Oxford councillor raises concerns over county council listening on cycling safety

The concerns come following the recent deaths of cyclists Dr Ling Felce at The Plain roundabout and Ellen Moilanen, who died near Oxford Parkway Station.

At Oxford City Council’s full council meeting on March 21, councillor Sajjad Malik asked deputy leader Tom Hayes how many times he has raised concerns about the The Plain to the county council.  

READ MORE: Council bosses call for urgent changes at The Plain roundabout

Mr Malik referenced Twitter comments made by Mr Hayes which said the county council did not listen to his “concerns” when it was designed.  

The vigil at Oxford Parkway Photos: Cyclox

In a written response, Mr Hayes said: “Since May 2021 I have raised the lack of safety at The Plain roundabout with Oxfordshire County Council on at least three occasions. I have raised the lack of safety for cyclists within other parts of the city, including the St Clement’s ward I represent.

“Oxfordshire County Council are taking forward a series of cycling investments in the city, and I have influenced these as I have also influenced other cycling measures including the intervention on Magdalen Bridge.”

In the meeting, Mr Malik further questioned “what is going on” in relation to action on cycling safety.

Mr Hayes added: “They are listening, we have been in touch with the county council about cycling safety.

“We have heard positively from the county council in the days since the tragic death that happened at The Plain roundabout and I would say at this point in time the leader of the county council clearly wants to improve cycling safety at the Plain roundabout and is prepared to put steps in place to achieve that.

“Clearly, the words matter but the action matters more – and so with the passing of time and the actions we have called for we will be looking for the county council to implement the steps that we have asked for.”

Hundreds of people gathered at the vigil for Dr Ling Felce. Picture: Ed Nix

Following this, Mr Malik questioned Mr Hayes assertions that “cyclists will be much safer when road space can be reclaimed from private car use” by pointing out that the recent deaths were caused by heavy goods vehicles.

Mr Hayes said: “You are right that heavy goods vehicles are responsible for recent deaths and I have written to the county council to express a wish that they act on that but I don’t want to lose the point that I made in my answer which is that all private vehicles on our very narrow medieval roads can cause cyclists to feel very unsafe.”

-

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445.