn criticism that it ignored local opinion.

The plans for Witney were approved by Oxfordshire County Council’s leader, Liz Leffman, at a meeting on July 21.

The changes are expected to be implemented and new signs installed later this year.

More than half of people who took part in a consultation about the proposals objected to the new limits.

Of the 288 online responses, only 93 supported the scheme.

Witney MP Robert Courts said: “Yet again the Liberal-Labour-Green coalition running County Hall are dismissing local opinion to plough ahead with their ideologically-driven agenda. The County Council have presented no evidence showing why a 20mph limit in Witney is necessary, how it will be adequately enforced, and what impact it will have on our town.”

READ ALSO: All the roads in Witney where the speed limit will be lowered to 20mph

Thames Valley Police objected to aspects of the proposals but is "supportive" of the plan.

But officers will not be expected to usually "proactively enforce" the revised limits.

The council said it wanted a "change of mindset, rather than enforcement", and that breaking the limit would become "socially unacceptable" as more places adopted the changes.

Stagecoach Bus Company also raised an objection – saying it would likely present more problems for the sustainability of bus services in Witney due to the potential impact on traffic, especially the on key arterial roads used by regular town to town bus services.

Witney is the first Oxfordshire town to adopt the change as part of a £8million three-year programme from 2022-25 funded by Oxfordshire County Council.

Andrew Gant, the council’s cabinet member for highway management, said: “This is a landmark moment for our ambitious 20mph policy.

“Witney is just the start, and more than 70 other towns and villages will be benefiting from reduced speeds in the next financial year – followed by hundreds more in the next two years.”

Witney mayor Liz Duncan chairs a town council working party set up to develop the scheme.

She said: “We have received many requests from residents for the reduced speed limit and this whole town approach will bring huge benefits.”

Speaking at the meeting, councillor Andrew Coles, who represents Witney South & Central, referred to the crash on Curbridge Road in 2014 that killed 14-year-old Liberty Baker and injured two of her friends, plus another collision involving a small child.

He said: “The first incident happened on 30 June 2014 when a car left the road and ploughed into four pedestrians coming down the Curbridge Road. You will be aware of this, leader, because one of the victims of that was a member of the democratic services team at WODC. And that accident actually resulted in the death of a 14-year-old girl as she walked to school.”

READ ALSO: Witney woman charged with assaulting emergency worker

He said the speed of the car had been one factor although other factors were involved.

And in April 2015 a child was cycling through an alley behind Witney Hospital and failed to stop where it met the road and went into the side of a passing vehicle.

Despite fears the child would suffer life-changing injuries, no long-lasting injuries were received principally because the car involved was travelling at 20mph.

“I absolutely do not want to see one more child killed, let alone injured, on Witney’s roads," he said.

The changes, which had the backing of West Oxfordshire District Council as well as Witney Town Council, will also involve the reduction of some speed limits from 50mph to 40mph, and from 40mph to 30mph around the town.

 

 

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