Air Quality Action Plan for Botley

At the full council meeting on Feb 2014, I tabled this motion, (seconded by Cllr Catherine Webber of Marcham):

Council resolves to fulfil its legal responsibility to create Air Quality Action Plans for Botley and for Marcham.

We ran out of time at that meeting, so the motion was carried forward to the next one, on 14 May 14, where I had this to say:

Botley AQMA was created in 2008.

In 2009, the official report said nitrogen oxide levels needed to be reduced by 40%. The plan was to hope that improved emissions control in new vehicles would bring air pollution to acceptable levels by 2014.

In April 2012, the Air Quality Updating & Assessment report concluded an AQMA plan was required. (It was clear at that point that hope as a strategy wasn’t enough.)

In May 2012, I asked, ‘With planned growth comes increased cars, street deterioration and air pollution. Botley is an AQMA. How will the Vale manage the impact of more development on air quality?’ I had no reply.

In July 2013, I asked the Cabinet member for Environmental Health to report on the efficacy of the Action Plan and where the public could see it. There was no plan, but the Cabinet member said he had asked officers to create one for the Oct 2013 Cabinet briefing.

In Sep 2013, I was sent a DEFRA report that said the AQAP for Botley was in draft form and would shortly go for consultation.

In late October 2013, I again asked in full council meeting how the Vale would mitigate against the anticipated air pollution brought about by the major new shopping centre where Elms Parade and West Way now stand. The Cabinet member said he would reply in writing, but I never got anything.

Here it is February May 2014, and I don’t see an Action Plan – nothing on the Vale website, nothing in my inbox.

We’re legally required to create this Air Quality Action Plan. We also have a moral responsibility to the people who live and work in Botley. Please support the motion.

This motion passed, and the Cabinet member for Environmental Health has said he’s trying his best to get it done.

Since then, officers have published an AQAP for South Oxfordshire, and I hear one for the Vale is due soon. It covers all the bad air areas in the Vale, and will be open for consultation as soon as it’s published. Any day now, I’m sure. Really.

Oxford Bus Route 4

I happened to run into the Route 4 Manager from Oxford Bus Company. He got onto the bus as I did. We got to chatting, as you do.

We talked about the problems at the corner of Lime Road and Laburnum Road (see what I wrote about that here).

We talked about their decision to discontinue the 4C service (more info here).

We talked about the friendliness and helpfulness of the drivers. I think they are both of those things, usually. Do you?

We talked about how the online timetable is unreliable for the Lime Road and Arnolds Way stops. (Try it here.)

And we talked about some roadworks planned in Oxford for Easter time. A sewer pipe replacement is planned, requiring the closure of Park End Street just past (to the east of) Frideswide Square. He wasn’t sure exactly what they’ll do, but it seems likely all route 4 buses will have to go around Oxpens Road to get to the city centre. A few bus stops will have to be temporarily closed. Inconvenience is assured.

 

Oxford Bus discontinues 4C route

Oxford Bus Company has decided to discontinue the 4C service that runs between Dean Court and Wood Farm, from 26 Jan 14.

From what Mr Southall, Operations Director for Oxford Bus Company, says here, I expect radical improvement in reliability of the 4, 4A and 4B buses. I also fear we dare not complain about their services, or they will cancel the other routes.

The North Hinksey Parish Clerk, Alan Stone, provided this letter he got from them.

Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2014 16:04:39 +0000
Subject: Re: 4C Bus Service
From: phil.southall@oxfordbus.co.uk
To: nhpcclerk@msn.com
Dear Mr Stone


There are no changes happening to service 4 until 26 January 2014. 
At the moment I have notified the local Councillor for the area so 
that she is aware of our plans in advance of wider publicity. A 
press release has now also gone out in the Oxford Mail and The 
County Council is also aware of our plans. We have put notices on 
the buses and at bus stops to inform people in more detail about 
the changes. Timetables will also be available from tomorrow.




Coming to the reasons for the change, I have received a lot of 
complaints about the reliability of service 4 over the last twelve 
months so my team has reviewed where the problems are happening, 
at what times and what can be done to try and resolve them. 
Whatever we do with the service the increasing congestion on the 
Botley Road and getting through the City Centre are always going 
to be key challenges on the route. All we can do for these elements 
is to review what the average running time is an adjust the time-
tables accordingly and we have done this for the new timetable at 
certain times of the day.




However, in addition to the above the two other main problems 
identified have been:


1) Buses getting stuck at Wood Farm due to inconsiderate parking.


2) Buses on the Botley side of the city having a different experience
on each trip as one bus an hour goes to Dean Court, two buses an hour
go to Cumnor on an uneven frequency - one of which extends to Abingdon
and three buses per hour terminate at Elm's Rise. This means that 
buses run together more often than we would like when delays occur.




To resolve point 1) we will be changing the route in Wood Farm.




To resolve point 2) I plan to revise service 4 to serve Elm's Rise 
every 20 minutes and Cumnor every 20 minutes (with one an hour extending
through to Abingdon) giving the co-ordinated service every ten minutes 
from where service 4A joins Cumnor Hill at Arnold's Way. Unfortunately 
this means that Oxford Bus Company will no longer be serving Dean Court 
and the service 4C service variant is being withdrawn. The patronage 
on this section of route is much lower than on the other sections.




What this means for Dean Court residents is that those living closer 
to the north of the area can walk through to Cumnor Hill and receive 
a bus every 10-minutes into Oxford on services 4/4A. Those living towards 
the south of the area will have to use the frequency Stagecoach services 
that stop on Eynsham Road. All stops are within 400m, the 'acceptable' 
walking distance that planners use when looking at services and as is 
laid down by Central Government. It is not true to say that all the 
issues are at the other end of the route.




I can assure you that these changes have been made to try and improve 
the reliability of service 4 overall. I do appreciate that residents 
of Dean Court may not be happy with the changes but when planning 
services we have to cater for lots of conflicting demands whilst 
trying to keep services a simple proposition for our customers.




I should also point out that when an operator makes a commercial decision 
that they cannot provide a service in any given area, there is a statutory 
obligation on Oxfordshire County Council to assess if there is a 
'social need' for a replacement service and I would encourage you to 
contact them to see what the outcome of this decision is.




I'm afraid that this decision cannot be reversed as we have given the 
statutory 56 days notice to the Traffic Commissioner to change the service.




Yours sincerely


Phil Southall


Operations Director

			
			
		

		


			

				
A34 Wytham Embankment Maintenance

				

			


			
I received a notice from the Highways Agency. It says:


…We will be undertaing essential safety improvement work on the A34 southbound embankment, approximately 50 metres south of the Wytham Godstow Flyover. Badger excavations have destabilised the area adjacent to the existing safety barrier, and to ensure continued road user safety, we will be carrying out embankment strengthening work over a distance of approximately 30 metres along the southbound carriageway verge in order to protect the badger sett and stabilise the embankment.


To ensure work is carried out in accordance with the badger licence issued by Natural England, an ecologist will be supervising the works each night.


The work is programmed to start on Monday 17 October 2011, and should take approximately one week to complete, weather permitting. For the safety of our workforce and other road users, work will be carried out at night between 9pm and 5am, when traffic flows are at their lowest. During these hours there will be a lane closure on the southbound carriageway.


I would like to apologise in advance for any disturbance or inconvenience cause by the works. I would like to emphasise, however, that the Highways Agency and its contractors work to strict procedures to ensure minimal noise at night.


Should you require any further information regarding this scheme, please contact the Highwys Agency Information line on 0300 123 5000 or email them at ha_infor@highways.gsi.gov.uk

			
			
		

		


			

				
Free Town Centre Parking – Consultation

				

			


			
This was circulated to local councillors today. When it says ‘towns’ it particularly refers to Abingdon, Faringdon and Wantage. Parking at West Way Shopping Centre in Botley is already free. There’s a link at the bottom to more information.




A consultation has been launched on proposals to changes to council parking in the Vale of White Horse District Council area.


 


Residents,  businesses and visitors to the area are being given the chance to have  their say on plans that could see a free period of two hours being  introduced to help boost the local economy in the Vale’s towns.




 


Councillor  Matthew Barber, leader of Vale of White Horse District Council, said:  “The big change being proposed is the two hours of free parking – this  has the potential to benefit both residents and businesses in the area’s  towns.


 


“If things  go to plan we will be able to implement the changes by the start of  December which will be great news for anyone shopping or doing business  in the run-up to Christmas.


 


“For many people two hours is enough to go shopping or attend appointments. Very few places in the UK are this generous, but we need to know what people locally think.


 


“There are  also some other detailed changes being proposed that are needed to help  us run the car parks efficiently but, again, we are asking for people’s  views before anything is decided.”


 


The 21 day consultation period has now begun. 


To find out more about the proposed changes and to submit your views visit www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/haveyoursay, email carparks@southandvale.gov.uk or you can view the documents at White Horse District Council’s  offices, Abbey House, Abbey Close, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3JE or  phone 01235 547665.