It has been a long time coming but, at long last, Oxfordshire County Council has unveiled its plans to fully transform the centre of Oxford into a pedestrian zone.

In the mid 1990s we were promised great things of the Oxford Transport Strategy. Cars were banished from the centre of Oxford and Cornmarket Street turned over to pedestrians.

However, delays and disasters over the paving of Cornmarket, the lack of any progress towards pedestrianisation of Queen Street and Broad Street, and the growing dominance of buses in the High and Queen Street combined to leave many wondering just how much Oxford had benefited.

The vision foundered on a lack of money and the inability to forge a path through all the competing interests in Oxford city centre.

On the grounds that it is better late than never, we applaud the county council for its Transform Oxford proposal. It goes further than we ever thought the council would.

In particular, we applaud the council's stated commitment to the scheme.

Council leader Keith Mitchell and cabinet member for transport Ian Hudspeth attracted some criticism this week for their bullish stance.

Some have interpreted this as a lack of commitment to consultation.

Of course, the council must undertake extensive consultation into this scheme. In particular, there will be sensitive issues to resolve around access for those with disabilities and the elderly.

However, if a scheme of this magnitude is to be implemented successfully, it will need a single-minded sense of purpose from the council.

There are some big competing interests in the city centre — the University, colleges, traders and last — but certainly not least — the bus companies.

Up until now, there has been endless talking and no agreement about how the centre of Oxford can be improved.

It is time for action.