I hope everyone had a good summer, or what passed for summer this year. Please find a report from me on some of the current County Council related issues:
Roads
Oxford
You will, I am sure, have read that Network Rail have failed to meet the timetable they committed to as Oxford Station is rebuilt. That is, to put it mildly, extremely disappointing. Botley Road remains closed to motor vehicles at the railway bridge, and we await Network Rail telling us the new expected opening date. In the meantime, the current bus arrangements, which work well, are continuing to be in operation.
A40
Discussions with Homes England continue relating to the A40 improvement project. Once Homes England release the money promised, the Park and Ride junctions and bus lanes can be completed.
You may recall that the P&R itself is financed by a different government agency, as part of the Science Corridor project which is largely paying for the junctions at Oxford North and in Witney. The new government has promised a more joined-up way of funding projects, and that is to be welcomed. It is worth stressing that the P&R was built prior to the other funding being released in order to ensure that it wasn’t affected by inflation, and to ensure that no Oxfordshire Council Taxpayer money has been used on the project. That includes the current maintenance costs, which are bundled into the government funding.
The fundamental issue has been that the project used two unconnected pots of money, and neither government pot was inflation indexed. That is what was inherited by the current administration, and although the situation is frustrating, it is the best that could be done with what we were left.
Although Eynsham people are unlikely to use the P&R, we will benefit from increased and quicker bus services, an improved bike lane, and significant improvements to the Eynsham roundabout and the traffic lights at Cassington.
Buses
Reliability measures
As Botley Road is one of the key routes into Oxford, the knock-on effect of the closure is that the bus improvement schemes which were due to commence have had to be postponed. It is vital that bus movement in Oxford is prioritised, along with active travel, and it is a shame that there will be a delay in being able to put the filter scheme in place. The filters will permit people to drive to anywhere that they currently can drive to but will create cleared key routes for buses.
New capped multi-company fares
With support from the County Council, the bus companies in Oxfordshire have agreed to combined ticketing, with a maximum daily or weekly fare. The daily cap is £6.50 for adults and £3.50 for under 18s. A weekly ticket is £25.00 and £14.50.
That includes local buses from more rural areas, as well as routes in the city, and between the major towns. The First and Last Bus services from Standlake to Eynsham and to Hanborough Station
Find out about MyBus Oxfordshire tickets at About (mybusoxfordshire.org.uk)
The government will be announcing that local authorities will be able to franchise buses services in their areas. They are unlikely to provide funding that would enable this to make a substantive difference to local services, but we will keep the situation under review.
Democracy
The Electoral Commission has completed its final report on Electoral arrangements for the County Council, which Parliament will approve in time for the May 2025 elections.
This has redrawn the county divisions, to reflect population movements since the last review. There will be a new Carterton South and Bampton division, which will contain Aston, Yelford and Standlake, while Northmoor and Stanton Harcourt will be part of the new Eynsham Division.
This follows closely after the first parliamentary election under the new boundaries, and will be followed by an Electoral Commission review of the district boundaries in the next year or so.
As ever, please do contact me at dan.levy@oxfordshire.gov.uk.