New bus gates costing £3m will be a 'catastrophe' for Oxford says top hotelier

A city-wide workplace parking levy, the new bus gates and a wider zero-emission zone are being proposed by Oxfordshire County Council to create a 'sustainable and reliable transport system in the city.

The council says the proposals will reallocate road space for pedestrians, cyclists and buses, and make travelling without a car 'an easier choice for everyone' but leading hotelier Jeremy Mogford says the camera-enforced bus gates - which ban ordinary traffic during the day - will harm businesses like his, which runs the Old Bank Hotel in High Street.

Read again: Bus gates will be like 'Berlin walls'

Mr Mogford, who company also runs Gees restaurant and the Old Parsonage Hotel, helps to run the new Oxford Business Action Group, which was eatablished to give traders a greater say in transport decision-making.

After claiming earlier that the new bus gates would be like 'Berlin walls', he said: "The bus gates will be a catastrophe for the city - they will create six zones - I am very worried about them.

"Increased parking charges alone are sending out a horrific negative message to the world at large about Oxford being inaccessible.

"It looks like the mission is to eliminate the car from the city."

Mr Mogford is hoping that if enough people object to the bus gate proposals during consultation this summer the plans will be scrapped - as they have been once before.

In October 2020 county council leaders dropped plans for two new bus gates after a majority of respondents said they were opposed to the plan or were unsure about it.

The two gates were originally due to be rolled out on a temporary basis between Hythe Bridge Street and Worcester Street, and between South Parks Road and St Cross Road.

Read more: Bus bosses hit out at plans to scrap bus gates 

A report to councillors at the time said: "Not proceeding with the temporary bus gate proposals carries the risk that the general principle of bus gates is perceived to have been tested with the public and stakeholders, and rejected.

"This can be relatively easily countered; both the autumn 2019 Connecting Oxford consultation and the recent online survey on the temporary bus gates reveal high levels of support for radical, traffic-reducing schemes in Oxford.

"Moreover, the concerns raised by residents, businesses and others should be possible to address (fully or partly) by refining the idea of bus gates as part of Connecting Oxford.

"This process will take time and resources, neither of which is available in the short term for the temporary bus gates, but is available for Connecting Oxford, following cabinet’s decision in January 2020."

Read again: High street bus gate fines top £6m

The six 'new' bus gate locations are: St Cross Road, Thames Street, Hythe Bridge Street, St Clements, Marston Ferry Road, Hollow Way.

The county council has not yet said what it will cost to install and run six new bus gates but it does not want to rely too heavily on the £70 fines for offsetting the cost.

The estimated cost for the two proposed bus gates in the previous plans was about £400,000 across two financial years, 2020/21 and 2021/22.

The city council was being asked to contribute about £30,000.

This time round the projected cost is much more - £3m.

A county council spokesman said: "Traffic filters are expected to improve bus journey times in the city and will lead to the introduction of 159 new electric buses in Oxford. 

"The projected cost is currently estimated to be £3m and will be largely funded by the bus service improvement plan grant.”

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This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF