Cabinet Member for Transport Cllr Andrew Gant, of Oxfordshire County Council, has dropped two proposed residents’ parking schemes – Abingdon Centre North and the Ock Street area – after overwhelming public opposition.
An informal consultation last November was followed by a formal one over the summer, which drew a heavily negative response. Officers compiled the feedback into a record-breaking 2,500-page agenda document – 1,393 pages on the Abingdon schemes alone, two-thirds from Ock Street.
At the meeting, four people spoke against the proposals in person and two via the internet including the owner of Reeves’s (correction sorry) Fish and Chip Shop, who warned the restrictions would pose the greatest threat to the business in its 100-year history. (Other potential objectors knew officers were already recommending rejection; otherwise many more might have addressed the meeting.)
Cllr Andrew Gant asked few questions about the schemes themselves but asked on behalf of one resident about some double yellow lines that had not been dropped. He also asked about the contrast between informal and formal consultation results.
In the end, he backed officers’ recommendations to scrap both schemes, apart from a few minor details that will go ahead. For many residents the decision will come as a relief – though it leaves open whether months of work and worry have been a worthwhile exercise. Officers do deserve credit for including every response in that record breaking document. It shows democracy in action. Only one print was made.
