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Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council have released a joint statement following a wave of misinformation online surrounding the proposed traffic filters which resulted in staff and councillors being subjected to abuse. In their statement, the councils state that they are ‘working with Thames Valley Police to report the most extreme abuse’ faced, as well as dispelling some of the claims made online about the scheme.
Supported by the Oxford City Council, the Oxfordshire County Council has proposed the trial installation of traffic filters on six roads within Oxford, set to begin in 2024. The traffic filters will be similar to standard traffic cameras which read number plates, fining drivers without an exemption or residents’ permit if they pass the filter at certain times of the day. The traffic filters aim to reduce congestion on specific roads by encouraging drivers to take alternate routes at the busiest times of the day. This concept was first introduced in the 2015 Oxford Transport Strategy, though it has since undergone some changes following feedback from residents.
The change will not affect buses, taxis, cyclists, or pedestrians, as well as blue badge holders, the emergency services, health workers, and care workers. The councils’ statement notes that ‘people receiving frequent hospital treatments will also be eligible to drive through the filters’. Residents of Oxford and some local villages will be able to apply for permits to drive through the filters on up to 100 days of the year, with other Oxfordshire residents being able to drive through on up to 25 days of the year. The councils stress that residents can still drive to every part of the city at any time, albeit via different routes should they wish to drive there between 7am and 7pm.
Oxfordshire County Council states that this plan aims to ‘reduce traffic levels and congestion, make the buses faster and more reliable, and make cycling and walking safer and more pleasant’. This is particularly pertinent as 30% of Oxford households do not own a car.
However, misinformation surrounding the traffic filters has circulated online recently, linking the scheme to the city council’s 15-minute neighbourhoods proposal which was included in their Local Plan 2040. 15-minute neighbourhoods (also known as 15-minute cities) are an urban model designed to be ‘people-centred’, allowing people to access amenities such as shops, schools, and healthcare within a 15-minute walk from their home.
The organisation Not Our Future claims that the traffic filters and control over 15-minute neighbourhoods will prevent residents from leaving their local area. They believe that this is part of a larger plan to limit freedom of movement following the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Not Our Future has organised ‘a day of organised action’ on Sunday 8th January, during which volunteers will distribute leaflets to homes in the Oxford City Council area which will ‘[inform] residents that coerced 15 minute neighbourhoods are the thin end of the wedge’. Though they state that they will not be protesting on 8th January, they do add that there will be a protest on February 18th. The organisation claims that the strategy is not based in democracy, and has criticised the ‘proposed control grid that will be used to enforce them’, labelling the process as ‘coercion’.
However, Oxford City Council maintains that a consultation on the proposals was carried out between 5th September and 13th October 2022, receiving 5,700 responses, as well as meetings taking place with businesses across the city. Whilst some responses to the consultation expressed concerns surrounding local businesses and increased journey times, the Council add in the statement that ‘the feedback received resulted in a number of updates to the scheme’.
A final decision on whether the traffic filters will become a permanent fixture will be reached following the trial of the scheme.