RESIDENTS living on the peripheral roads of a traffic calming scheme have said their quality of life has worsened since the measure was introduced.

The controversial Low Traffic Neighbourhoods were introduced to Church Cowley, Temple Cowley, and Florence Park in March by Oxfordshire County Council as an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order.

The trial is set to stay in place until November at the earliest, however, could remain until March 2022 if prolonged.

Read here: 20mph speed limits and improved cycle routes could be introduced if plans approved

Locals living on Henley Road, which lies adjacent to the Florence Park LTN, said that congestion and traffic pollution has increased on their road.

An elderly lady, who also lives on the street said: “Certainly my quality of life has gone down – I do not know where I can cross the road and there are awful fumes from the traffic now.

“And I understand the benefits for other people, but it’s the people on Henley Avenue that are paying for these advantages.”

Henley Avenue residents have said that they were not properly consulted before the trial and that the council only focused on those living on streets where traffic filters were placed.

She added: “They just asked the people who were going to benefit from it, and they never asked people who were going to suffer from it and that is not how democracy works I’m afraid.”

Another resident, Edward Glover added: “What we would like is an objective consultation that would take into account the views of people in the LTNS, but those who are adversely affected because it seems that the county council is concerned that people should be in a better environment so they can walk, cycle and so that there is less pollution.

Read here: Britain's first Zero Emission Zone to launch in Oxford next year

“My main concern is that this has been undemocratic because the county council failed to make a proper assessment of what the impact of traffic would be on the peripheral roads.”

In order to provide ‘evidence’ for the ‘complaints’ Henley Avenue residents conducted a survey.

The online survey, created on SurveyMonkey, was sent to 500 residents in the LTN area in which over 32 per cent responded.

Of the 162 that did respond to the online survey, 54 per cent said that both the traffic and road pollution in their area had become ‘much worse’ since the trial began.

A spokesperson for the council said: “The measures introduced on Henley Avenue are part of a wider programme of measures designed to create quiet neighbourhoods where residents can enjoy their street and feel safer when making local journeys on foot or by bike.

“These works are, by their nature, experimental and therefore subject to change and adaptation going forward.

“Feedback from residents and road users will be key to ensuring that we meet our objective of a safer and healthier environment for everyone and we encourage those affected to keep talking to us about their experiences.

“Our consultation on this LTN remains open via our website for people to have their say.”

To add your views visit https://letstalk.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cowleyltn2021