'LTNs should be introduced in Wallingford', says councillor

Pete Sudbury said that some types of traffic should be restricted from entering Blackstone Road and Norries Drive in the estate off St Georges Road in the north of the town.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) should be used to enforce the restrictions, he added, with fines issued to motorists who broke the rules.

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“If you ask a sat nav how to get to Didcot when you are in Shillingford, it will send you through these roads,” he said.

“You have massive lorries and HGVs using this normal residential road.

“If you have got a selective traffic filter, like an ANPR camera, it means people in Wallingford and Brightwell and nearby places can still use them, but HGV drivers will be fined.”

Bollards enforcing an LTN in East Oxford. Pete Sudbury suggested ANPR cameras should be used in Wallingford (Image: Ed Nix)

LTNs are already in place in Cowley, and last Tuesday, Oxfordshire County Council voted to keep the traffic calming measures in East Oxford.

Mr Sudbury, who was part of the cabinet which made the decision, said: “When I was reading the emails from people in Oxford about their previous experience before LTNs, I thought their horrible experiences are the same as people in these roads in Wallingford.”

Mr Sudbury has not yet approached Wallingford Town Council with his idea.

But he has urged the county’s highways chief, Andrew Gant, and county council officers to meet with the town’s representatives about the potential of introducing the measures.

There are no immediate plans for more LTNs in Oxford or Oxfordshire.

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But a county council spokesperson said the authority “was always open to discussing the needs of local communities”.

The introduction of LTNs in Oxford has been controversial. Business owners claim they reduce footfall, and some people warn they make traffic worse, not better.

The introduction of LTNs in Oxford has been controversial, with a protest held last week (Image: Albert Tait)

An anti-LTN protest was held before the meeting in Oxford last week, with Wallingford town councillor Steve Beatty among the hundred or so people who turned out with signs and banners.

He does not believe LTNs should be introduced in Wallingford.

He said: “It’s against freedom of movement. I pay my road tax for this.

“Some of the arguments on Tuesday (at the meeting in Oxford) were rubbish. Things like children not being able to play football in the streets. That’s what parks are for. Roads should be used by vehicles.”

Town mayor Dan Beauchamp said: “I am aware there are concerns in that area, about the fact that weight limits are not being respected.

“As to whether LTNs would be the right way, I couldn’t say for certain, but I would be interested to find out more about it.”