Access to Headington

Access to Headington – status and objectives

TonyOX3

Along with a few other interested people I had the opportunity of a full discussion of the Access to Headington plans with Transport Planning officers from the County Council. I shall be sending them my comments as part of the consultation exercise and will post them here too. Meanwhile, here is some more information about the aims and status of the plans.

The proposals which have been on show and which can be downloaded from the County website are at the feasibility stage. There has so far been no exploration of what lies below the ground so ideas may have to change when this is done and costs can be better estimated. The next stage, moving from ‘feasibility’ to ‘preliminary design’, will be done by consultants appointed by the County.

The money for the scheme is coming in large part from Government funds made available through the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the Oxfordshire Growth Board (OGB)*. These organisations channel government money in support of economic growth in the region, which is one of the present government’s key objectives. In bidding for funds the County had to show how the scheme would support economic growth, so the objectives of the scheme are “to facilitate access to employment sites” in Headington. This means that there may well be other desirable improvements to local roads that fall outside the scope of the scheme. The money has to be spent by the end of March 2018.

Consultation on this stage of the scheme closes on 7 August. There’s more information on how to comment on the County’s website – see the link above.

* Other funds will come from contributions from developments such as Barton Park.

Access to Headington and the Neighbourhood Plan

TonyOX3

I’ve just checked the Neighbourhood Plan map. Not all the County’s Access to Headington project area falls within the Neighbourhood Plan’s area,

IN are

  • Headley Way from the JR entrance to London Road
  • London Road from Headley Way to Windmill Road
  • Windmill Road to Old Road
  • The Slade to somewhere between Girdlestone Road and Peat Moors*
  • Old Road from Windmill Road/The Slade to Gipsy Lane
* The Plan boundary runs down The Slade here. The properties on the west side are in, but the maps I have aren’t clear about the road itself.

OUT are
  • Cherwell Drive and Headley Way from the Oxford Road junction to the JR entrance
  • The Slade from Peat Moors to the Hollow Way roundabout
  • Horspath Driftway from Hollow Way to the Eastern by-pass
The Neighbourhood Plan will not have any direct influence on this road scheme. However, the Transport Community Policy TRC2 expresses a wish to Improve Cycling Infrastructure and Encourage Cycling – Cycle lanes should be upgraded to mandatory by improving their continuity, the clarity of signage, (especially when they meet bus-stops), and improving their maintenance and demarcation.

Green Spaces and Amenity emerged as the most significant issue in the early stages of the Plan. Draft policies in this area seem to conflict with the County’s plans to reduce or remove some grass verges and trees:
GSP1: Retaining Public Access Green Space
All current publicly accessible green space in the Headington Neighbourhood Plan area will be retained as publicly accessible green space. There will be a strong presumption against the development of and building on publicly accessible green space.

GSP4: Protecting Tree Cover
All mature trees will be conserved. Where the removal of mature trees is unavoidable as a result of development, the developer will cover the cost of planting an equal number of trees at a designated site within the Headington Neighbourhood Plan area.
Community Policy GSC1: Enhancing Headington’s Street Setting wishes that
Headington’s street setting will be enhanced by implementing the following actions:
♦ on-street trees will be conserved and increased and, when necessary, replaced by wildlife friendly varieties rich in pollen, nectar, seeds, berries and fruits;
♦ all small informal green spaces and verges will be protected and maintained

Both the Neighbourhood Plan and Access to Headington are still in their consultation stages, so whichever side of the conflicts you are on, let yours views be known! The full draft Neighbourhood Plan is here, and the County’s plans are here.

£12.5m for “Access to Headington”

TonyOX3

When it comes to local transport in Headington, Oxfordshire County Council never fails to surprise us. Two years ago the Headington Transport Strategy emerged from nowhere, produced a report, then disappeared into the Russian doll hierarchy of the Oxford Transport Strategy which in turn is part of the “Connecting Oxfordshire” strategic transport plan, or LTP4 as it is known. This search of my blog will give you the story of the original Headington Transport Strategy and several local responses to the consultation.

More recently many organisations have commented on the wider LTP4, including some local to Headington – Headington Action and the local LibDem Councillors have both made their comments available to the public. You can find their views and those of a dozen or so others via links on the Oxford Futures website.

And now, before they have considered the responses to LTP4, or seen the Officers’ summary of responses, or given Councillors the chance to discuss a revised version of the consultation report, the County Council announce they have secured £12.5m for transport improvements under the headline of “Access to Headington”. Local Councillors have not seen how the Council is proposing to spend this money — they have a briefing on Thursday evening. The public must wait until the following day to see the plans — a series of open presentations has been announced starting this Friday.

  • Friday 3 July, St Anthony of Padua Church, Headley Way, 1pm-8pm;
  • Saturday 4 July, New Marston Primary School, Copse Lane, 10am to 4pm;
  • Thursday, July 9, Wood Farm School, Titup Hall Drive, 1pm to 8pm;
  • Saturday 11 July, St Andrew’s Primary School, London Road, 10am to 4pm.

The Oxford Mail quotes the County’s cabinet member for the Environment (which include transport matters) David Nimmo-Smith as saying “The funding will help us to make better use of an already busy road network in coming years with the emphasis on public transport, cycling and walking.”

The project area includes the B4495 from Cherwell Drive/Marsh Lane to Horspath Driftway and the Eastern Bypass, as well as Old Road. Proposed changes include:

  • Junction improvements
  • New cycle lanes and crossings
  • New pedestrian crossings
  • Changes to on-street parking
  • New bus lanes
  • Localised road widening to accommodate the above bus and cycle improvements

The implementation of changes is planned for summer 2016 to spring 2018.

The changes are intended to

  • Manage growth in car traffic – planning for more walking, cycling and use of public transport
  • Support jobs growth in health, innovation and education by improving access to major sites such as hospitals and universities
  • Improving access to the major employment sites by sustainable modes
  • Promote health and wellbeing by reducing transport’s environmental impact

The area involved as described above is, as some will recall, part of both a Rapid Transit Bus Route and a Super Cycle Route put forward in LTP4.

It’s not possible to comment further without having seen the latest proposals. We can only hope that local input to LTP4 has been heard and taken into account in this latest genie-out-of-the-bottle scheme from the County.