Latest news with #countyCouncil
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Oxford could become first city in 20 years to launch congestion charge
Oxford, which has many narrow medieval streets, has been named as one of the most congested cities in the UK. The county council, run by the Liberal Democrats, has previously taken controversial steps to tackle the issue, including launching low-traffic neighbourhoods in parts of the city. Its cabinet will vote on the congestion charge proposal on June 17. If approved, a public consultation will begin on June 23, with the measures potentially being introduced by the autumn. The scheme would be enforced using automatic number plate recognition cameras at six key locations in the city but would only apply to cars. Other motor vehicles, including vans, HGVs and coaches, and cars with a permit, would be exempt. The council said it would help improve bus services in the area and make it easier for those with permits, including carers, traders and blue badge holders, to travel by car around the city. It insisted the charge would be temporary and would eventually be replaced by traffic filters, which limit through-traffic along a section of a road to certain modes of transport such as cars. A fine of £70 would apply to those who break the rules. The filters are intended to be introduced when Botley Road, a major street in the city that has been closed for more than two years, reopens in August 2026. Councils clash Oxford city council, a separate local authority, criticised the scheme. Susan Brown, the council's leader, said on Monday: 'There has been no engagement with businesses, residents or the city council until today – yet again the city is being done to rather than engaged with in preparing transport proposals. 'We are concerned that this scheme allows people who can afford to do so to buy access to our streets. Those who can't will struggle.' Andrew Gant, the county council's transport chief, described the city council's comments as 'disappointing'. He added: 'They may be reassured as they learn more about proposals to manage traffic in and around the city. The city council has asked us to take action and that is exactly what this is. 'The recommendation is to engage with businesses, residents and organisations on this idea for a congestion charge to improve bus services and travel around the city for everyone. 'Any revenue from this scheme would by law be spent on improving travel. This is a bespoke idea for Oxford, it is not the same as a London congestion charge.'
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Herefordshire bus lanes considered in local transport plan
Plans to make travelling by bus more attractive in Herefordshire have been set out by the county draft local transport plan covers the next 16 years and reveals council bosses are considering bus priority or bus-only access on certain streets to make bus services faster and more also raised the possibility of tackling delays caused by on-street parking on some roads in Phillip Price, cabinet member for transport and infrastructure, said any moves to install bus lanes were several years away. Price said: "You're not going to get bus lanes out in the rural sticks. You will get them possibly in Hereford, and that will be down to whether or not the infrastructure of Hereford allows it to happen."He added there would need to be further investigations on the roads before it was decided whether it was possible to put in bus lanes or not."Bus lanes need space, and until you have that space, you can't have bus lanes," he said."The ambition might be to do that, but the reality is you are not likely to get another river crossing and a bypass for at least until 2032; therefore, we're not going to be doing any bus lanes until we have that space to do it." Parking 'critical' In Ross-on-Wye, concern had been raised over possible restrictions to on-street parking. Three roads mentioned in the plan were Cantilupe Road, Gloucester Road and the High Charles, who has a shop on Gloucester Road, said parking outside her shop was vital and people used it "all the time".She said: "It's quite critical, really, to the dynamic of the town centre. People have got half an hour to come in and perhaps browse in the shop or perhaps pick up something they need in the town."Consultation on the plan is ongoing, and people can give their views until 5 June. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
07-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
What now for Nottinghamshire County Council after Reform win?
What now for county council after shock Reform win? 15 minutes ago Share Save Hugh Casswell Political reporter, BBC Nottingham Share Save BBC Victorious Reform UK candidates speaking to the media on Friday Early on Friday morning, before a single result was actually confirmed, my phone started to buzz with sources from various parties telling me their predictions from before polling day - that Reform UK would gain a handful of Nottinghamshire seats - might have been wide of the mark. The only party which had been backing Reform to win enough to take control of the county council was Reform themselves. As the day went on, their confidence was proven to be well-placed, but even they were surprised by the scale of their victory - "I had to pinch myself", as one successful candidate told me. But with a new party now set to take control of the levers of a council that's responsible for everything from social care to road maintenance, there are a lot of questions about what exactly they'll do with those levers. Nottinghamshire County Council The scale of Reform's win can be seen in the county's changing political map For one thing, we don't yet know who the council leader will be. Other parties came into the election with group leaders who, had their party won enough seats, would have become leader of the council. Reform, on the other hand, had just the one incumbent - John Doddy. As a de facto spokesperson, he told me on Friday that Reform councillors would pick a leader from among their ranks "in the next 24 hours". That doesn't appear to have happened, and now we're told to expect a group meeting next Monday during which there should be a leadership vote. When asked, Doddy didn't deny his interest in the role, but added he didn't expect to be the only candidate. "I have every expectation that when I say 'who would like to lead the group?', I could get 30 hands going up," he said. "These are newly elected, ambitious people who want to make the most of their opportunity, so although I've got twelve years knowledge and I'm the most experienced individual there, I do not expect to have a free run." "I expect it'll be more like the Grand National." The other name I have most often heard linked to the leadership is Mick Barton - a former Mansfield Independent councillor who joined Reform last year. He's been a Mansfield district councillor for several years, and is the current leader of the Reform group on that authority, but won a seat in the Mansfield East division of the county council last week by a comfortable margin. How will the county council be different under Reform's leadership? Until there is a leader in place, it's somewhat harder to judge exactly what a Reform-led council will look like, but there have been clues from some of the party's senior figures. The Reform MP for Ashfield, Lee Anderson, has told the BBC the first thing they will do is "look at where the money's being spent and see what savings we can make". "They've got big budgets, millions of pounds on these net zero teams. We need to look at that closely, scrap some of these roles and use this money to spend on frontline services." He also suggested most council workers will not be allowed to work from home. "You're employed to work from an office. It's taxpayer's money, they pay your wages," he said. "They need to be in the office, they need to be mixing with staff, they need to be monitored, some of them." "Some of them can work alone, and there's always going to be a case for the odd one to work from home if they've got some problems at home, but the vast majority should be in the workplace doing the job they're paid to do." Whoever gets the leadership job, everything will have to be confirmed in time for the first full council meeting of the new administration, scheduled for 22 May. Two council seats are yet to be contested following the death of Mansfield North candidate Karen Seymour, with a by-election set to take place in June. Follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.
