CRITICS of Oxfordshire County Council's planned traffic measures – which would see most motorists prevented from driving through the centre of Oxford – are planning to drop a leaflet arguing against the scheme to every home in the city.

Not Our Future, founded by David Fleming, has urged volunteers to help deliver a leaflet to every home across the city tomorrow.

The leaflets are providing information about why plans to put traffic filters in place, which would see most car drivers fined for driving into the city centre and instead forcing them onto the already-congested A34, A40 and Eastern by pass, should not go ahead imminently.

Plans to create so-called '15 minute neighbourhoods' have been fiercely opposed by many in the city. 

Nevertheless, plans were approved by councillors – despite a consultation showing just 7 per cent of respondents – 656 people – supported or agreed with the benefits when asked for comments on the scheme’s benefits. 

However, having been asked the same question, 1,240 people said it would move traffic to other areas, 764 people disagreed with the scheme, 444 felt it would increase congestion, 432 felt it would increase pollution and 403 said it will result in increased journey times.

Whilst 379 people said public transport needs to be more frequent/reliable.

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The organisation said the plans are not ‘necessarily bad by definition’ but ‘they should develop them with full public approval, over a long time, for the community to use’.

It added: “If the residents like them they will stay. That’s the free market at work.”

The organisation, which has said the leaflet drop is not a protest, said it needs about 500 volunteers to help spread the word.

A joint statement from Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council said: “We are aware of the action planned for this Sunday by the Not Our Future group and respect the right of anyone to voice opposition to our policies.

“However, some of the information being circulated by the group is demonstrably false.

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“The aim of the traffic filters is to reduce traffic levels and congestion, make the buses faster and more reliable, and make cycling and walking safer and more pleasant.

“Almost a third of Oxford’s residents do not own a car and depend on the city’s bus service to get around, but the city’s awful congestion is making the bus network unviable.

“Buses, carers, blue badge holders, businesses, and emergency services will all be exempt from the traffic filters, so they will be able to travel around Oxford faster and with more freedom once the filters are in place.

“We want to make very clear that the six traffic filters proposed for Oxford will be implemented as a trial experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO), during which time anyone will be able to give their views on how the filters are working before any decision is made on whether to make them permanent.

“The filters will be enforced using ANPR cameras – exactly the same as the current traffic filter in Oxford’s High Street and used all over the country.

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“As previously stated, the filters will not ‘confine people to their zones’, all areas in the city currently accessible will still be accessible, and there are no plans to reduce or remove the proposed number of free permits.

“All accurate and up-to-date information on the plans can be found on Oxfordshire County Council’s website.”

Clarification

An earlier version of this article referenced plans for six 15-minute neighbourhoods. However, whilst there are plans for six traffic filters, talks of 15-minute neighbourhoods alongside this scheme have not specifically detailed an exact number of the so-called neighbourhoods. We are happy to clarify this in a bid to avoid confusion.