Wallingford Town Hall cobbled front may be pedestrianised

Either bollards or plants boxes could be put in place in the cobbled area between the town hall and the war memorial, the mayor of Wallingford has said.

The plans – which are still dependent on a forthcoming public consultation – have been proposed after complaints that the town is “cluttered,” along with some larger buses causing damage to the building.

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Mayor of Wallingford Daniel Beauchamp said: “It’s early days yet, but one of the things we are hearing is that the town centre is too cluttered. There’s too much going on.

“The area in question is supposed to be for buses only, but people keep paring there and it reduces visibility. The general complaint is it’s making the town centre feel less safe.

Mayor of Wallingford Daniel Beauchamp (Image: Ed Nix)“The idea is that some sort of bollards or plant boxes could be put in place to make sure the existing rules – buses only – are enforced.

“It’s not pedestrianisation in the sense of shutting off the town centre, it’s just making it more safe and easier to walk across.”

Mr Beauchamp went on to describe the difficulties presented by bus travel in the cobbled area.

He added: "Previously we had two types of bus. Larger ones that go to Didcot, Henley and Oxford, and smaller ones that serve Goring and other areas.

The space outside Wallingford Town Hall

“We’ve had to stop the larger ones parking in front of the town hall because double deckers have hit the balcony over the main room of the building before.

“Now the only buses that can park are smaller buses. These are the ones that are supposed to use the area, but cars still block their way.

“The area is only about two car widths across, and it does sometimes cause near misses when cars go off and on at different angles. It all adds to the muddles in the town centre.”

Mr Beauchamp told the Herald that the council officer responsible for running the public consultation is currently off ill.

The idea to pedestrianise the front area of the town hall was first proposed by then-mayor Marcus Harris in a full council meeting last year.

He said the area and parts of the hall were being damaged by vehicles using it to park or unload goods for the surrounding businesses.

Mr Harris argued that pedestrianisation would keep the hall safe.

Two Thames Travel buses crashed into the Shellfish Cow restaurant in Wallingford High Street in November.

A spokesperson for bus company said its drivers had been experiencing issues in the area due to badly parked cars blocking the road.

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1