CALLS to halt Oxford’s divisive low traffic neighbourhood scheme have been rejected by the county council – despite the scheme being based on false figures.

The initiative, which has seen roads in East Oxford and Cowley blocked off at one end, was based on figures showing a steep rise in traffic on smaller roads.

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However, the Department for Transport admitted earlier this month that the figures were "significantly over-counted".

Across the UK, the data showed that miles driven on minor roads rose by just under 10 per cent, rather than the 26 per cent originally suggested.

During a full council meeting on last week, Oxfordshire County Council voted down a motion to reconsider the controversial measures.

Councillor Eddie Reeves, a Conservative who presented the motion, said that concerns have been raised locally and nationally surrounding the data sets used to justify the introduction of LTNs, and recommended to the cabinet that it “halt any immediate expansion in LTNs with a view to reassuring residents surrounding the data-sets and consultation methodologies used to justify and aid their introduction.”

He said: “This motion doesn’t say that LTNs are bad or that the administration should reverse its headline policy of reducing one in four car trips by 2030.

“Politicians should be accountable for the decisions that they make and where difficulties are highlighted by residents and businesses in good faith, politicians in executive roles making decisions on behalf of all members of this council should reassure that the decisions have been taken using sound data and with the best possible intentions.”

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Councillor Andrew Gant, the council’s cabinet member for highway management, said the data from the Department of Transport was not used to justify the introduction of LTNs in Oxford.

He said: “Data is not just numbers, it’s about people – we had a lot of complaints, a lot of allegations but I didn’t hear a single syllable of constructive criticism about what they could do to improve air quality and danger on our roads.

“The Government data was not used to justify the introduction of LTNs, it didn’t form part of any of the cabinet’s decisions, including the ones taken under the previous Tory administration.”

Labour councillor Charlie Hicks, who represents Cowley, said: “This mistake was done under the DfT run by Grant Shapps and the Conservative Government – there’s been no mistakes made by Oxfordshire County Council, we have fantastic data on traffic around the Cowley LTNs and East Oxford and we can see that there has been at least a million fewer car trips as a result of the LTNs.”

Robin Tucker, from the Coalition for Healthy Streets and Active Travel, said: “Councillor Reeves does not specify specific concerns about the data he is worried about – protestors against these measures raise all kinds of concerns and we are happy to debunk those.

“Peer-reviewed academic studies show car use reduced by 20 per cent, no delays in emergency services and an increase in active travel.

“In Oxford’s new LTNs children are walking and cycling to school, people are able to sleep through the night and cases of asthma have cleared up.”

Nick Welch, from the Divinity Road Area Residents' Association, said: “We think that it’s important that the scheme is properly evaluated, including its impact on everybody, and can indeed lead to some inconvenience – and it requires everyone to consider how they move around the city.

“We urge the council to step up its work to maintain the trial schemes which will allow for proper data and proper evaluation.”   

But a survey of businesses in Cowley, where LTNs were made permanent in July, found that 95 per cent of the responders were impacted ‘negatively’ by the scheme.

The survey was conducted by the Cowley Road Traders group on October 3, 7, 10 and 11 and carried out by two Cowley Road business owners, a resident, a representative from the Manzil Way mosque and a representative from the Oxford Business Action Group, who asked 91 business owners what they thought about the scheme.

The report produced after the survey said: “The implementation of the LTNs was disheartening and the negative consequences have been numerous; a drop in trade, delivery issues for our suppliers, increased journey times for our deliveries and the displaced traffic sent onto Cowley Road and other boundary roads. Already we’re seeing neighbours shut up shop permanently.”  

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Councillor Kieron Mallon, a Conservative who represents Bloxham & Easington, said: “Most of the schemes were implemented with little consultation and it was hoped they would lead to a permanent reduction in car use but since then I don’t believe there’s been a great deal of monitoring of car flow in the city.

“Businesses have been hit and have gone out of business – you are making your city less and less attractive.

“Cycle lanes improvement does not need LTNs – what is now needed is for this council to listen to the complaints.”

Conservative councillor Ian Snowdon, who represents Didcot West, said: “Will LTNs reduce traffic? Of course they will, because they will destroy the economy.

“There’s going to be less customers coming to the area, there’s going to be less deliveries and less workers because jobs are being lost.”

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This story was written by Anna Colivicchi, she joined the team this year and covers health stories for the Oxfordshire papers. 

Get in touch with her by emailing: Anna.colivicchi@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @AnnaColivicchi