ORGANISERS of a protest against traffic calming measures have said they want to hold a public meeting so the voices of those opposed to them can be heard.

A protest against plans for new Low Traffic Neighbourhoods was held on Manzil Way, off Cowley Road, last Saturday (June 19).

Three of the LTNs already exist in Cowley, and use planters and bollards to turn former through-roads into makeshift cul-de-sacs.

Oxfordshire County Council has plans for more in residential streets off Cowley Road, sparking the weekends protests by businesses and residents worried about the impact on trade and traffic.

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Now, one of the organisers of those protests, Mazhar Dogar, has called for the newly-elected Oxfordshire County Council administration to come to a public meeting and discuss the proposed LTNs.

Mr Dogar said: "We want a public meeting - maybe in town hall - wherever it is we will come. We want to be heard, we want them to look people in the eye.

"We could do it at Manzil Way Park even, then we can hear what the businesses say, what the mosques say, what the churches say, what the residents say."

Several hundred people took part in last weekend's demonstration against the new LTNs off Cowley Road.

Businesses along the road felt they had not been properly told about the plans, or asked for their opinions about them, and residents from nearby streets like Divinity Road had concerns about where new bollards would be placed.

The LTNs proposed for East Oxford have been in the pipeline since late last summer, when the then-Conservative run Oxfordshire County Council won nearly £2.98m from the Government to fund them.

The cash, from the Emergency Active Travel Fund, has to be spent by March 2022.

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While the former Tory-run county council supported the plans, Oxford's local Conservative associations have come out against them.

The chair of the East Oxford Conservative Association, Mark Bhagwandin, has even vowed to write to the Government, asking for the active travel funding not to be given to Oxfordshire County Council.

"It cannot be right that taxpayers’ money is used on lunatic schemes which damage the environment, hit struggling businesses and risk workers’ jobs," he said.

The county council said last week it will not implement any new LTNs in the city until all businesses and residents in areas affected by them have had a say.

In a statement published last week, the new coalition council said it plans to consult more intensively on the plans than its predecessor did.

The Oxfordshire Fair Deal Alliance said it had 'inherited' transport plans, including the three Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in Cowley, from the previous Conservative Independent Alliance controlled council, and did not want to be responsible for 'top-down programmes' but 'change that comes from people'.

It added there were 'very legitimate concerns' from some people in the community, saying it would set up a new digital platform where people could share their worries about LTNs, which would then be listened to more closely than in the past.

The council also plans to post leaflets on LTNs to areas affected by them across Oxford, including those outside of them where traffic flows instread.

Its statement added: "We will not implement any more experimental schemes before this is complete and we have heard from people across the city, and with those beyond the city who work and travel there, about the best integrated measures to improve travel."

The LTNs in Cowley have been warmly welcomed by many in the local community, but people living in areas around the neighbourhood have said there has been more traffic on main roads since they were rolled out.

A decision about whether the new LTNs is due to be made next month by county council cabinet member for highways management, Tim Bearder.