A “climate of fear” has led to householders in Oxford holding back from challenging the city’s traffic filter plans as councillors have spoken of receiving death threats over the heated issue.
Traffic filters, which are intended to reduce traffic levels in the city, will be trialled on six streets in Oxford once Network Rail’s work to improve Oxford rail station is completed and Botley Road is re-opened, expected to be in autumn 2024.
The filters will be trialled on St Cross Road, Thames Street, Hythe Bridge Street, St Clement’s, Marston Ferry Road and Hollow Way and are part of Oxfordshire County Council’s plan for reducing congestion and improving bus journey times.
READ MORE: Lib Dems criticised for sending 'fake' Oxfordshire newspaper
However, city and county councillors on both sides of the debate have described the political environment as “toxic”, with many fearing that climate change ambitions have led to a “silencing” of householders who fear the consequences of speaking out.
Leader of the Conservative Party’s county council group Eddie Reeves said the situation had become so bad in recent weeks that residents and business owners were now “increasingly living in a climate of fear in which they can no longer ask reasonable questions of the council”.
READ MORE: Dirty fans used to cool food at Oxfordshire Chinese takeaway
Mr Reeves said Oxford was being turned into a “camera-controlled city, ostensibly for climate change reasons” and yet he fears the traffic filters will still penalise those who chose to make the transition to low emission vehicles.
He said: “The policy appears to be designed in such a way that will see motorists fined for driving low emission vehicles, while allowing more polluting buses to travel freely.
“Are traffic filters a climate change measure designed to encourage people towards low-emissions transport?
“Or are they a convenient cover for fining motorists and supporting bus companies?
“It cannot be both.”
READ MORE: Man in 30s rushed to Oxford hospital with 'stab wound'
The council agreed to introduce the trial last November and under the plans, motorists will be fined for passing through the bus gates without permission, forcing them onto the already overstressed ring road to travel to other parts of the city.
Clinton Pugh, the father of Hollywood actress – and Oppenheimer movie star – Florence Pugh, has been a vocal critic of the county council’s traffic measures, blaming the East Oxford low traffic neighbourhood scheme and the loss of parking for decimating trade at his Cowley Road restaurants.
Mr Pugh still owns Café Coco and Kazbar but blamed the LTNs for losing his Café Tarifa venue.
He said: “You just get bullied so no one can put their opinion over.
“No one is against a greener and cleaner Oxford.
"We are just against this one shoe fits all approach.”
Mr Pugh said speaking out against the council’s traffic policies had cost him “hundreds of thousands of pounds” and he was “still hurting” from the damage they had inflicted on his livelihood.
Anne Stares, a Littlemore householder, said the “majority” in Oxford were “extremely unhappy” as the “council was not listening” and “making livelihoods even more difficult and in some cases impossible”.
She said: “It has become increasingly difficult for residents and business owners to even raise objections, especially online, without being shouted down and bullied by a minority group of anti-car activists hell bent on silencing free speech.”
READ MORE: Oxford: Council forced to replace 'hideous' bike hangar
Jeremy Mogford, the owner of Old Bank Hotel in High Street and Old Parsonage Hotel in Banbury Road, said a “climate of fear” had been fostered by “certain representatives of both councils, with a clear intention not to engage in a debate as to whether they are right and wrong”.
He said: “There has been an arrogant dismissal, on the part of certain councillors, of anyone daring to speaking up for business and our unique Oxford brand.”
Mr Mogford warned businesses in the city were experiencing a “catastrophic decline in takings” and this “jeopardised their very existence”.
READ MORE: Oxford: Teenager killed by falling tree in park named
However, the county council’s cabinet member for climate change Dr Pete Sudbury argued there was a “silent majority” in favour of LTNs and traffic filters.
Dr Sudbury said the “toxicity” in Oxford’s traffic filter debates had led him to start fearing for the safety of his family.
He said cabinet members had received death threats in response to the traffic filters plans.
In December last year, the city and county councils were forced to issue an emergency statement due to councillors and staff receiving abuse after inaccurate information circulated online about traffic filters.
This misinformation centred around linking the 15-minute neighbourhood proposal with the traffic filters, suggesting that both aimed to confine people to their local area.
Dr Sudbury said there was a “silent majority” in favour of the traffic filters which had “moderate views”, but he criticised “the unhinged on both sides who make the noise”.
Green Party and city councillor Emily Kerr said “frustration from a minority of people often spills over into personal abuse”, whilst Labour and city councillor Linda Smith said conspiracy theories had left householders “very wrongfully fearful about their civil liberties being taken away”.
Ms Smith however warned that politicians should stray away from giving the “peddlers of crank conspiracy theories and climate change denial the oxygen of publicity”.
County council cabinet member for travel Duncan Enright said: “We recognise the strength of feeling around these topics, and I want to assure residents and businesses that we welcome their questions.
"These don’t have to be made in a public forum; the council can be emailed in confidence if people would prefer to discuss issues privately.
“Traffic filters are intended to reduce congestion, make bus journeys faster and more reliable, and make walking and cycling safer and more convenient.
"They are designed to work with other traffic management measures, such as the zero emission zone, to give us cleaner air and healthier streets.
"By the time the traffic filters trial is planned to begin in autumn next year, nearly 70 per cent of bus mileage in Oxford will be operated with zero emission electric buses, with almost all of the remaining mileage operated by low emission diesel vehicles.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel