OPPONENTS of a hugely divisive transport scheme have officially launched a legal bid to overturn a council decision.
Low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) were made permanent in Cowley by Oxfordshire County Council last month.
Since then, mounting a legal challenge has been mooted by those against LTNs, with the move officially announced at a protest yesterday (Saturday, August 27).
More than £2,000 has already been raised through online donations, with a further £1,000 raised privately.
READ MORE: Anti-LTN protest before Oxfordshire County Council meeting
To launch the legal challenge, demonstrators estimate they will need to raise £30,000, in order to cover the costs of lawyers who have acted on LTN cases elsewhere in the country.
Chloe Clark, from Anti-LTN Uncensored, told the Oxford Mail: “People are getting annoyed that nobody is listening.
“It’s about time this was done, the LTNs are causing a lot of stress and unrest for people who have disabilities and live in the boundary roads.
“The money so far has come from just a few groups, it’s just a small number of people.
“Some of the London legal cases have had an impact, so we’ve been watching how things have been panning out there.”
Littlemore parish councillor Michael Evans added: “The legal challenge is the only path for us to try and effectively remove the LTNs.
“There’s a strength of feeling, the LTNs are disproportionally affecting the most vulnerable.
“In the pandemic, we praised our key workers and now we’re punishing them.
“All people want is to be listened to. We all know action has to be taken for climate, but at the moment, people are being set against each other.”
Demonstrators against the Cowley LTN decision have been emailing the county council’s monitoring officer, asking for the council verdict to be overruled.
The council’s monitoring officer is responsible to the local authority for the ‘lawfulness and fairness of the council’s decision-making’.
Peter West, who has played a key part in pulling together the foundations for a legal bid, said it was ‘the best way to challenge things’.
He added: “We haven’t advertised things properly so to raise this much money shows we want to get rid of low traffic neighbourhoods.
“We’ve been talking to councillors in private, but it’s like hitting a brick wall.”
Fazal Hussain submitted a petition against LTNs, signed by 15,000 people, to the county council prior to a meeting last month.
He said: “We want to be heard and to make small changes. This is the next step we need to take.
“Nobody here is against protecting the environment, but we need to do something without closing all the roads.”
Fundraising leaflets are to be distributed across Cowley and Littlemore in the coming weeks.
For more, visit: gofundme.com/f/help-end-road-closures-in-oxford
Read more from this author
This story was written by Liam Rice, he joined the team in 2019 as a multimedia reporter.
Liam covers politics, travel and transport. He occasionally covers Oxford United.
Get in touch with him by emailing: Liam.rice@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter @OxMailLiamRice
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