Traders are calling for an urgent review of the impact traffic filters will have on small businesses in the city.

Many small business owners are worried about how the measures could affect trade, and that customers travelling by car will find it harder to reach them.

The county council has said it will trial camera-operated travel filters after Botley Road reopens, which aim to reduce traffic, reduce local air pollution and make roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

And the Real Independent Group has proposed a motion on the impact of the traffic filters for the upcoming Oxford City Council meeting on Monday, November 25.

READ MORE: Wallingford residents voice objections to 400 new homes plan

The motion calls for the city council to create its own independent survey to measure the economic impact of traffic filters with particular focus on the impact it has on business turnover and staff numbers.

The responses would be collected through council-organised surveys and face-to face business forums.

(Image: Oxford Mail) The motion was put forward by Councillor Saj Malik and seconded by Mohammed Azad, who both represent the Temple Cowley ward.

Niaz Ali, co-owner of Holloway Autoparts which lies on one of the roads where the county council will trial traffic filters, said customers had already asked how they would access the business.

He said: “It has not been made clear how [customers] will get to us. A lot of them think the road will be shut off.”

He added that motion is a good start, but the survey should have been done earlier in the process.

“When they made all these proposals, a survey should have been the first though, not an afterthought," Mr Ali said. 

“They are putting things in place that could wreck lives because of the decisions councillors have made.”

“The motion will help because it might actually force them to think about it.”

Bernadette Evans, spokeswoman for Oxford Business Action Group, said: "We’re so pleased to see Independent councillors like Saj Malik and Mohammed Azad making a stand for Oxford’s independent high street businesses. 

“Small business owners tell us they feel neither seen, heard nor understood by the council. 

“At the Oxford Business Action Group, we’ve spoken to hundreds of shop owners in person over the last few months to ask them their views on the impending traffic filters, and overwhelmingly there is huge concern about the inevitable negative impact on trade when it’s made harder for customers to reach them by car. 

“There is a feeling that the council just couldn’t care less about what happens to them. 

“Our ask is simple: a council which has a ‘high street first’ policy and acknowledges that Oxford’s incredible shop owners are the backbone of our communities."

(Image: Oxford City Council.) The county council plan to put traffic filters on six roads in Oxford, including St Cross Road, Thames Street, Hythe Bridge Street, St. Clement’s Street, Marston Ferry Road and Hollow Way.

Local businesses previously expressed concerns over the county council’s plans to remove parking bays on Hollow Way, which they say would make it harder for customers who travel by car to get there.

Mr Malik organised a meeting with business owners to discuss the issue on Monday, October 21.

More than 100 businesses in Oxford signed a petition calling for the county council to listen to them, and to create a small business champion within the county council.

They presented the petition to the full Oxfordshire County Council meeting on Tuesday, November 5.

Help support trusted local news 

Sign up for a digital subscription now: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/subscribe/

As a digital subscriber you will get:      

  • Unlimited access to the Oxford Mail website   
  • Advert-light access       
  • Reader rewards       
  • Full access to our app

About the author  

Esme is a Local Democracy Reporter covering politics, planning and council meetings across the county. 

She joined the Oxford Mail in October 2024 after completing a Master's in Journalism at the University of Sheffield.

Esme achieved a BA in History at Cambridge University before going down the journalism path.

She can be found on X by searching @esme_kenney.