News from Last Time

October 2024

Pedestrianisation is back!

Two weeks ago a press release arrived out of the blue from the mayor's office which took almost everyone by surprise, including, by all accounts, those running Westminster Council. In a display of jaw-dropping audacity Mayor Khan sought to override Westminster Council and its democratically elected representatives to satisfy his own long held desire to see a pedestrianised Oxford Street.

As with the last time around, he chose to announce his intention from the John Lewis roof garden. This time the reason given was that he was “embarrassed” at the state of Oxford Street and he wanted to rescue it from “managed decline”.

To facilitate this he now wants to go even further than last time and set up a Oxford Street Development Corporation (see article below). This “Mayoral Development Area” would start with the section between Oxford Circus and Orchard Street, just west of Selfridges.

This exhibits a shocking disregard for the electoral process which has resulted in the present scheme of widened pavements, whilst maintaining bus services and taxis down the street. More than that, it is a betrayal of local people who have made it clear on many occasions, over the last 10 years, both through the ballot box and elsewhere, that they do not want Oxford Street's traffic stuffed down their roads. And for what? So Oxford Street becomes less accessible, less controllable, and we get all the congestion and pollution.

Without invitation, the mayor now sweeps in with a proposal for an unelected government quango to bulldoze the entire thing and revert to the failed 2017 scheme which, due to its unworkability, finally resulted in the uncoupling of WCC from TfL in 2018.

So Westminster’s £90 million plans for the street are to be scrapped, urban design practice Publica will cease their work on them and the WCC team will be stood down. In their place, the very same plans rejected by all of us 6 years ago are to be dusted off and revived. Only this time it is worse. Not only do we have the threat of displacement of all the Oxford Street buses and taxis through Marylebone but also the claim of a major boost to the night-time economy. This means that development will not be restricted to pedestrianising the street, it will look at replacing retail with bars and clubs, creating a mile-long entertainment strip similar to Manchester’s Northern Quarter - which without traffic is likely to descend into a lawless drunken free-for-all where the police are outnumbered and fear to tread.

The threat is real, for the mayor has secured Government support for this in the person of Angela Rayner, Deputy Prime Minister. Under his Development Corporation the mayor would take the road from the council and with it, development in the middle of the borough.

No council, whatever its political persuasion should stand for this, it is a blatant power grab and goes further than pedestrianisation - to the future of land use and planning along and maybe even around Oxford Street.

August 2024

The start date for the Oxford Street Project works has now gone over to 2025 after it was revealed that the third-party funding through the New West End Company (NWEC), had yet to be finalised for the project.

The Council is now ready to proceed to the £3.845 million Stage 3 Design, the final design stage before commencement of the works. The New West End Company had previously signed an agreement to underwrite 50% of the costs of the Oxford Street works, including the Stage 3 Design sum. However, they have to date failed to obtain the necessary guarantees of funding from their business members.

So instead, council officers have come up with three alternatives: Firstly, pause the project until the necessary financial assurances are received. Secondly, look at the feasibility of a Westminster-only funded design - which would drastically narrow the scope of the project. Thirdly, request the drawdown of the full amount for the Stage 3 Design in the hope that business funding will be in place for its completion. The officer's recommendation was to proceed with option three.

The Cabinet heard from the NWEC chief executive, Dee Corsi who emphasised their long-term ambition to see the revitalisation of Oxford Street. She said that they had positive feedback on the design which has encouraged them to continue and that their teams are working well together.

However, Dee Corsi could have a difficult job on her hands. The BID itself can enter into a legal agreement about the joint funding of the venture but all the money for this has to come directly from its members. The £45 million of contributions has to be painstakingly obtained in various amounts from 60 or so landowner members of the BID with interests in Oxford Street, many of whom are foreign entities and difficult to contact.

It might have therefore been sensible to wait and see how the New West End Company gets on in this endeavour. This was not the Cabinet's view-they felt that a pause may jeopardise the entire project, and a part-funded Council-only scheme would not be as effective and therefore the third proposed option would be the best course of action. There were no dissenting voices to be heard around the Cabinet table, but this approach surely has an obvious downside. To proceed without a contractual commitment at this stage could weaken the council's negotiating position, for the further the council gets into the scheme the greater the temptation of business to leave them to carry on with it alone.

Business owners have had a hard time over the last few years generating profit and will need to see value for money, with a decent payback on any proposal put to them. Ultimately it will be for the property owners to decide whether they wish to find around £45 million for the proposed Oxford Street scheme.

This could be a tough call for the NWEC as they will need to satisfy them that they will be getting a worthwhile return on their investment. After all, they already have wider pavements thanks to the COVID measures, albeit in cheaper materials than now proposed. So what extra gains are there? Some improved and branded street furniture and lighting, more crossings and a certain amount of greening (although opportunities for tree planting are looking pretty limited).

One thing is clear - as the Stage 3 Design will take 6-8 months the projected October start date for the Oxford Street works will now need to be put back until around the Spring of 2025 - at the earliest.

March 2024

Work is due to commence this month on the 2-way working of Wigmore Street into Cavendish Square North and Mortimer Street, starting at the Mortimer Street End. It is estimated to finish towards the end of the year.

Following on from this, designs are being progressed for the remaining Marylebone/Fitzrovia schemes including Eastcastle Street, Margaret Street and Henrietta Place, and for projects in the Oxford Street West area. We are now told: “The intention is to proactively construct the enabling highways schemes in advance of the works starting on Oxford Street, where possible, to provide for greater traffic capacity in the area.” WCC Report on the Oxford Street Programme (OSP) - written update to 3rd March Committee Meeting.

Of course, it was apparent from the beginning that further restrictions of traffic on Oxford Street, its further narrowing and the removal, of the remaining bus lay-bys would all contribute to delays which would encourage non-bus traffic to use the parallel roads in Marylebone and Fitzrovia, particularly Wigmore and Mortimer Street. We always suspected that this was the real reason for the proposed two-way working - to help facilitate this, as we pointed out back in our August 2023 Newsletter.

“Perhaps the continued squeezing out of traffic from Oxford Street explains why, in tandem with these plans, there are also various road changes proposed to the parallel route through Marylebone and Fitzrovia. The idea is to introduce two-way traffic on Mortimer Street and along Cavendish Place and Cavendish Square North. This will in effect create a parallel east-west route to Oxford Street -all the way from Edgware Road in the west to Goodge Street in the east.” MA August 2023 Newsletter.

However, at the time, the only reason given for the change was the rationalisation of traffic routes. Indeed assurances were received that there would be an approximately neutral effect on our roads, with some receiving marginally more traffic and some marginally less.

Now we read in the March 2024 committee report that the real reason for the change is different: “The intention is to proactively construct the enabling highways schemes in advance of the works starting on Oxford Street, where possible, to provide for greater traffic capacity in the area.” WCC Report on the Oxford Street Programme (OSP).

The report claims endorsement for this from the consultation exercise carried out last summer. But no mention then was made about increasing road capacity to balance out road restrictions on Oxford Street; it follows therefore that the engagement failed to reveal the key point of the works. The intention to increase road capacity strongly suggests a substantial increase in traffic movements is contemplated and gives substance to the fears we expressed 9 months ago: “However the worry is, it will also act as a safety valve so that if Oxford Street does get clogged up they will just switch traffic through Marylebone - on roads that are already about three times as congested as the present Oxford Street.” MA August 2023 Newsletter.

And the most likely way that Oxford Street will get clogged up is by removing all the bus lay-bys so that everything stops in the narrowed lanes whenever a bus stops. We and others warned against doing this, but it stayed in the plans- because the planners would allow nothing to interfere with their Oxford Street ‘vision.’ And then, only after the consultation, do we finally get told that the roads running parallel to Marylebone and Fitzrovia are being designed to take the additional displaced traffic from Oxford Street to accommodate this. 

Given this, both the Marylebone and Fitzrovia amenity societies will be asking WCC to formally commit to conducting another traffic survey of the area after the scheme is implemented to determine any changes in levels of traffic, and further, that a budget is set aside for this purpose.

January 2024

Things are finally looking up for Oxford Street after seemingly nothing but bad news since Covid struck, with the exit of Debenhams and House of Fraser among others, the row over the M&S building, the spate of tacky stores and reports of greatly increased crime levels.

But now it seems that a significant turning point has been reached and it is apparent this Christmas that the crowds are already back in numbers not seen since before Covid.

In recent months, there has been a run of retailers signing up to lease shops and a shedding of the tatty stores picked up during the pandemic. Since the start of the year, 19 new stores have been opened, including HMV and Footasylum. The restaurant franchise Kebhouze opened what it claimed is the UK’s biggest kebab shop on the street in December. Paris St Germain, the French football club is coming and Ikea is due to open its Oxford Street flagship in the Autumn of 2024.

Furthermore, there is much activity behind the scenes at the contractual stage and therefore not yet visible on the street itself. More deals were struck to rent Oxford Street shops last year than in 2020, 2021 and 2022 combined- by early December, a total of 27 lettings on Oxford Street had been completed since the start of the year with a total of 200,000 square feet worth of space has been taken since this year- with more in the pipeline.

There remain some doubts over retailers’ desire to incur the large costs of trading on Oxford Street given the blow to overseas spending from the government’s refusal to reinstate VAT-free shopping, but this appears to have hit Bond Street harder with its more upmarket retailers, such as Mulberry and Fenwick who are now abandoning their stores there.

Further, as we have reported throughout the year, the council is progressing with a major financial investment on the street. The cost is widely reported at around £90 million, but in fact, taking into account related changes in the immediate area, WCC’s figures show that the expenditure budget approved by Full Council in March 2023 is £124.4m for 2022/23 onwards. The total budget allocation is £127.592m taking into consideration costs incurred prior to 2022/23 which can be utilised by the new programme.

The budget covers works on Oxford Street and Oxford Circus, as well as enabling highway and complementary schemes - mainly to go on pavements upgrades, new pedestrian crossings added and better lights. WCC hope to obtain 50% of the funding from the retail sector and are working with the New West End Company on the project, although it is uncertain as to how much, if anything, has actually been contributed by business to date.

The council aims to move away from just retail and attract a host of different businesses to the street. Councillor Geoff Barraclough, Head of Planning and responsible for Oxford Street said: “Collectively, it’s going to deliver a canvas upon which traders can create new interesting experiences for shoppers to generate the footfall that we’re all looking for - and the tax revenues that we’d like as well.”

In that case, it is to be hoped that other issues that have been dragging down the street can now be rapidly brought under control, although that has proven extremely difficult to date. Preachers outside Bond Street Tube station blaring out religious chanting, illegal buskers with massive loudspeakers, the noise and disruption from the ever-present tacky pedicabs- these all give off a somewhat anarchistic air - of an area not really under anyone's control, unsupervised and slightly menacing. It certainly does nothing for the overall shopping experience.

No matter how much the council chooses to spend on improving the infrastructure unless they can get to grips with this, a large number of ordinary families will choose to avoid the area and spend their money elsewhere.

The construction works themselves will of course bring with them significant disruption to the residents around Oxford Street as traffic is diverted through the surrounding streets whilst this work is being carried out and to retailers and other businesses who are bound to see footfall affected, just as things are starting to pick up.

The works are due to commence in autumn 2024 and to finish in early 2025, but on previous experience, they will continue at least until the end of that year, if not into 2026.

October 2023

The overhaul of Oxford Street has moved a step closer as Westminster City Council and the New West End Company (NWEC) formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreement to bring Westminster Council’s Oxford Street vision to fruition.

The NWEC represents 600 retail, restaurant, hotel, and property owners across the West End and WCC say that this partnership will be one of the capital’s most significant public-private ventures in recent years.

In a related move, Westminster City Council’s cabinet has formally approved the business case for the Oxford Street scheme and approved £7.7m for the next phase of design work. This will incorporate responses to the large-scale consultation run over the summer. Construction work is expected to start in the Autumn of 2024.

Cllr Geoff Barraclough, Westminster City Council’s (WCC) Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development, said:

“After years of abandoned schemes, we are now about to finally get underway with a deliverable plan to breathe new life into Oxford Street. With the support of our partners at NWEC, we now have a coalition of the council, retailers, landowners, and others in place to develop a practical but also ambitious plan.

“The West End constantly needs to adapt if it is to continue to be a draw to shoppers. The buzz is definitely back on Oxford Street with brands like IKEA and HMV taking up space in Oxford Street, and the prospect of new galleries and arts spaces will make it a great all-round experience”.

August 2023

Once again we are being asked to have our say on Oxford Street - with or without Marks and Spencer's, and if numbers at the July public consultations were anything to go on, a certain amount of consultation fatigue has set in. Or perhaps there is just not too much to worry about in the latest OS Scheme iteration?

Anyway, the plans have now been unveiled for a £90 million rejuvenation that will largely leave the traffic as it is. The programme aims “to create a dynamic and sustainable environment and an enhanced public realm that strengthens the global status of the street.”

The proposals focus on wider footways, better seating, more trees and other planting, attractive lighting, clearer signage and a certain amount of traffic direction changes on local roads.

The Oxford Street Programme public consultation includes 5 projects in total:

Oxford Street

Oxford Circus

Fitzrovia/Marylebone Traffic Scheme

Eastcastle Street Junction Improvements Scheme

Oxford Street West Traffic Scheme

The key takeaway for residents is that Oxford Street is to remain open to the traffic that will be allowed to go down there and the threats of displacement that came with the previous schemes have dissipated. They are not entirely gone because various “improvements” such as the removal of the remaining bus lay-bys mean that buses will stop in the middle of the road, blocking and slowing down traffic, encouraging those that can to use alternative routes through Marylebone and Fitzrovia.

The argument is that traffic has been reduced on Oxford Street and that there will be little displacement, and this may be true at present. However, these proposals are based on current levels of traffic on Oxford Street which, for a variety of reasons, is at an historic low. It is dangerous to predicate a massive permanent infrastructure change on the presumption that this will continue to be the case. We are therefore lobbying for at least the removal of lay-bys to be revised so that traffic is not brought to a halt every time a bus stops.

Perhaps the continued squeezing out of traffic from Oxford Street explains why, in tandem with these plans, there are also various road changes proposed to the parallel route through Marylebone and Fitzrovia. The idea is to introduce two-way traffic on Mortimer Street and along Cavendish Place and Cavendish Square North. This will in effect create a parallel east-west route to Oxford Street -all the way from Edgware Road in the west to Goodge Street in the east.

This admittedly will bring with it a certain rationalisation to traffic routes, particularly around Cavendish Square which at present boasts some quite onerous and unnecessary diversions - traffic wanting to turn right at the bottom of Harley Street for instance has to negotiate a particularly circuitous route. However the worry is, it will also act as a safety valve so that if Oxford Street does get clogged up they will just switch traffic through Marylebone - on roads that are already about three times as congested as the present Oxford Street.

Another question that needs to be asked is who stands to benefit from all this? WCC say the Oxford Street Programme aims to “ensure that Oxford Street is a great place for shoppers, tourists, workers and local residents through the creation of a dynamic and sustainable environment and an enhanced public realm that strengthens the global status of the street.”

However, it is, in reality, a legacy project primarily for the benefit of local businesses, inherited from the previous administration. In spite of the claim, there is little positive in it for local residents, who are mainly grateful only that the more harmful parts of the previous plans have been, in the main, removed.

While it is understandable that the council should want Oxford Street to be restored to health and redeem some of its previous prestige as an iconic shopping destination, it is less understandable why WCC should be forking out £90 million to help achieve this.

There are plenty of businesses with very deep pockets who stand to gain a lot from this scheme; these businesses made large amounts of money from the street over the good times. It is difficult to see why they should be bailed out now. WCC claims it is looking at obtaining a 50% contribution from businesses towards all this - but as they are the ones to benefit, it surely should be a great deal more.

You can view and comment on the full proposals here.

Click here to visit the website to find out more and complete the questionnairebetween 17th July-31st August 2023

August Drop-in to one of our events The Salvation Army (Regent Hall), 275 Oxford Street London W1C 2DJ

• Wednesday 2nd August 9am-5pm

• Wednesday 9th August 9am-5pm

There will be formal presentations on 2nd August and 9th August and at 4pm and 6.30pm Outside of these times, feel free to drop in and have a look at the maps and plans, or speak to the design team.

Consultation closes 23.59 on 31st August

April 2023

Last month’s Finance, Planning and Economic Development Policy and Scrutiny Committee heard from Cabinet Member Geoff Barraclough and Deputy Chief Executive and Planning and Economic Development lead, Bernie Flaherty on the subject of the latest plan for Oxford Street.

Cllr Barraclough told the committee that after 12 years of the council trying to deal with Oxford Street, they had decided “that we needed a different approach.” There is still the need to refurbish Oxford Street he said, with building in safety features and bearing in mind the change in footfall patterns “with the Elizabeth line, Tottenham Court Road is now busier than Oxford Circus.”

So now a more streamlined plan is being developed with far fewer schemes and more engagement. The new refined plan is to focus on the delivery of Oxford Street itself from Marble Arch through to Tottenham Court Road. It includes the permanent widening of the street, improved lighting, green spaces and extra seating areas. 

Three complementary schemes on James Street, Davies Street, and Grosvenor Square are also proposed. Traffic changes are contemplated at Oxford Circus and on a number of surrounding roads, “to provide diversion routes and improve traffic movement and capacity” yet to be fully detailed. Completion is targeted for Spring 2026.

The budget for the Oxford Street makeover appears to have risen now to £120 million, from the £60 million announced at the Council’s budget meeting last month. This is because the council is seeking external third-party funders to match its own capital funding and is in discussions about contributions from the New West End Company, the Business Improvement District covering the whole of Oxford Street.

However, it was again confirmed that, as previously promised, the street would stay open to traffic. Bernie Flaherty said, “previous proposals for Oxford Circus looked at pedestrianisation, piazzas and no east to west traffic movement through the Circus. She confirmed: “However, the Oxford Street Programme will allow designated traffic to move east to west through the Circus and north to south up and down Regent Street. The wording was deliberate as the present idea is not to allow any vehicular turns, either left or right at Oxford Circus, which will obviously mean a certain amount of diversion for buses presently turning at the Circus and displacement to other routes for taxis doing the same. However all proposals are in early stages of development and will be subject to “engagement and stakeholder discussions.”

Indeed improved engagement was something much emphasised. In December 2022 the council spoke to 200 people at an event looking at how it could improve Oxford Street. According to the report, most respondents said they liked the shopping experience and thought it had good transport links. 

Respondents generally have complained about overcrowding, how hard it can be to move around and the amount of litter. They also asked for more seating and greenery. Interestingly their wishes for the street appeared to almost exactly coincide with the council’s present proposals. Pedestrianisation did not appear to be any longer on the shoppers wish list - in contrast to the TfL findings a few years ago. 

Cllr Geoff Barraclough, obviously cognisant of the array of previous shipwrecked Oxford Street plans, said he remained cautious about the present plan but believed that the controversial elements of the previous plan had been removed and, reassuringly, felt that there was little left to go wrong: “to make this programme deliverable we have deliberately descoped all the proposals we thought would be controversial and the wider changes in the traffic arrangement should be win-wins”. 

He went on to say: “There are risks remaining. I don’t want to underestimate that. One of them is private sector contribution. If we are going to make this work traders and landowners on Oxford Street who benefit will need to pay their share… There is a risk of inflation with building materials and there is a risk when you go digging in Oxford Circus when you are so close to wires and other infrastructure.”

He added: “I am confident we have the finances under control so we won’t be exposed to the same magnitude of risk as previously.”

A further Cabinet Report is due to be submitted in May which will recommend a drawdown of funds from the overall budget once the revised business case is approved and initial designs for Oxford Street are completed.

A more detailed plan for the Oxford Street project and a public engagement strategy is due to be published shortly.

April 2023

The article above dealt with the present plans for Oxford Street, meanwhile the wreckage of the previous attempt to deal with it is still being cleared away and the scene of the accident tidied up- and paid for.

In order to learn from this set of mistakes, one of the first actions taken by the new administration was to commission a review of the previous efforts to close Oxford Street-the Oxford Street District plan.

Accordingly, former Camden Chief Executive Mike Cooke was brought in to review the whole project and find out just what had gone wrong - to look at the “Mismatch in expectations on progress of OSD and what has happened.” Namely - how the council had managed to spend a total of £34 million and achieve so little- and how to avoid a recurrence.

This report was issued in February 2023 and Mike Cooke subsequently appeared in front of the March Planning Scrutiny Committee to answer members' questions on it. It was a condition of the Review, that he would focus on the constructive lessons that could be learnt - and he certainly appeared to have taken this advice to heart.

He told the committee that the council had entered into an extremely complex contract, design and build: “I think this is a unique set of circumstances - other programmes are far more positive.” Since then the council had “refreshed its governance programme. It now appears to be in a “significantly different place in terms of process and governance.”

He did sound the warning that “the council’s programme staff have experienced a considerable amount of change in the officer leadership of the programme since its inception. This could affect the confidence that the organisation and its key staff have in the future of the programme.” It must certainly be the case that many officers have, over these years, been unwittingly caught between the political pressures to make something happen and the realities on the ground.

Mr Cooke went on to advocate that a period of calm and continuity would now be advisable otherwise, “There is a risk that the Oxford St Programme does not integrate effectively all areas of the council that are essential to the successful development of both Oxford St and the wider district.”

As for the past errors and the slip-ups with the whole OSD programme, Mr Cooke adopted a very understanding approach. His view being, yes, it was a little unfortunate that £34 million was spent to achieve so little benefit, but these things happen in times of crises like Covid and the Council was doing its best under difficult circumstances.

Even Mr Cooke however found it “surprising that a significant procurement exercise for such a complex and ambitious project was begun before the consultation on the draft plans had finished and before the plans had been approved by Cabinet”. Surprising, and just possibly totally inappropriate?

“Going to the market knowing there were going to be 96 projects seems to have warranted just holding fire until consultation had finalised” he ventured. Also by the time the procurement process was underway there was no agreement on the final package of work to be undertaken “It is therefore likely that there was uncertainty within the market for this contract.”

It now also seems that during that time the senior officer or officers with day-to-day responsibilities for the Oxford Street District Programme failed to report comprehensively and accurately on the progress of the wider programme. This in turn meant that the Executive Leadership Team were not aware of the scale of the lack of progress and the need for intervention. Most of the reporting was done to the Programme Director directly, on his instructions. One would have hoped someone might have picked up on this along the way, but apparently not.

Mike Cooke said “During the time of Covid there appears to have been a lack of transparency and failure to communicate from the senior officer(s) with the day-to-day responsibility for the programme as to the extent of the programme slippage”.

“In summary the main lessons I have pointed to can be categorised as being organisation developmental in nature”. There were apparently lots of good intentions and the council ran into a very complex project in great haste - whereas they should have taken breath and drawn back, undertaken more analyses and planning-“by short circuiting some of the planning and analyses, you think you are getting to delivery sooner, whereas in fact it can take longer - this is a case in point- it took longer.”

As for the future, it appears that WCC need not worry, the present council it turns out, is doing just fine. The essential wider engagement with the community, partners and stakeholders seems to have re-commenced and if it carries on with its present path everything should run smoothly. It is “an example of a strong council recognising the need for self improvement.”

In general then, there was little criticism of anyone but the officers and the project manager, now gone, who took the bulk of the blame. The officers were found responsible for the procurement errors, failure to fully report the true state of affairs to the Executive Leadership and failing to relay their concerns.

But it wasn’t the officers who pushed the OSD project though - they were only doing what they were told. And it was not the officers who appointed the Project Manager. The officers didn’t decide to spend all this money - and the officers didn’t decide that Oxford Street needed this particular set of projects, neither did the Project Manager, he was only brought in to secure their implementation.

The existence of the entire project was clearly a political decision, following from the collapse of the previous joint scheme with the Mayor - The Transformation (ie pedestrianisation) of Oxford Street and the need to be seen to be doing something - as we were repeatedly told, “doing nothing was not an option.”

Who’s mistake then was it? Who was the person, or persons who took the initial decision to go forward with it all, the decision which resulted in an awful lot of money being spent for awfully little result? Well, the answer after this report is - that we don’t know, it wasn’t in the terms of reference of the report to find that out apparently. But if we don’t know, how do we know that it won’t happen again?

February 2023

In May 2022, as reported previously in this newsletter, following the council elections, a review of the Oxford Street District programme was undertaken. This resulted in the focus being switched to Oxford Street only, along with complimentary schemes (subject to external funding).

A report on the new thinking has now been released, signed off by Bernie Flaherty, Deputy Chief Executive, Westminster City Council.  She said in a recent budget meeting: “We are in a position at the moment where we are building up a business case and design stage one.  By April we will know how much the scheme is likely to cost.” She added: “Three or four different elements… will make the street much more exciting and will make the street touristy and commercial.”

This report proposes a revision to the Council’s commitment to investing in Oxford Street. The programme will look to deliver “a reimagined and revived Oxford Street”. The “reimagining” is restricting itself now to Oxford Street only, unlike the previous wider ranging OSD plans, and appears to have more realistic aspirations.  As we were previously assured, it also no longer includes the Piazza proposals or any other street closing measures. What we know is on the agenda are plans to make the wider pavements permanent and planting more trees.

The expenditure to enable the new vision will still be significant - although the exact amount is to be decided, but it is in the region of £60 million, a long way off the £150 million put by for the somewhat grander plans under the previous administration.  In addition it is anticipated that the Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and landowners will be expected to pay substantially towards improvements - which is only right as they will be the main beneficiaries.

However it should be borne in mind that £35.7 million has already been spent on the old Oxford Street District project prior to the review being launched by the previous administration. There appears to be very little to show for such a large sum. Indeed, it seems that there was a jaw dropping degree of recklessness with the way money was being spent. One example the Labour administration has cited is the payment of £80,000 a month for the project’s offices. No wonder so much was spent for so little result.  Questions need to be asked about this and Camden council chief executive Mike Cooke has been appointed to look into it to see what lessons can be learnt from the way the OSD programme was run.

Meanwhile, WCC say the new plans will focus on far more engagement and will be supported through a new programme governance approach, spearheaded by an Advisory Board with representation from key stakeholders including funders, BIDs, landowners, residents groups, ward councillors, etc. The Marylebone Association is included in this group. The stated aim is to discuss stakeholder strategic ambition and provide updates on project progress – and it does appear that the new administration has no appetite to irritate residents with any repeat of the type of schemes previously visited upon them.

The Advisory Board will be supported by further external engagement including a Partnership Working Group. Project specific consultation and engagement is to be determined over the coming months with support from the WCC Communities team.

Approval to spend £4.58 million from the Oxford Street Budget has been requested to enable the preparation of a new programme business case, progress design to Stage 1, and to cover other identified costs.

At the same time the Council have applied to make the temporary traffic orders that enabled the currant pavement widening permanent. This, we have been assured, is a mere technicality.  WCC will need to extend the existing order over the period of the consultation now taking place and this is the only possible way as further temporary extensions are not permitted.

November 2022

Meanwhile, Mike Cooke, the former CEO of the London Borough of Camden, has been commissioned by Stuart Love, Chief Executive of Westminster City Council, to see if any lessons can be learnt from the previous Oxford Street District programme (OSD).

The Oxford Street District programme was launched to some considerable fanfare in 2018. But over the intervening four years it managed to deliver very little and has spent approximately £35 million in the process of doing this. In terms of expense, this puts the Mound in the shade- so what went wrong?

Cllr Adam Hug, Leader of Westminster City Council, said: “we feel an independent review of the Oxford Street District Programme will allow us to ensure any lessons are learned and shared across the council… We remain committed to working with residential communities, local businesses and also our strategic partners, with a new tightened focus on introducing public realm improvements to Oxford Street.”

A similar style review of management and structures in WCC was implemented with regard to the Marble Arch Mound, which found a lack of overall effective supervision and control within the system. However, this review was an internal one carried out by the council’s Chief Executive.

The terms of reference for this independent review are to examine the Oxford Street District project with particular reference to:

Reviewing the spend on the project to date and the outputs achieved.

Recommending any lessons to be learnt, including for existing and future projects.

Examining whether the reforms undertaken following the Marble Arch Mound review are sufficient and robust enough.

In order to do this Mike Cooke will have open access to all relevant documentation and be able to speak to the personnel involved.

The final report may also be considered by the relevant Scrutiny Committee of the Council, as was the Marble Arch Review. It is intended to publish the findings of this, subject to any commercial or other confidentiality issues.

November 2022

The new plans for Oxford Street have now been revealed. The lead cabinet member for this is Cllr Geoff Barraclough (Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development). He says that: “We have descoped the Program to Oxford Street Street itself to end up with a refined scheme”.

Descoped or not, at first sight they are a considerable improvement on what went before. The obsession with closing parts of the Street has been swept away, whether that be part closures to certain bits for certain parts of the day- such as outside Selfridges, or complete closures to all traffic- such as to the area around Oxford Circus.

Cllr Barraclough went on to elaborate on the rationale in a recent Concilio interview: “We are not going to mess with the buses…we are not going to pedestrianise Oxford Street. It is full of buses- where would they go? Nobody knows… and we would still be here 4 years later.”

“And if you did find somewhere for them to go, how do you get there without buses? it is a mile long and most tube stations are not step free”.

This is of course what we have been saying for at least the last 6 years and this new sense of realism is to be welcomed as the immediate threat of traffic displacement into Marylebone is therefore much reduced.

On the downside, the road narrowing brought in without consultation during Covid looks likely to remain and to be made permanent. This also causes traffic displacement as the resulting congestion encourages all those vehicles that can use other routes to do so. Most of these other routes happen to run through our area.

Therefore, at the very least, we will be seeking to ensure that any new scheme restores the bus pull-ins that were needlessly covered over and does not replicate the ridiculous situation in Regent Street where once the bus stops everything stops.

On the upside, the wider pavements will be used for a certain amount of additional tree planting and greening - which after all is much needed.

However there appears no place in this plan for cyclists, they will be encouraged to use other routes, but hopefully not Manchester Square which has only just been saved from pedestrianisation.

One hangover from the previous OSD scheme is the proposal for two-way traffic on Wigmore Street (the part that is eastbound only at the moment), Cavendish Square and Mortimer Street. As the only reason for this was to have another east-west route running alongside Oxford Street pending the closure of Oxford Circus, we wonder why, now Oxford Street is to remain open, this is still on the table?

The main concentration will now however be on “fundamental” public realm improvements just on Oxford Street itself (as opposed to the surrounding area). A new “streamlined” approach will be taken - this means that the council is drastically reducing its capital funding for the area and will now be looking for a much greater contribution from the private sector.

Alongside public realm improvements WCC will continue to work with landowners to encourage the more innovative use of underused retail spaces, such as they have been doing with the pop-up programme.

WCC feel that refocusing the programme on Oxford Street itself will enable them to quickly deliver the improvements that are most needed. Indeed, there is a new emphasis on getting on with it. Much money was spent on the previous OSD programme, but curiously little was actually achieved - and this hasn’t gone unnoticed (see article below). To succeed in delivering the long-term vision for Oxford Street the support of local communities, both residential and businesses as well as other key partners, will be necessary.

To this end they intend to create a new governance and engagement approach, which will include the establishment of a new Oxford Street advisory board. This will be made up of businesses and residents who will help guide the project over the coming months and years and to which we understand the MA will be invited to sit on.

Of course, there is little doubt that all this will cause disruption from traffic diversions while the work is being carried out, particularly along the already busy Wigmore Street. However, at least these inconveniences will be temporary, not permanent, as they so nearly were.

In summary, in spite of the talk of various “overarching strategies”, these plans appear to propose far less damaging interference with the area than the previous proposals, and nearly all the work is restricted to Oxford Street itself.

September 2022

Oxford Street remains one of Europe’s busiest shopping streets and as recently as 2018 could command rents of more than £1,000 per square foot - among the most expensive in Europe. But all this changed with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Footfall has declined almost 60 per cent compared with 2019, according to a study by Mytraffic and Cushman & Wakefield. It has now a number of new commercial buildings — comprising tens of thousands of square feet of empty retail space. Ironically what is thriving and growing is an ever increasing cluster of tasteless and tacky sweet shops alternating with tatty souvenir stores, with rip off prices and often operating as a front to more dubious operations (reported in our August Newsletter).

There is a recognition within the new WCC administration, as in the old one, that this needs to be tackled but that the Street also needs fewer shops and more restaurants and cultural venues to restore its reputation as the UK’s premier shopping street.

Cllr Geoff Barraclough, cabinet member for planning and economic development, has said the “mix” of businesses had to change. He told a Voice of Authority webinar: “Everybody agrees that Oxford Street should be the nation’s premier shopping street.”

“It’s 1.8km long, the centre of the biggest city in Europe and it’s not right. We know that the mix of commercial needs to change. There isn’t really demand for 1.8km of retail. We need a mixture of leisure, hospitality, and cultural uses … I’m very keen to support that.”

The solution to this latched on to by the last administration has thankfully been thrown out “We are not going to block Oxford Street,” he said. “We are not going to pedestrianise Oxford Street. That is not the right thing to do at the moment.” He has further again confirmed that this includes not going ahead with the Piazzas so very nearly inflicted on us last year.

So far so good. So what is the council going to do? Cllr Barraclough said a two-thirds discount on business rates was on offer to landlords who allowed empty shops to be used for innovative “pop ups”. 

He also signalled that the council was prepared to use compulsory purchase orders - normally avoided because of the cost and legal complexity - to reshape the street. “We are very happy to take more assertive action if there are landowners blocking change,” he said.

With regard to the tat shops, the council is investigating 30 businesses, including candy stores and “poor quality” souvenir shops, for potential business rates evasion worth £7.9m. More than £574,000 of counterfeit goods have been seized/ In addition, it has written to 28 freeholders, urging them to recognise the damage that such stores do to the street’s image.

July 2022

We are pleased to see that rather than wasting further time and money on developing new ways to cut Oxford Street off to buses and other traffic, the new administration is concentrating on the real problem - the high vacancy rate and the poor quality of many of the shops that are occupied in the street.

Westminster Council has launched an investigation into approximately 30 American-themed sweet shops, which Council leader Adam Hug has labelled an "eye sore." The council is looking into dozens of shops across the West End for allegedly avoiding business rates amounting to at least £7.9million. Landlords, desperate to avoid paying punitive rates on empty units, have filled many of them with the most undesirable types of tenants which lower the tone of the street and deter better quality tenants from signing up.

So far more than £100k worth of goods have been seized along with 450 vapes which exceeded nicotine allowances. The council is also investigating whether the shops have sold out of date food, sex novelty sweets, or counterfeit Wonka bars.

At present the blight is being blamed on intermediaries with the big landlords powerless to do much about it. However, the council, as Labour’s manifesto spelt out, will be looking to the major property owners to “pay their fair share” towards getting the “Oxford Street District” improvement plans back on track.

This is just the latest of Oxford Street’s woes. Footfall is creeping up, but in April it was still 52 percent lower than pre-pandemic, according to the Retail Gazette. The New West End Company says the 2020/21 footfall overall in its area was at 60 per cent of 2019 levels.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive of Marks and Spencer -no doubt somewhat miffed by the government's action over calling in their planning application to knock down and rebuild their flagship store - has said Oxford Street is “destined for extinction” after being “overtaken by tacky candy stores”. Stuart Machin has claimed the iconic London street is “on its knees'' and has become at risk of becoming a “dinosaur district”.

He said: “When I walk down Oxford Street today, I see a stark reality staring back at me. One in five shops sit vacant, there is a growing proliferation of tacky candy stores and nearly £600,000 of counterfeit goods have been seized from hawkers this year. The effects of Covid have brought a street that was once the jewel of UK shopping to its knees."

Machin continued: "Footfall remains 30pc down on already dwindling pre-pandemic levels, with recovery in Oxford Street trailing its near cousins in Bond Street and Regent Street, both of which have benefited from significant redevelopment and investment. With inflation at a 30-year high, the pressure on both retailers and consumers discretionary income will only increase. We need to back innovation, not breed a dinosaur district destined for extinction.” 

June 2022

There was some concern that a change of administration may have brought with it a resurrection of the Oxford Street Piazzas - that the West End Ward Conservative councillors had promised were off the table (see last month newsletter).

However, following the promises that the three Labour West End Ward councillors gave at the West End Hustings before the election, we now have further confirmation that the Piazzas have been pulled. On the Eddie Nestor Show on Radio London, the new Leader Adam Hug said "we are not talking about pedestrianisation. That is off the agenda for four years. It is not coming back anytime soon".

Adam Hug repeated and enlarged on this at his meeting last week with the Westminster Amenity Societies. He specifically confirmed that the new council had no intention of proceeding with the Piazzas and could not see the “point of diverting all the traffic around the surrounding areas.” As indeed, neither can we.

This is very good news for all Marylebone residents and represents a victory for common sense over intensive business lobbying and is hopefully the end of a three year struggle led by the Association to get rid of this significant threat to our area.

April 2022

Spiegeltents were one of the side-effects of the Covid crises over the last 2 years, another has been the acceleration of the demise of retail in the West End, and nowhere is that more noticeable at present than in Oxford Street.  As we have previously reported, large parts of Oxford Street are now blighted with US-style candy stores, phone repair outlets and tourist shops.

These emporiums of tat bear more resemblance to penny bazaars than the retailers they have replaced and drag Oxford Street down to a new low. The mystery has been how such basic establishments can afford the prime rents that still go with the area. A recent Private Eye investigation seems to hold the explanation as it uncovered that one recent source of their funding to pay the leases, “being a string of dubious Covid bounce-back loans". If this is the case it would appear that we, the taxpayers, are actually funding them.

Things are now so bad that Westminster City Council has decided that some action needs to be taken. Rachael Robathan, Leader of the Council, outlined the Council’s intention to rid central London’s Oxford Street of “questionable candy and tat shops” and has said “Oxford Street is Europe’s hardest hit street by Covid” and that the decline will continue without a serious intervention.

“Of course, there are beacons of hope, such as IKEA moving on to the street, and the Elizabeth Line finally due to open later this year, but unless we do something, the decline of Oxford Street will continue”.

“Nobody wants their local high street to be filled with questionable candy or tat shops. But more importantly, nobody wants to see the loss of jobs which would come with a long-term decline of an Oxford Street District filled with empty or derelict buildings

However, the answer to halting this long term decline may ultimately lie outside retail. The Centre for Cities think tank found that central London’s high streets were the worst affected in the country, with businesses losing out on 47 weeks of sales throughout the pandemic.

Central London is undergoing an evolution from being fashion and retail-focused to being a place people come to eat, drink and be entertained. Although people are still coming to Oxford Street to shop, the Centre for Cities analyst explained that the trend is for this to change.

“Sectors like fashion and retail are much more vulnerable to the switch online than the ‘experience economy’ like food and drink…the places pre-COVID that were already doing quite well are those which had already made the shift away from retail.”

“When you look at night-time and weekend footfall there is still an appetite to go back to the city centre for these types of uses

In contrast, the suburban areas of London have done quite well out of the pandemic, with so many people working from home, these places have been less affected and indeed brought life back to some areas as a consequence.

According to Centre for Cities’ research central London lost three times as many weeks of sales (47) than suburban areas (14). By September 2021 spending in the areas further out was nearly at pre-pandemic levels (97 per cent of the level in 2019) while the centre of the city was still lagging behind (82 per cent)

March 2022

On the continuing subject of deeply unpopular plans, a question we are often asked is - have the Piazzas really gone for good? Readers may recall that these were proposed for Oxford Circus last year, and indeed works to implement them were commenced, without consultation last July. They stopped the following month following the resignation of those leading the Oxford Street District Plan following the Mound debacle.

At the time we were told that the scheme would be back in some form but this time would be accompanied by a prior consultation. In the months following no sign of it has been seen and indeed it is clear none will be this side of the election. But what about after that? We would all prefer to know now rather than later.

The Association has therefore put the following question to the Council Leader: “we would like to know whether there is any intention to reintroduce the Piazza Scheme at Oxford Circus, in any form at all, either now or in the future. Similarly, the previously proposed 2 way traffic scheme along Cavendish Square North and Mortimer Street which was allied with this - on which there has been no consultation- we would like to know if this is still being contemplated- if so when will we be able to see the plans for this? (preferably prior to any decision being made).”

It is a question that becomes increasingly pertinent as the election draws nearer, but alas it is not one to which we have been able to elicit any answer. The Chief Executive, in the absence of the Leader, was asked directly about this at a recent meeting of amenity societies, but the answer was non committal.

January 2022

Figures disclosed in the Council’s Scrutiny Committee Report in late November show that the £150 million OSD project has cost to date £20.2 million, with around £18 million of that in consultancy costs.

The Scrutiny Report states that the only physical outcomes from this expenditure are: “Construction of Oxford Street footway widening, planting and seating, Soho Photography Quarter and Berners Street/Newman Street traffic switch”. These came at a cost of approximately £2 million. The bulk of the £20 million was spent on consultancy costs.

The Scrutiny Report reveals that £16.1 million was spent on Oxford Street “feasibility design and staffing costs” and a further £2.5 million was spent “to develop Place Strategy & Concept Design”.

In addition, a further £315,000 has been spent by the Council on design work for the proposed Oxford Circus Piazzas which the Council has now put on hold.

In spite of the costs to date Westminster Council remains committed to the OSD project and believes the case for investing in this area is even stronger following the pandemic. However, it has now introduced four key tests that must be met to determine the viability of proposed projects:

1. A Clear Case for Change – The rationale for undertaking a project must be fully articulated and align with the overarching objectives outlined in the existing Oxford Street District business case.

2. Meaningful Engagement and Partnerships – Meaningfully engaging with stakeholders, residents and the wider community is central to all OSD schemes and a precursor to project development.

3. Clarity on Impact for Residents – As a public authority, Westminster puts the needs of its residents at the forefront of its decision-making. Core to a project’s rationale is the impact of proposed changes on the day-to-day activities of local communities. Therefore, the benefits of any proposed public realm scheme must be clearly stated and ways of mitigating its negative outcomes outlined.

4. Robust Costing and Investment Perspective – All projects must undergo a detailed cost analysis and investigate additional investment potential to ensure proposals are cost-effective and contribute to delivering the programme’s objectives, and that costings are robust.

Interestingly, the impact on residents of these projects therefore now features in the overall assessment, however to what degree remains to be seen.

The Marble Arch Mound was out of the scope of this report as it was discussed separately at the Business and Children’s Policy Scrutiny Committee which took place on 27th October 2021 (reported by us in the December Newsletter). Sponsorship costs were not available at that committee, but have since been divulged, see below.

October 2021

Someone needs to decide whether Regent Street is to continue to be an essential north-south thoroughfare for the West End’s traffic or to become a shopping Mall for Crown Estates commercial rental portfolio. So far it is trying to be both - and failing.

This is yet another example of the dire effects of lack of proper consultation. Here we have “temporary” works affecting key areas of Marylebone, Fitzrovia, Mayfair and Soho, driven through on the whim of a large organisation, in this Case the Crown Estates, without any public accountability. This is then followed up by a glossy presentation with no proper evidence claiming success and a heavily biased consultation document.

However the declared success of this project is heavily disputed. Since the Crown Estates “improvements” to Regent Street it can now take 40 mins to drive from Langham Place to Piccadilly Circus. The creation of a single lane in both directions with no pull-ins has meant that all other vehicles are forced to a halt when the buses stop. This creates considerable congestion and lines of idling traffic- so the scheme actually makes pollution worse, not better, as claimed.

The Soho Society reports that problems now exist on Great Marlborough Street and Beak Street - major vehicle exits from Soho which get congested as they cannot clear on to Regent Street quickly, this in turn leaves traffic idling in Soho in its residential streets. The widened pavement has also made it difficult for cyclists to safely negotiate.

The scheme also fails in heritage terms. The Soho Society say Regent Street is an important street in terms of London’s and the nation’s built environment and heritage, “we think the new pavement is too wide and it changes the visual feel of Regent Street through the relationship of the height of the buildings and the width of the carriageway and the pavement”.

They have asked what evidence the Crown Estates has gathered in order to monitor the effect of these works, for instance has pollution been monitored in Recent Street and the streets surrounding? Do they have any analysis of what proportion of journeys on Regent Street (including construction and delivery) realistically can transfer to public transport or bike?

They ask, “When does the temporary scheme end? It strikes us as not green, nor safe nor accessible and will only get worse as people return to offices in Soho and the West End increasing the amount of vehicle traffic”.

As with the postponed Piazza Scheme it is quite clear that the Crown Estates see great financial value in turning areas of our major road networks into pavement. Obviously, they are convinced that wider pavements bring increased footfall and revenue, but at what cost to pollution and congestion in the surrounding neighbourhoods?

We are pleased to announce that Marylebone residents have had a reprieve from the proposals to close Oxford Street either side of Oxford Circus. Westminster Council in a surprise announcement sent the following letter a couple of weeks ago in which they said: “Having listened to our residents and reviewed the cost effectiveness of the proposal for a pilot for the Oxford Circus piazzas, we have decided that it’s better to move forward with a focus on permanent schemes. Therefore, the temporary piazzas previously planned to open at Oxford Circus later this year will not now go ahead, along with all associated enabling street works.” 

This victory should not be underestimated. Westminster were intent in pushing this scheme through without consultation under Experimental Traffic Orders and indeed they had already commenced the enabling works in order to do this. They were made aware of the widespread discontent with the general lack of proper consultation, particularly since Covid, by the letter sent on behalf of the Westminster Amenity Societies as detailed and expanded on in last month's Newsletter. (See article below). Following this and a number of backbench meetings it was decided to abandon the Piazza works scheduled to have closed Oxford Street from this November.

This is not however the end of this particular idea. The letter goes on to say that WCC will be focusing on engaging with residents and other stakeholders on potential permanent schemes for piazzas at Oxford Circus, along with associated enabling works. So the threat of closure and the resulting disruption is still very much there, although not, no doubt, until after next May’s elections are well out of the way.

We, together with our fellow amenity societies in the West End, will therefore be focussing on continuing to resist any future plans to divert Oxford Street’s traffic through our neighbourhoods.

Sept 2021

Will the Mound however be the only such debacle? There are worrying parallels with the Oxford Street Piazza project. This also has many voices warning against it, again with only big business in favour, and in fact helping to fund it. It is seen by residents as a scheme to divert Oxford Street’s traffic through the neighbouring areas in order to provide the Crown Estate with a new central London shopping centre. “Once again it is being forced through as an ETO scheme, without consultation, in the face of sustained opposition. Involving as it does, a major and very complicated rerouting of all Oxford Street traffic there is significant potential here for an even greater disaster”. WASF letter to Council Leader

Cllr Robathan has claimed that Westminster Council “exists to serve its residents, and that is why we seek the views of local people before taking any major decisions”.

That is good to hear, but has a somewhat hollow ring to it. This has not been the experience of residents to date. Whether or not the council is actually listening will be determined by action not words. Residents didn’t want the Mound, but they got it. They don’t want the Piazzas - but will they be heard this time? What better way of showing she is actually listening than by scrapping this untested and inadvisable scheme to divert buses, taxis and commercial traffic through our area for the sake of giving Crown Estates a glorified shopping mall?

Westminster Council now knows the Mound was a mistake, but the Piazzas could turn out to be a far bigger one. This project is on an entirely different level of expense (the actual costs WCC has ominously consistently refused to divulge). The Piazzas are the result of a top driven political decision made on commercial grounds on the back of big landlord lobbying - hardly a felicitous combination. Does Westminster really need to end up with the risk of an even greater disaster in the centre of London than they have inflicted on us already with the Mound?

Sept 2021

Following on from the Mound debacle, above, the revelation of massive cost overruns and the resignation of the Deputy Leader, a letter has been sent to the Leader of Westminster Council on behalf of 24 Westminster Amenity Societies (WASF) drawing attention to the the many problems stemming from WCC’s lack of consultation with residents of which this is only one example. 

A number of serious concerns with Westminster’s governance were listed in WASF’s letter, which claimed that many people felt their participation in local affairs is “futile”. It alleged that some consultations show evidence of clear manipulation to encourage consultees to arrive at the conclusion the council wishes to see. “The spin put on some presentations is unacceptable, often the information needed for commentators like ourselves to evaluate the proposals is deliberately obscured by graphics and other glossy marketing techniques' '.

While praising the council for its initial response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Forum was critical of the continuing use of temporary experimental traffic orders (ETOs) introduced with no consultation and used to pave the way for permanent changes.

The group claimed that the council’s system of cabinet government gave too much power to a small number of people at the top, with other councillors unable to mount effective opposition. “We feel that the existing system of cabinet governance has resulted in the decision-making process being devolved to a small number of people at the top of the council with the majority of our elected councillor representatives being sidelined or too invested in the system to raise effective opposition on behalf of the residents who vote for them.”

Certainly the Covid crisis has been used to implement plans which would never normally have been considered, often to the detriment of residents in the West End who endured these changes for the greater good during the pandemic. “In addition, these ETO’s, originally used as an emergency measure are now being systematically utilised to bring in very substantial road changes to the West End by edict. Only once these are in place, does the council then claim to consult”.

“This is unsatisfactory, as the ETO shifts the burden from why do it, to why remove it. This is compounded by the large amount of public money that has by that stage been spent, giving further weight to keeping the measures in place. What guarantee do we have with this new form of consultation that any real consulting is done, rather than just work to justify the position already arrived at?”

Further, it was stated by the WASF signatories that throughout this crisis WCC has remained too close to landlords and businesses and not close enough to residents. “Whilst there should always be dialogue with landlords and business, it should be more transparent, at arm’s length and not to the exclusion of listening to residents. As a result of this close relationship, the council are unduly focused on maintaining the prominence of the West End.”

On the Mound, this appeared to emerge from a single consultant’s suggestion and was then pushed forward by those running the OSD project. It had almost no support except from the New West End Company and the Marble Arch BID, who naturally welcomed any council money being invested in their immediate area of interest, whatever the justification. “It was not voted on by councillors, it was not consulted on, it was introduced, almost on the spur of the moment by a few people at the top of the council.”

“This top driven approach has now proved to have failed. The Mound project has met with universal, indeed, international disparagement, Now, the further revelation of a massive cost overrun on an already failed project has made the council also look incompetent and unable to properly manage its own finances.” The letter went on to question whether the right person had resigned. The Deputy leader Melvyn Caplin has gone, but he had the job of driving the project through, who actually was responsible for sanctioning it in the first place? “Has the buck stopped at the right place?” the letter asked.

July 2021

Currently work is finishing, albeit at a much increased cost, on the Mound at Marble Arch and soon work will commence on a much more expensive development at Oxford Circus. Both of these are designed to increase visitors to Oxford St. It is legitimate to question not only whether these are economically justified, but also what they are meant to be attracting shoppers here for?

There has been a lot of discussion about the macro issues particularly the move towards online shopping and certainly Oxford Street is starting to look rather tacky.

Between Marble Arch and Oxford Circus, we now have: 11 Candy stores, 5 cheap souvenir stores and 10 empty units.

This does not sit well with the image of the nation's premier shopping street. Rather the opposite, and the situation has now got worse with the announced closure of all Gap stores. What is next? It is all very well to spend loads of money to encourage visitors on Mounds and Piazzas but if that only leads to disappointment one must ask what is the point?  Surely first of all rid the street of these Candy stores and cheap souvenir shops and give the public a real reason to come back to Oxford Street.

Westminster needs to give attention to the product rather than the wrapper, they need to ensure the quality of the shopping offer, otherwise all is in vain.

We would suggest waking up and smelling the coffee - but sadly there are too few opportunities to even do that!

Mike Dunn, Chair Mayfair Residents Group

July 2021

Cllr Melvyn Caplan, Deputy Leader & Cabinet Member for City Management writes:

We are pleased to be able to publish in full below an article on the issues the Council is facing post Covid, and the measures they are taking to deal with it, sent to us from the Cabinet Member responsible for the Oxford Street District project:

“Last month we saw the lifting of the remaining Covid restrictions, a welcome step towards normality for those Westminster businesses and venues subject to months of lockdown. Residents and traders alike look forward to seeing their City restored. So, what is the council doing about it?

First let me sketch the scale of the problem. While the streets are clearly busier and traffic is returning, footfall figures in Westminster are low. The number of people visiting shops and recreation areas is down by a third compared to 12 per cent in the rest of the country. In the West End, footfall is down by more than half compared to pre-pandemic levels. Turn to Oxford Street West (towards Marble Arch), and the picture is bleaker yet with footfall down by nearly two thirds. The picture is compounded by the fact the market for international tourism went off a cliff during lockdown with nine out of ten of foreign visitors staying away. The tourists are returning, but they are still thin on the ground - and they are vital to our economy.

Our experience is that visitors enjoy themselves and are prepared to spend when they visit central London - but they need to feel there is a strong reason for doing so.

There are a number of innovative and imaginary things the council is doing to restore that appetite. We are creating a new look for Oxford Street, the nation’s high street. This involves establishing two pedestrian-friendly piazzas on either side of Oxford Circus, and which is part of the ongoing £150m redevelopment of the overall Oxford Street District. There will also be significant improvements to public spaces, as well as new greenery and seating. This makes the area more friendly to walk around and helps to improve air quality. It also creates the space that is needed for when Crossrail completes and the very significant numbers of additional people that will bring around Oxford Circus because of this.

We are delivering the Oxford Circus work in stages, underpinned by a six month public consultation. This is achieved by utilising an Experimental Traffic Order to allow changes to Oxford Circus, and the required enabling works across a wider area, for the piazzas to open in November 2021. This gives us the flexibility to allow us to amend, develop or stop our plans through a constant dialogue and by looking at what effect the works have.

One way we have tried to support jobs in Westminster during lockdown is through the al fresco dining scheme, with a number of venues in Marylebone benefiting. One of the reasons the council introduced al fresco dining was to avert the risk of our shopping streets being hollowed out, and to protect the 80,000 jobs the hospitality industry generates in Westminster.

We are grateful that local people - who live around the new pop-up dining areas - understood that argument and supported us. The council has issued hundreds of temporary al fresco licences for a scheme welcomed by the hospitality industry and copied across the country. However, we have made it clear that all the temporary al fresco schemes will end on Sept 30th, and any permanent schemes will only happen if they are supported by the majority of residents in that area.

Westminster didn’t stop being a fantastic global attraction in March last year when the Prime Minister ordered the first lockdown. We need to proclaim that message again, and to remind everyone of the unique mix of attractions - cultural institutions, restaurants, shops, galleries - that the City offers. Next month we will launch a new marketing campaign called Westminster Reveals, which will promote all the amazing things visitors can do in a visit. One highlight will be September’s Inside Out arts festival, which, in partnership with London’s famous venues, will put free art and performances on the street for the public to enjoy. There will also be a light exhibition and of course the welcome return of West End LIVE – that annual 48-hour taster of top musicals that draws tens of thousands to Trafalgar Square.

In terms of The Marble Arch Mound, we have to be clear that such was our desire to bring people back to the area that we made a mistake and opened this too early for which I apologise. I am absolutely convinced this is going to be a popular attraction that draws visitors who then go on to other parts of Westminster and the West End. Our analysis of traffic flows also suggests the Mound is not going to add to congestion or parking issues. We are making the Mound free for everyone to climb during August prior to reopening it when we have sorted out the outstanding issues.

There needs to be a compelling reason not to undertake a campaign like Westminster Reveals. Nobody in Westminster – the local authority, business improvement districts, theatres or retailers – can sit around and wait for the West End to miraculously self-heal. We need our visitors and commuters back while we look after the City’s 260,000 residents.

At City Hall our challenge is to retain the distinctive character of areas like Marylebone while also planning ahead to what Westminster will look like in five, ten- or 20-years’ time. The future of our high streets is without question one where retailers operate next to pop-up businesses, cultural attractions and with a mix of residential properties.

Earlier this year Westminster City Council adopted the new priority of creating a thriving economy. This will help us to create the right environment so local people have a chance of working in Westminster, enjoying our open spaces and a chance of living here.

We do not have the luxury of waiting for some post-pandemic era of calm to introduce innovative new ideas to bring back the crowd. I want to work with the Marylebone Association to help us do that.”

Cllr Melvyn Caplan, Deputy Leader & Cabinet Member for City Management

‘Londoners Were Promised a Hill With a View. They Got a Pile of Scaffolding’ - The New York Times

‘To call the Marble Arch Mound a ‘folly’ is an insult to Britain’s many great follies’ - The Telegraph

‘Marble Arch Mound is SHUT after two days amid storm of criticism’ - Daily Mail

‘New £2m tourist attraction in London branded ‘useless pile of rubbish’ as first visitors are offered refunds’ - Manchester Evening News

It is fair to say that the eventual, and delayed, opening - and the more rapid re-closing- of the Marble Arch Mound has attracted a great deal of publicity over the last week. However, it is hardly the sort of publicity that Westminster Council was hoping for. In fact, the barrage of criticism, both from the public and press, like the weather, has rained down relentlessly since then, mainly focused over the cost and the point of it.

Indeed, for those not familiar with our council's track record in pointless yet expensive greening, there is a general air of mystification as to why the thing is there in the first place - and just what its purpose is. Westminster Council has achieved the seemingly impossible task of attracting a level of national and indeed international criticism for this local piece of folly.

Whilst the designs for the structure show an abundance of lush greenery and stunning views, the reality has proved, so far, somewhat different. The views from the top are certainly uninspiring - Hyde Park, as we predicted back in our March Newsletter, is almost entirely obscured by trees, and the website also wrongly boasts of views down most of Oxford Street, which are in reality, clearly absent.

There are some defenders - the Marble Arch BID's chief executive Kay Buxton had previously welcomed the hill as a “clarion call to the recovery of London's hospitality and leisure sector”. So far the clarion call has been more like a bugle call - to the press hounds sniffing blood, and scenting the chance to get on the trail of an epic failure.

The question now has to be asked about another of Westminster's grandiose and vastly more expensive schemes which we have long opposed but is now in the process of being inflicted on us, although again, totally unwanted - the Oxford Circus Piazzas. What confidence can we have in a council capable of producing one monumental folly that it is not about to embark on another even bigger one- the closure of Oxford Street for the sake of a pedestrianised busking area around Oxford Circus. (See last month's article for full details)

We do not doubt that WCC embark on these ventures in the sincere belief they are in some way making things better (see the Deputy Leader’s article below), but we hold the equally sincere belief that they are bound to result in damage.

We are assured that closing Oxford Circus and diverting the traffic through our area instead will be absolutely fine, but this seems highly improbable - and given their attempts to date, what faith can we really have in their judgement and assurances to the contrary?

July 2021

As the Mound continues to grow in size, so does the potential budget for it. Originality mooted at an unrealistic £700,000, the Daily Mail reports that the cost is now rumoured to be nearer to £2 million - and still growing. The original completion date of the end of June has now been pushed back to the end of July. At the same time the controversial scheme has attracted much criticism as representing a waste of money.

None of this has dampened the Council’s enthusiasm for it. Cllr Rachael Robathan, leader of Westminster City Council, said: “We really hope the scheme will serve two purposes. First, to draw and encourage people back into the centre and Westminster. We know that footfall is still down by about 50% so we really need to show that it's open for business.”

“Second, I hope that when people climb up here and see these fabulous views, they'll be able to see Oxford Street through fresh eyes.”

“For people and families who can't go away on holiday, what better way to have some fun in the summer than coming over to Westminster for a couple of days and kick starting their trip with a visit up the mound?”

What better way indeed. The pigeons like it!

July 2021

“A centre of commerce that continuously adapts to change by unlocking the potential of its existing civic spaces.” is what the framework for the Oxford Street District states. And yet, and yet … it's nonsense. The phrase forms part of a corporate place-making script that seeks to disguise its own purpose of creating new urban spaces. Aka the “Piazza for Protests” which does have the same attractive ring about it.

But are they really piazzas? Piazzas are normally surrounded by buildings like our historical Garden Squares. Sadly, most of these are getting the “crescent treatment”: Hanover Square is set to become a crescent;

Manchester Square is due to follow suit with the north part being shut off. Will Cavendish Square and Portman Square be the next to fall victim to the placemaking lexicon curse? Cavendish Crescent and Portman Piazza? We have yet to hear anyone say “I’ll meet you in the Baker Street Quarter'' or “I am heading to the Oxford Street District tonight”. I think Londoners will stick with Soho, Mayfair and Marylebone, thank you very much. But, if we do get a say in naming the new Oxford Circus Piazzas - we will suggest Piazza McPiazzaface!

July 2021

After Westminster Council wisely pulled out of the Mayor’s scheme to pedestrianise the whole of Oxford Street West during the 2018 council elections, various promises were made to the electorate. One was to keep the street open to traffic, another was to consult and listen to residents on any future schemes for the area, and a third was not to do anything on Oxford Street which would damage the amenity of the surrounding residential areas.

In fact it is arguable that the Council has already broken all three of these promises by the so called “temporary” narrowing of Oxford Street, which has reduced it down so much that most traffic is deterred from using it. But it is beyond argument that the latest proposal to close the street either side of its main junction and divert the traffic through Marylebone and Fitzrovia flies in the face of the guarantees given back in 2018.

It is therefore with a great sense of disappointment that we once again find ourselves on the front line facing the same issues a mere three years on from the scuppering of the Mayor’s grandiose and damaging pedestrianisation proposals.

So what possessed Westminster Council to go ahead with this now after being sent such an unambiguous electoral message to keep Oxford street open to traffic? What is the magnetic attraction, the constant need to fiddle around with this street, that provokes the mantra that “doing nothing is not an option”? If only the Council could be content with doing nothing - and concentrate on getting right what local governments are meant to do - running the area efficiently, keeping the streets clean and effectively monitor and enforcing nuisance rather than spending vast amounts of borrowed money on projects such as this and the Marble Arch Hill.

It is argued that closing Oxford Street will only entail buses clogging up a few of the nearby streets and therefore the disruption is acceptable. But that is not correct - all the other displaced traffic such as taxis and delivery vehicles will find their own routes through, and these routes will have a negative impact on a much wider area. These will mainly be the streets, many of them residential, running north of Oxford Street in Marylebone and Fitzrovia. Indeed, the proposed road revisions are designed to give a clear east - west run through Fitzrovia and Marylebone via Mortimer and Wigmore Street as an alternative to the blocked Oxford Street. But when these streets fill up, Mayfair and Soho will also receive Oxford Street’s displaced traffic.

The justification for the Piazzas is based on the premise that pedestrian numbers at Oxford Circus will increase to such an extent, that for safety reasons, "doing nothing is not an option”. But no evidence is produced to back this. On the contrary, all the available evidence shows the opposite. The future of physical retail is unpredictable, but it is widely acknowledged to be in long term decline, and the appeal of the area to shoppers has diminished; even the New West End Company predicts that over the longer term 30% of retail may go, to be replaced by offices. Crossrail is cited as generating huge numbers of additional visitors, but it will not be disgorging them into Oxford Circus; in fact it will be taking the pressure off the Central Line which should see a drop in numbers coming into Oxford Circus as a result.

Anyway, if it really is all about pedestrian safety, why is it proposed to fill the space where the traffic was with seating, trees, planters, and street entertainment and encourage “dwell time”? Also, there are plenty of pedestrianised areas nearby, and many further possible contenders- so why is it necessary to pedestrianise Oxford Street’s primary intersection instead? What gain will shoppers really get from this that they cannot already find elsewhere?

Safety of course is merely the excuse for this scheme, the real reason is because it is perceived to be a desirable piece of real estate by big business, particularly the Crown Estate. They are joint partners and are underwriting much of the cost of it for one reason only: they see it increasing the value of their property portfolio around Oxford Circus. The creation of the Piazzas is therefore a political decision made on purely commercial grounds to the detriment of the area that will receive its traffic - and yet the Council have the audacity to claim that it will improve the area for residents.

Money and the desire for bold gestures have motivated this - all else is just flummery designed to confuse the issues and to enable the scheme to be pushed through. But the balance of inconvenience to our area versus the gain to big business is totally disproportionate.

However disappointing we find Westminster’s list of broken promises, its failure to consult on any of this is even worse. Ever since the Oxford Street District plans were introduced by Westminster Council in 2019, they have constantly assured us that there would be extensive consultation before anything significant was done, indeed the latest publicity states that the scheme has been “underpinned by consultation” - but it has not been. WCC have always promised that any scheme would be justified by traffic modelling to show that surrounding areas would not be impacted, but again - it has not been. Neither could it be, because, of course, the modelling could not but fail to show that the surrounding areas would be severely impacted by Oxford Street’s buses and taxis.

When WCC also came to realise this, the Piazza proposal was quietly put to one side. Then along came Covid and as a consequence WCC discovered the wonders of the “experimental traffic order” which enabled it to take draconian steps - without the need for any form of consultation at all. Unshackled from this onerous and tedious obligation the ETO was used to put cycle lanes down Portland Place and then to narrow Regent Street - they then went on to use it to narrow Oxford Street - and now this.

We have therefore, with this scheme, many of the same problems that felled the Mayor’s attempt to pedestrianise Oxford Street: the loss of accessibility to get through central London by bus and major congestion issues with the resulting pollution problems in the surrounding streets. Little wonder then, that Mr. Sadiq Khan has expressed his delight with it. We have, in short, the populations of Marylebone and Fitzrovia majorly inconvenienced for the benefit of the Crown Estate and their property portfolio around Oxford Circus. We have it forced on us on the false grounds of pedestrian safety, on the real grounds of creating a very profitable shopping mall, and we have absolutely no say in the matter.

This cannot be right, and it certainly isn’t democratic. It wasn’t right in 2018, and Westminster realised this, neither is it right in 2021 for Westminster Council to continue to ignore the wishes of their residents in this way.

April 2021

This Tuesday Westminster Council sought permission from its own planning committee for “the erection of a visitor attraction on the Marble Arch traffic island for a temporary period of 6 months from June 2021”. Consent was unanimously duly granted.

This project is another designed to lure back the shoppers once lockdown ends. Reminiscent of the widening of pavements and the creation of flowerbeds, above, but on a bigger scale. Is this is a “horrendous misuse of public money particularly given the economic crisis” or will it, “give people an opportunity to look afresh and with wonder at this well known, but sadly increasingly overlooked, area’”- as described by Cllr Rachael Robathan, Leader of Westminster City Council.

This is supported by big business and the local estates who see any investment in the area as a positive incentive to draw visitors back into the district. It however has many opponents, not least the 51 written responses against the granting of planning consent. Amongst the concerns raised were the expense, the damage to the siting of the Grade 1 listed monument and that a better and more permanent structure should be found for the large expenditure that is proposed.

April 2021

Westminster Council have begun the “ambitious renovation” of Oxford Street reported in last month’s newsletter in order to attract the shoppers back. This is part of the 150 million pound Oxford Street District project.

Work is now underway on the temporary pavement widening. WCC says, “they are part of a huge programme of works and activity to reinvent the nation’s high street.”

Leader of Westminster City Council, Cllr Rachael Robathan, said: “These initial measures will literally pave the way for an economic recovery. They will create a new visitor-friendly environment and reinforce the area as one of the best places in the world to live, work, shop and visit.” Without wishing to nitpick, nothing is being literally paved, but just infilled with composite material. Between Selfridges and Oxford Circus, no lay-by is safe, they are all being filled in, and some enlarged, to ensure the road is as narrow as it can possibly be whilst still retaining the function of a road.

Bus bays are being consolidated, but buses will still stop there, consolidating the traffic that will be stuck behind them. We had lobbied for the Council to at least retain bus lay-bys and not have buses stopping in the middle of the road, emulating the nonsense we now have in Regent Street. Otherwise we fear that two narrow lanes down Oxford street with no pull in areas will be a recipe for semi-permanent congestion once the shops do reopen and traffic returns to normal.

This first phase of work will be in place for an initial period of 18 months, subject to monitoring and review. What are the benefits on offer in exchange for snarling up the traffic? Apparently to make space for pocket parks complete with play areas and lighting installations. The idea is to place planters, seating areas, and play areas where once there was traffic.

It remains to be seen if wider pavements cluttered with planters and seating will sufficiently delight shoppers to lure them back to Oxford Street. It will certainly do nothing for the residents, although the money to do it is being borrowed on their behalf.

Meanwhile, while we wait to find this out, the consequence of congestion in Oxford Street when traffic volumes return to normal, will be that those vehicles that can avoid it will do, and reroute through Marylebone and to a lesser extent, Mayfair.

March 2021

Westminster City Council has unveiled plans to build a 23-metre tall climbable hill overlooking Marble Arch in a bid to lure shoppers back to Oxford Street once lockdown ends.

Called the ‘Marble Arch Hill’, the structure is set to be decorated with grass and trees, and will overlook Hyde Park. Visitors will be able to climb up the hill, although at this height much of the view may be obscured by the surrounding, higher trees. We have asked the project team to provide a photomontage of the view.

This is an unexpected project and a brave gesture by Westminster to supposedly help draw the crowds back into the Oxford Street area. With 57 of 264 stores on Oxford Street already permanently shut, the reopening of non-essential retail on 12th April after being closed for 14 weeks would probably be enough of an attraction in its own right to draw people back to shops. However, Westminster Council have decided to spend a sizable portion of their £150m Oxford Street District funding on the Hill.

The scheme comes from the Dutch Architects MVRDB who actually designed something similar back in 2004 in order to cover the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park. The proposal was to encase the gallery within “a mountain”, with grass-covered slopes over a steel frame. It was eventually abandoned on grounds of cost and health and safety issues. Julia Peyton-Jones, the Serpentine Gallery's director, said of the original project”: "What seemed relatively easy proved not to be”. We wish Westminster better luck.

As with other Oxford Street District projects we would be interested to know the projected costs of this and how the funding is split. We would also much prefer to see the Portman Estate long-term vision for Marble Arch implemented rather than this proposed temporary scheme.

The “temporary” Marble Arch Hill is subject to obtaining planning approval, and we would encourage you to have your say here. 

March 2021

In mid February, the Leader of Westminster Council stood on a wide, windswept and deserted pavement on Oxford Street and announced the launch of the Councils “framework for the Oxford Street District.” A link to the video can be found here.

Although it was manifestly apparent from watching this, that the last thing needed on Oxford Street at the present time was more pavement, we were then told by Westminster Council that this was indeed the plan. WCC further claimed that this scheme had resulted from “working closely with... local communities to deliver our shared ambitions”. It had not; we had been given a mere 2 weeks to respond to the consultation on this (granted, an improvement on zero weeks given for the Regent Street works last year). But such was the Council’s enthusiasm for the project that its go-ahead was announced before the end of even this. So whilst in the very process of asking us for our views, the scheme was actually put in motion, the contractors appointed, and closure dates in March for Oxford Street to allow for the works announced. (The closure details are in the article below).

We do not regard this as a good scheme, and certainly not one that is necessary. In fact, not one of the amenity societies within the West End area, or those to the west into Bayswater support it. The single lane with no lay-bys will mean buses stopping in the middle of the road to take on passengers. The result will likely be queuing and clogged traffic, with the inevitable consequence of much of it being displaced elsewhere, and Marylebone will take the brunt of this. Without adequate pull-ins, delivery vehicles, refuse trucks, blue light vehicles, cyclists will all be inconvenienced and taxis and other vehicles that can divert through our streets will do so.

We have therefore asked WCC, at the very least, to look again at their decision to remove all the existing bus lay-bys. Going east, two of the stops, outside John Lewis and the old BHS store, are bus termini, and the dwell time here is significantly longer in order to allow for all to discharge and the new passengers to embark. Going west, outside Primark, with 2 bus routes terminating there, removing that lay-by could lead to very extensive hold-ups.

The idea that all traffic has to wait behind each bus, each time they stop, is not only ridiculous but also unsafe. Stationary buses will inevitably result in some vehicles taking risks to get past by pulling out into the oncoming lane. Unlike in east Oxford Street there is no central island to prevent this and accordingly there will be a risk of collision with traffic coming in the opposite direction. This form of road engineering will therefore actually encourage more dangerous behaviour.

A further menace will come from the many pedicabs on Oxford Street, which in spite of years of attempted control are still there - and still unlicensed; the pavement widening outside Selfridges will simply allow extra space for them to stand and all traffic will, when it finally moves off, have no means of getting past whilst they continue to ply their trade at anything up to 10mph.

Meanwhile, in order to realise this unnecessary and pointless project, there will be a series of road closures over March and into April. Apparently, at the time of writing WCC has still not finalised where all the traffic will go. But they are hardly spoilt for choice. When they do finalise this, it will no doubt therefore once again be Wigmore Street that takes the brunt of it, with the usual repercussions higher up into Marylebone

Why then widen pavements for a retail footfall which is no longer there and unlikely to strongly re-emerge in the foreseeable future? Much of the trade that Oxford Street has lost, it has lost permanently, not only because of the long-term effects of Covid-19, but because of the movement to online sales. Hence the move afoot by New West End Company and others to explore new ways of utilising the existing buildings. Many upper parts may revert to offices and no doubt other uses will be found for the vacant lower parts, but they will not be so heavily dependent on footfall as at present.

The New West End Company estimates that Oxford Street is in the process of losing up to 30% of its retail offer, and the street will change accordingly. Its pavements have already undergone a considerable amount of widening over the last 40 or so years. The result is that, particularly to the west of Oxford Circus, they are already very wide in many parts, and probably quite wide enough for future uses and less shoppers. The solution, at least for the present then, does not lie in further widening, to the detriment of the free flowing of all traffic -buses, taxis, service and delivery vehicles, and cycles - with no obvious gain to the pedestrian.

Surely the role of WCC is to wait and see how the street is to evolve and then alter infrastructure to accommodate this, rather than to launch into projects without knowing what future demands will be.

What then is the perceived gain from all this disruption? Apparently, it is in order to accommodate the anticipated massive extra pedestrian flow in a Covid safe fashion, but it is also for “street dressing”- i.e., randomly placed planters, some street seating, “colourful banners” and “urban theatre”. There appears to be a contradiction in purpose here, in that the reason given for street widening is to enable social distancing during the Covid crises, yet it is proposed to fill much of the space gained with seating and planters.

Planters are at best token greening gestures and almost totally useless. The experience in Marylebone with the greening initiatives there has not been positive. A stroll down the High Street there shows that they add nothing to the environment, they have not been maintained properly, most of the plants are dead, or just hanging on, and they become a receptacle for rubbish and various other undesirable detritus. Without adequate provision for long term maintenance they rapidly descend to the status of useless eyesore.

As for nominating Oxford Street as a place for urban theatre, this seems calculated to deliberately undermine the part of the West End already dedicated to theatre and at present lying dark and unaided by any such measures. It further undermines Oxford Street in its function as an important traffic artery and Westminster’s promise to keep it open as such, which was given during and after the last council election only a few years ago.

Further, this is a scheme that compromises accessibility into Oxford Street; it is proposed that there is a reduction in the number of bus stops. Some will be lost entirely, meaning a longer walk between stops, which will inconvenience many, particularly for those with shopping, with children, the elderly and disabled.

The scheme is brought forward as a temporary measure - if this is to be taken at face value and the changes really are being considered on a temporary, 18 month basis, with the very real prospect of being taken out afterwards, then it appears to be an unwarranted squandering of money. Money that the Council needs to borrow in order to do this in the first place.

As for cost, it will no doubt be expensive, but how expensive we have not been told. We have raised this question and hope to be in a position to report on this soon.

In summary, it is proposed to spend a lot of (borrowed) money to achieve very little for a short period of time and to impose a lot of disruption on the surrounding area and those seeking to access Oxford Street in order to do so. Further, if this were to be made permanent, then all of these temporary works would then need to be removed for it to be done all over again, properly.

Jan 2020

Oxford Street - Westminster proposing part pedestrianisation Westminster Council have issued the following release regarding Oxford Street. The Council's desire to pedestrianise the centre of Oxford Street around Oxford Circus seems to be on track in spite of the continuing lack of evidence to justify it. We are somewhat surprised to see that the “two new public piazza schemes at Oxford Circus” have been highlighted in this release when we have been consistently told that these have not been decided on and will not be, “until the council is satisfied that there will be no adverse effects from any increased traffic on Marylebone”, from the proposed schemes. At present, we find it hard to understand how diverting Oxford Street Traffic into Marylebone in order to by-pass Oxford Circus will not adversely affect our area. We have been told that the extensive traffic modelling that is being prepared will show just that. However this traffic modelling, that will show highways impacts, bus passenger impacts, and air quality impacts of the proposals, was originally forecast for June 2019, postponed until October 2019 then put back again, to a date unknown in 2020. Just why it is taking so long to produce satisfactory data that can justify this large scale intervention is in itself worrying. The traffic modelling is critical as WCC need it to demonstrate that this scheme actually works for the whole area and they have said as much in previous meetings. Now we have an announcement about proceeding to Phase 2, of which the piazza proposal is part- and still no traffic modelling. Again, we have been repeatedly told that we will have plenty of time to digest and question the data produced prior to the commencement of any scheme. With the announcement above this however is beginning to look less likely Our next meeting with WCC on the Oxford Street proposals is not scheduled until late February/early March and we hope that we will not be confronted at that stage with a TfL style fait accompli. In other words, if Westminster say, as they have: “we look forward to continue working with residents, businesses and everyone who has an interest in the area's success” they should mean just that. Working with, implies listening to and engaging with, rather than making the mistake that TfL did a few years ago over Oxford Street of not listening to those who will be most affected by any closure scheme and attempting to plough on regardless. The Council's promise of positive engagement with stakeholders on any future Oxford Street scheme needs to be honoured. 

Crossrail opening "likely to be still 2 years away"

 Pedestrian numbers are continuing to fall on Oxford Street. Crossrail, now renamed the Elizabeth line, initially scheduled to open a year ago, was meant to change all this. However the initial central section of the Elizabeth line will now not open until some time in late 2021, according to the latest reports. Many software issues still remain to be sorted out before the trial running of trains - itself usually a 9 to 12 month process. This means another 15-24 months at least will likely pass before passengers can board its trains crossing London. The Elizabeth Line has fallen from grace after the boastful overconfidence of previous executives and is heading for a loss of 1.35 billion from the delays. At least this gives Westminster Council plenty of time to carefully consider all of all the available evidence and to consult widely before seeking to implement schemes of permanent closures and other restrictions deemed by some to be necessary to accommodate the increased projected footfall.

November 2019

Westminster Council have been pondering the question of what to do about busking in various parts of the City. They have been consulting with a number of groups including performers, shopkeepers, residents and resident associations. It appears they are very close to launching some initiatives designed to reduce the nuisance that can occur whilst at the same time allowing the continuation of this vibrant part of city life in Westminster. The four areas which most concern are Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and Oxford Street. All four areas produce different challenges. In fact Covent Garden has been ‘self regulated’ by the performers themselves for a number of years and so will be left alone. For the other three areas there will be different regimes put in place. This is planned for May 2020 after final legal consultation and statutory procedures have been completed. In all cases the plan is to try the system for up to a year to check that they work. Westminster have come to the conclusion that Oxford Street is particularly unsuitable for busking due to the massive footfall on comparatively narrow pavements. The sound from amplified systems is a particular nuisance on the street but also it reverberates down many side streets to the great discomfort of residents and shoppers. Therefore the proposal is for busking to be licenced and allowed on only three pitches, only one of which will allow for amplification and is to be located at the Marble Arch roundabout. However this is not necessarily going to solve all the issues surrounding ‘performing’ in the area. It is worth reading Westminster’s definition of busking and in particular to note what it does NOT include: The Busking/ Street Entertainment policy applies to artists and performers who entertain people on our streets, including circus, dance, magic and street theatre shows, as well as music, living statues and other types of entertainment. 

Activities not covered by the street entertainment policy include: 

• religious gatherings or preaching on the street 

• protests or marches on the street 

• charity collections on the street 

• noise from vehicles including pedicabs on the highway or carriageway 

• street gambling 

• noise from premises 

• special events such as premiers, shop openings and Christmas lights

July 2019 

Most of Oxford Street now has cleaner air than many parts of Marylebone and Mayfair. The traffic reduction on Oxford Street has already had a major impact on air quality figures- as can be seen from this Westminster Council map above, based on TfL’s own figures. These figures will only improve further over the coming months with the planned additional bus reductions along the street, and the introduction of electric buses. Whilst this is good news for the shoppers of Oxford Street, provided they don’t need a bus to get there, it is not for the residents of Marylebone. They may be wondering why the Council proposes to continue removing non-bus traffic from Oxford Street and diverting it through Marylebone by pedestrianising Oxford Circus and closing Oxford Street at Selfridges to all non-bus traffic for large parts of the day.

27 February 2019

The Council’s comprehensive new Place Shaping and Delivery Plan has now been approved by Westminster Council’s Cabinet, in much the same form as originally presented in the recent consultation.

The new Strategy emerged from the wreckage of the Mayors previous pedestrianisation scheme for Oxford Street and its new district wide approach was broadly welcomed by our organisations. The fact that many suggestions previously made by our various individual amenity societies and other groups had clearly been listened to and incorporated in the new plan meant that we were, and still are, happy to endorse much of what has being proposed.

However, as the details of the proposals emerged it became clear that certain concerning aspects, reminiscent of the previous scheme, had also re-emerged. Some very significant proposals – those that advocate the closing or the severe restricting of Oxford Street traffic – were contained amongst the large amount of detail about much else. The extent and severity of these will not yet have been readily appreciated by many of those who would be affected by them.

These proposals appear to undermine the principle and purpose of keeping Oxford Street open to traffic and would result in outcomes that we previously understood had been unambiguously abandoned by Westminster Council. Further they appear to contradict statements made by Westminster both during the recent elections and since the abandoning of the joint Transport for London consultation when we were told that pedestrianisation had been taken off the table for good. They even appear to contradict statements made elsewhere in the Council’s own Strategy, such as the promise to keep Oxford Street open: “to maintain Oxford Street’s role as an important traffic corridor in the West End”…and “Oxford Street will continue to provide a route for 2 way traffic and not be pedestrianised”.

There are three particular proposals that give us cause for concern. Given their relative importance to residents and businesses, and given that they would re-introduce in part what was widely found to be unacceptable in the previous scheme, they need to be clearly stated:

A. The proposal to investigate options to close the section of road around Oxford Circus between John Prince’s Street and Great Portland Street to all east-west traffic and pedestrianise it.

B. The proposal to restrict the width of Oxford Street to 2 carriageways only, along its entire length.

C. The proposal to close certain sections of Oxford Street to all traffic other than buses at certain times of the day.

These proposals are wrong for all the same reasons that the Mayor’s previous pedestrianisation scheme was wrong and we are disappointed, and not a little surprised, to see their re-emergence now after the latter had been so comprehensively rejected in the previous consultation and at the ballot box. In addition they will please few: the Mayor is “underwhelmed” by them, businesses unimpressed; as for the residents, most are at present totally unaware of their existence. Indeed our member societies only gradually became aware of the true extent of the scheme as the consultation progressed.

Why have they re-emerged? Possibly because the figure for all the works proposed by the Council is estimated to be £350 million. The allocated Council budget for them is £150 million over the next three years. It therefore will need to be substantially supplemented in some way. The Mayor has already made clear that his proposed £80 million funding is being allocated elsewhere – so WCC need to look to business, particularly the large local stakeholders to help fill the gap. The problem with this is that the interests of these stakeholders is focused on their immediate area of interest rather than the neighbourhood as a whole.

The most worrying of all the three proposals is the scheme to pedestrianise Oxford Circus. This not only violates the promises made by WCC  to abandon pedestrianisation for good, both during and after the election, but resurrects some of the worst aspects of the Mayor’s discredited scheme. In routing all traffic around neighbouring roads it reintroduces pedestrianisation by recreating a miniature version of the previous plan – that is by creating a needless diversion around a straight line.

Only in 2009, £5 million was spent in upgrading Oxford Circus to the new diagonal crossing and since then it has become one of the road’s most famous features. At the time Westminster Council welcomed this as a major triumph in accommodating safely the many numbers of pedestrians in the area. The figures have not changed appreciably since then.

However this proposal appears to have come not from Westminster Council but from the Crown Estates. They are the owners of Regent Street and see this as an opportunity to create a gateway project for the area and are prepared to underwrite the costs of undertaking the scheme. Westminster find this attractive as they need to take the pressure off their allocated budget for the reasons stated above.

The principle reason cited for the proposal is that of pedestrian safety: that the opening of the new Elizabeth line and the resulting extra footfall will lead to dangerous overcrowding on the pavements and crossings around Oxford Circus.

This argument has a superficial attraction which evaporates on further analysis, for this is the very area that, as a result of the opening of the Elizabeth Line, is forecast to have some of the pedestrian pressure removed and to see a relative decline in numbers. The new Bond Street/Hanover Square stations will take on many of the journeys that previously terminated at Oxford Circus. And this will continue into the future – on WCC’s own figures, by 2023 numbers at Bond Street will be up by 22%, at Tottenham Court Road by 25%, whereas the increase forecast for Oxford Circus is 6%. Does this really merit permanently closing Oxford Circus to all east-west traffic?

Where is the sense in closing the one part of Oxford Street that has been most recently upgraded at considerable expense, with the one station in Oxford Street that is forecast to have a relative drop in footfall in the future? To accommodate this the scheme proposes to substitute no less than 4 major turns for all traffic travelling along the length of Oxford Street where at present there are none. Each one of these new turns runs across very busy streets which will bring traffic into conflict with pedestrians. Rather than improve safety the potential for accidents will merely be displaced to the smaller roads behind Oxford Circus and indeed, due to all the additional turns made necessary, it could well be dramatically increased.

Although it is recognised that there is room for further improvement we would have hoped that this could be realised within the context of the work previously undertaken. For instance, buses and other vehicle turns at Oxford Circus could be banned whilst retaining an east west flow. Also, the proposals for Oxford Circus appear to be in conflict with the Strategy’s own aspirations for John Prince’s Street which will hardly benefit from having all the Oxford Street traffic routed through it.

Yet a further problem with the closure of Oxford Circus will likely arise in accommodating the additional traffic crossing Upper Regent Street as this will require longer red light phases against north-south traffic. However, this traffic already faces considerable congestion from the single lane at Oxford Circus often backing up beyond Langham Place and into Portland Place.

The proposed diversions will therefore be dangerous, will cause more pollution and will no doubt result in drivers using alternative routes through the surrounding areas, causing yet further traffic displacement into our neighbourhoods.

It is significant that whereas the Westminster consultation experienced a high positive response overall, it actually failed to get approval for this scheme. The consultation analysis (taken from the Steer Report dated February 2019) shows that the proposals for Zone F. – Oxford  Circus – 45% strongly opposed or tended to oppose the proposals, with only 39% of Westminster residents strongly supporting or tending to support them. Also, the most frequent comments from stakeholders regarding the draft Place Strategy was fear of traffic displacement – approximately 40% cited this, by far the highest of all the concerns listed.

The other proposals of concern involving traffic restrictions, or removal, on Oxford Street did not get a specific question in the consultation but they did emerge in part under the proposals for Zone C (the part of Oxford Street containing Selfridges department store, where Oxford Street connects Baker Street and the Mayfair streets of Duke Street, Orchard Street and North Audley Street). Here also, respondents generally opposed the proposals outlined in the draft Place Strategy.

In summary, all three of the proposals listed above will result in non-bus traffic being deterred from using Oxford Street even in the parts that remain open. The extra time the buses will take, caused by single lanes and road closures, will inconvenience and even deter bus users. Sporadic and intermittent closure of various parts of Oxford Street and the permanent closure of the parts of the street either side of Oxford Circus will push non-bus traffic into the heartlands of Mayfair, Marylebone and Fitzrovia.

So far, we only have the outline proposals for all these schemes, the methodology to justify them is at present being developed, for instance through traffic modelling – which as previous experience has shown, cannot be trusted. The Council has stated that issues arising from the proposals will be listened to and taken into account before deciding which ideas to take forward. But the issues arising from these proposals have been stated and they have been rejected by the majority of respondents to the consultation – but still they have been recommended to be taken forward.

Accordingly, whilst we look forward to and support the successful introduction of the large majority of Westminster’s proposals, we will continue to press our objections to this one part of the overall scheme that we feel is mistaken, both through our individual amenity societies and other groups.

29 October 2018

Westminster’s Council Cabinet met on the 26th October and gave the go-ahead to the Cabinet Report recommendations- to develop what is termed a, “Place Strategy,” for the whole of the Oxford Street area.

This strategy promotes a set of fifteen, “overarching place based principles”, to be presented to stakeholders and residents as part of a public consultation process between 6th November and 16th December.

The Council’s Cabinet Paper Report can be found on the Westminster Council website  From this we can summarise the main principles of the scheme:

Priority will be given to pedestrian space with the aim of widening footways and narrowing the existing roadway.

Existing public spaces and squares in the area will be improved.

There will be an increased and much-needed emphasis on street management, street cleaning and waste management.

These proposals are to go to the full Council for approval in November and any responses or feedback that the Council receives through consultation responses may lead to further changes in the Strategy and, or the Delivery Plan.

A new website has been launched at https://osd.london which provides details of the proposals for the Oxford Street District. It will also provide updates and details of the consultation and how to subscribe to the regular newsletter.

The proposals have been informed, not only by the responses from the initial joint TfL/WCC consultation but from a series of engagement meetings with over fifty stakeholders including residents held between July and September. 

It is clear that the Council has listened and acted on what these groups have said. They will look at ways of reusing surplus retail space and redeveloping it to suit the needs of an evolving economy. The importance is now clearly understood of protecting the neighbourhoods around Oxford Street: Fitzrovia, Marylebone, Mayfair and Soho. The majority of the proposals appear well thought out and sensible, embracing and complementing these neighbourhoods, not subordinating them, as previously, to the perceived benefit of one street.

Of course, all this comes at a price – £2.5 million for the development of the proposals and a projected £150 million for the whole scheme. This is a very significant sum, showing a serious commitment to the area. Indeed, it is on a par with the total expenditure that TfL and the Mayor were previously contemplating for their scheme. It is anticipated that this level of funding will require substantial contributions from external sources in addition to Westminster’s capital budget. However, in the papers we have seen, these sources have not as yet been formally identified.

In summary, we now have a pragmatic and evolving scheme which offers a holistic approach across the district, one which acknowledges local priorities from Marble Arch through Oxford Circus to Tottenham Court Road. It addresses key issues notably lacking in the previous proposals: district-wide improvements, enhancement of the neighbouring areas and an emphasis on access to and from Oxford Street. There are still concerns over future accessibility arising from the extensive proposed cuts to the buses and bus routes running to and through Oxford Street. This, however, remains in the hands of TfL and as such is not part of the consultation.

There is still also the concern that the Mayor, and certain elements in the Greater London Authority, will pursue the pedestrianisation agenda by some other means- such as attempting to take over control of Oxford Street. To do this would ignore the democratic mandate obtained from the council elections, and the popular endorsement subsequently confirmed from the extensive consultation. This would be a retrograde step and most inadvisable.

We are, though, in a far better place than we could have hoped for this time last year at the opening of the first Oxford Street Consultation. Then, on the roof garden at John Lewis, the Mayor addressed us all on a project to pedestrianise Oxford Street and he clearly saw the consultation as merely a formality prior to its endorsement. That scheme was however unworthy of the district it claimed to serve, a message that the residents sent out loud and clear to the Council by various means, both prior to, and during the elections. The Council listened and as a result, it has now been unceremoniously dumped. In its place, we have a series of sensible and pragmatic proposals which will benefit, not only Oxford Street but the whole West End area, its residents and the businesses within it. In this new scheme, Westminster Council has the support of all the West End amenity societies.

In summary, we feel that the Council are now actively attending to the concerns of residents and businesses. They have stood up for them and scuppered a scheme which was not wanted by those who live and work in the West End. We have seen the congestion and displaced traffic that has resulted from various TfL schemes in other parts of London, in spite of their claims to the contrary beforehand. We have seen how, once TfL launch a consultation, the desired outcome is usually a foregone conclusion. This time, however, the outcome has been different. This time the consultation responses were heeded and the Council’s subsequent uncompromising stance against the Mayor’s unwanted scheme finally saw it off. 

The action taken in defence of the area and its residents by Westminster Council is to be applauded. It shows that it is possible to stand up to TfL, who are unelected and accountable to no one – save the Mayor. It is an example of democracy in action and as such sets a notable precedent. 

5 October 2018

Early October has seen a flurry of announcements concerning Oxford Street. Westminster City Council have continued to honour their election pledges and listen to the West End, residents and businesses. The Council Leader has personally confirmed again that they are no longer supporting the Mayor’s plan to pedestrianise and that they are going it alone with a bold scheme to put £150 million over three years, not just into Oxford Street, but into a scheme which is genuinely for the improvement of the whole Oxford Street District- Link to Leaders Update October 2018

In this they now have the support of all the West End amenity societies, who are already being actively consulted by Westminster as part of their engagement process. The Council now understands the importance of protecting the iconic neighbourhoods around Oxford Street: Fitzrovia, Marylebone, Mayfair and Soho. They are aiming to unveil their scheme at the end of the month, and go out to public consultation on it in November for 6 weeks.

At that stage Westminster Council will be seeking the views of those who live, work or have an interest in the area on the new Oxford Street strategy and to that end a new website has been launched at https://osd.london. This will provide details of proposals for the Oxford Street District as well as information about the forthcoming consultation and how the public can give their views. We would urge all those who have shown so much interest in the future of Oxford Street to visit that website and use this opportunity to help develop the scheme with their constructive views on the area.

Westminster have also launched an Oxford Street District newsletter to keep people updated which can be subscribed to from the Oxford Street District website.

All good news then? – So far, so good, but watch this space and we will keep you updated. The next key date is the meeting of the Westminster Council Cabinet on 25th October where the decision on the draft Place Strategy and Delivery Plan for Oxford Street will be formally set out and sanctioned.

 4 July 2018 

Sadiq Khan’s letter to Cllr Nickie Aiken

Click here Cllr Nickie Aiken letter Jul 18

7 June 2018

The Future of Oxford Street

I am writing to update you about our plans to improve Oxford Street and the surrounding district.

As you know, two consultations have taken place in the past twelve months and after listening carefully to what local people have told us, we can now make Westminster City Council’s position absolutely clear.

What is very apparent is that the majority of Westminster residents who responded to the consultations did not support the proposals to pedestrianise Oxford Street. We also know that in the recent council elections, local people also essentially rejected pedestrianisation through the ballot box. Therefore, we believe there is a very strong democratic mandate that the pedestrianisation scheme that was under consideration is not what local people want. As a result, Westminster City Council has taken the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street off the table for good and we have informed the Mayor and TfL of our decision.

However, we do think that most people, ourselves included, feel that doing nothing is also not an option. We need to make the street and surrounding roads safer for everyone to accommodate the increase in people coming into the West End via the Elizabeth Line, which opens later this year. We also need to future-proof the Oxford Street District in a rapidly changing business and retail environment. We need to make sure that the experience of visiting Oxford Street and the surrounding area is fit for the future to ensure it maintains its crown as the nation’s high street for many, many years to come. Today’s news that House of Fraser will be closing their Oxford Street store only reaffirms our view that we have to help the retail industry to grow and evolve in line with changing consumer behaviour.

In doing this, we must also ensure that residents’ quality of life is enhanced with any improvement plans, with local amenity and cleaner air the absolute priority. For example, we want to continue to work with the Mayor of London, as many of the ways air quality can be improved are within his gift, such as the reduction in buses and introducing cleaner taxis. We will also ensure that the street and surrounding district is accessible and easy to navigate for everyone.

Moving forward, the council will now work on completely new proposals and come back to you after the summer break with some thoughts as to how we can proceed with improving the Oxford Street District. We also give you our absolute commitment that we will keep you informed at every stage and try to engage with as many people as possible throughout this process.

Only by working together can we help to ensure that we deliver a transformation of Oxford Street and surrounding district that is as inspiring for those who live, work and visit the area now as well as for future generations.

If you would like to be kept up to date with future Oxford Street updates could you please e-mail robincampbell@westminster.gov.uk to register your email address. If you have any questions please also direct them to Robin.

CLLR NICKIE AIKEN Leader of the Council

14 May 2018

Promises must be honoured on Oxford Street, pedestrianisation is not on!

http://camdennewjournal.com/article/promises-must-be-honoured-on-oxford-street-pedestrianisation-is-not-on

14 May 2018

Tom Edwards BBC Transport correspondent, London

It’s one of the mayor’s election pledges to pedestrianise London’s Oxford Street.

It is not a pleasant shopping environment.

It’s full of buses and taxis and as a result of the high buildings, pollution doesn’t disperse from the street.

It also has a high level of pedestrian collisions.

Now though, the scheme to pedestrianise Oxford Street is in trouble.

The problem for London Mayor Sadiq Khan is that the road is owned by Westminster City Council.

There has been considerable opposition to the plans from local residents and businesses.

Such was the clamour that prior to the recent local council elections, Westminster City Council shifted its policy away from broadly supporting the scheme to calling the present plans “unacceptable”.

The council has now confirmed it does not think full pedestrianisation is the answer. The plans are going to have to change.

Back to the drawing board

Council leader Nickie Aiken said: “No change on Oxford Street is not an option. However, having reviewed the recent consultation we are persuaded that full pedestrianisation is not the best solution.

“We will make no formal decisions on the future of Oxford Street until all potential options have been fully considered and we have a solution that meets our eight pledges.”

Those pledges mean any plan will have to reduce pollution and prevent traffic going onto residential roads. That could be very difficult to achieve.

The Campaign Against Pedestrianisation of Oxford Street (CAPO) – who caused the shift in the council’s policy – think the project is in serious trouble.

Parts of it were due to be finished by the end of the year. They think that is impossible.

And at the moment it looks like there isn’t a plan at all and it is back to the drawing board.

This project has been talked about for decades and it always hits problems.

The mayor remains optimistic it will happen.

But without consensus from Westminster, a huge cloud hangs over the scheme. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-44112090?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/localnews/2643743-london/0&link_location=live-reporting-correspondent

13 May 2018

WESTMINSTER Council has shown common sense at last in rejecting the Mayor of London’s and Transport for London’s extreme plan to pedestrianise Oxford Street and disenfranchise residents and regular commuters.

This was both a vanity exercise by the Mayor as well as a cost-cutting one, in which he intended to further cut bus numbers, close down routes, and shorten other routes. Our side streets and attractive squares would have become “bus stands”.

Westminster Council now needs to follow up on its “pledges” of better traffic control and pollution in Oxford Street as well as removing pedicabs, noisy buskers and beggars.

Pedestrianisation is not a social benefit. It would turn the residential street into a tourist walkway and disenfranchise many locals and regular commuters.

With the expediential growth of souvenir shops selling fridge magnets and flags, Oxford Street is looking less and less like an “international shopping destination” and more and more like an austerity-damaged high street.

Change is needed but concreting it over with a few benches and garden centre trees is not the answer.

by ETHAN POD

http://westendextra.com/article/oxford-street-pedestrianisation-was-never-the-answer

11 May 2018

Oxford Street campaigners urge council: ‘Don’t forget promises’

WestEnd Extra – 11 May,  2018 — By Tom Foot

CANDIDATES for the Campaign Against Pedestrianisation of Oxford Street single-issue party said this week that the electorate had sent a message to Westminster Council Conservatives “not to forget their promises”.

It said that winning seats was “never the primary reason” for setting up the party and that it had “achieved its goal before the first vote was cast”.

Days before the count, the outgoing councillor Danny Astaire told full council that officers had been told to stop working on design work with the Mayor of London and implied that the council was now opposing the plan.

This week, the anti-pedestrianisation campaigners said: “No matter how much pressure the new council may be brought under to again change their minds on Oxford Street, they must stay firm. They own the road, they have said, ‘No’ and they must now be fully aware that their mandate was achieved through the election promises they made and that these promises must be honoured.”

However, council leader Nickie Aiken yesterday (Thursday) did not seem so committal.

When asked whether the council supported the Mayor of London’s Oxford Street plan, she told the Extra “there is no plan”, adding: “The people in the area have spoken. We are at the table so that we ensure their concerns are addressed. There is an awful long way to go before any plan can be introduced. There’s no work going on at the moment anyway.

“We are waiting for Transport for London to come back – we have said they have got to address the concerns brought up by residents. We have eight red lines. We want to look at how we can improve Oxford Street and we want to look at alternatives that make Oxford Street a better place to walk down.”

http://westendextra.com/article/oxford-st-campaigners-urge-council-dont-forget-promises

1 May 2018

“Tory U-turn on Oxford Street ahead of poll – Conservatives order officials to stop work on pedestrianisation project”  WestEnd Extra 4 may 2018

“Sadiq Khan’s plans to ban traffic from Oxford Street has been dealt a huge blow after Westminster council rejected them as “unacceptable”. Evening Standard 27th April 2018

Sadiq Khan “suffered an embarrassing defeat yesterday when it emerged that Conservative Councillors scuppered plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street after pressure from businesses and residents.” The Times 28th April 2018

13 April 2018

Residents in Marylebone, Mayfair, Fitzrovia and Soho are not convinced by the various pledges and assurances given by the major parties concerning the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street. The only pledge that they want to hear is the one which promises to work to get rid of the terrible scheme that the Mayor, TfL and Westminster Council propose to inflict on their area. This is a scheme too flawed in its basic concept to be altered by pledges and it should be scrapped before it is allowed to cause havoc on the streets of the West End.

Up until last week local residents were in danger of going into the May 3rd elections without one councillor or candidate from any party who was prepared to categorically speak out against the scheme. Now, however, the residents themselves have taken positive action and formed a party to do just that. This new party is standing three candidates, one in each of the three wards most affected by the scheme.

The party is called CAMPAIGN AGAINST PEDESTRIANISATION OF OXFORD STREET. It is not a political party as its name makes clear. It is a campaigning group. The party has only one purpose in its constitution, only one subject that it is campaigning on, but it is one that will affect the West End more than any other single issue – the proposed pedestrianisation of Oxford Street. The new party’s single purpose is to oppose pedestrianisation and to show that there is a better way to improve the area. It is neither affiliated to, nor does it support, any political party; its stance is above party politics. This is made clear in its motto: “two votes for your party, one vote for your neighbourhood”. In this way it hopes to appeal to those of all political persuasions, because it operates across all political boundaries.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST PEDESTRIANISATION OF OXFORD STREET candidates are standing in the three wards that surround Oxford Street: Bryanston and Dorset Square Ward, Marylebone High Street Ward, and West End Ward. Each of the candidates fielded is a prominent, long-standing, non-political residents’ representative from the local area. They know what residents are saying, they know what residents want, and they intend to give them a voice.

26 March 2018

It is not just missing responses that is worrying about the now withdrawn TfL Oxford Street Consultation reports, it is also the misinterpretation of stakeholder responses.

Take for example the 10 page response from “Paddington Residents Active Concern on Transport”. 

What they actually said…

“We are in favour of the ‘transformation’ of Oxford Street, provided that good accessibility for all is

maintained. Unfortunately this proposal to fully pedestrianise parts, or all, of the Street (of which

this would be only the first phase) is, in our view, impractical as being incompatible with good

accessibility. However, a proposal allowing two or three buses (say initially hybrid, later electric

mini-buses) might be. We think that implementation of the proposal in its current form will cause:-

• severe damage to the quality of life (including the incidence of pollution) of those living nearby

– through increasing traffic in Wigmore Street and displacing traffic into quieter, supposedly

residential areas both to the north (because of traffic jams in Wigmore Street) and to the south

(Mayfair).

• damage to the viability of shops in Oxford Street (with accessibility to ordinary shops being

limited far more than that to the big stores)

• problems in the ‘public realm’, such as street entertainment, selling from carts, etc

• security issues, especially at the designated crossing points”

General conclusion …”Both on grounds of accessibility (buses, the mobility impaired) and on the general grounds set out in paragraphs two and three above, we do not think that full pedestrianisation of Oxford Street is practical.”

Full original response: http://betteroxfordstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Final-PRACT-RESPONSE-20-12-17.pdf

How TfL misinterpreted the response from Paddington Residents Active Concern on Transport

“In favour of the proposals providing that accessibility is maintained. Suggested that a limited number of buses should continue to serve Oxford Street and was concerned that in their current form, the proposals would damage quality of life, the viability of businesses and cause disturbance and security issues. Concerned that

the proposals are being developed too quickly. Provided detailed comments about perceived deficiencies in the proposals for bus service changes.”

Page 18 on now withdrawn consultation report http://betteroxfordstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/oxford-street-consultation-report-appendix-b.pdf

Just one example of misrepresenting the responses received.

24 March 2018

If you would like to read what TfL are now calling “interim” consultation reports which have now been withdrawn as they were found to be missing responses. You can read these incomplete withdrawn reports here. We found that there are also a few errors in them!

Incomplete Oxford Street-consultation-report-march-2018

Incomplete Oxford-street-consultation-report-appendix-a

Incomplete Oxford-street-consultation-report-appendix-b

Incomplete Oxford-street-consultation-report-appendix-c

22 March 2018

The Fitzrovia News  – report by Linus Rees 

A report analysing the responses to a consultation on the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street has had to be withdrawn after it was discovered Transport for London gave out an incorrect email address for respondents to use.

Last week Val Shawcross, deputy mayor for transport, hailed the results of the consultation as a success and said the plans would create “one of the finest public spaces and shopping streets in the world”.

But celebrations at City Hall were short-lived and on Monday TfL removed the report from its website and issued a statement saying many people’s views went missing.

“This was because we published this [email] address, by error, on our consultation web page as one method of submitting a response. We apologise unreservedly for this,” said the statement.

TfL is now asking people who may have used the incorrect email address to resubmit their response by Friday 6 April.

This major error was only discovered when community groups contacted TfL to ask why their responses were not included in the appendices to the report. They also asked questions about why some of the statistics presented did not add up correctly.

The views of the Marylebone Association and the Fitzrovia West Neighbourhood Forum, which represents residents and business which would be the most adversely affected by the displacement of Oxford Street traffic into their areas, were missing from the report along with an unknown number of other responses.

The Mayor of London’s commitment to pedestrianise Oxford Street is being fiercely resisted by local residents who want congestion and pollution reduced over a much wider area instead of shifting the problems into side streets.

Most people living in the surrounding streets do not own or use private vehicles yet they complain their districts are blighted by a high volume of through traffic and say the Mayor’s plans will make matters worse by adding vehicles to serve Oxford Street.

Cycling groups have also criticised the plans because the thousands of people who use Oxford Street everyday to travel east and west along it will be diverted along a circuit of back streets and along an unknown parallel route some way north of the shopping street.

An email from Westminster council sent to community groups in Fitzrovia and Marylebone, and seen by Fitzrovia News, says the council had asked TfL to remove the report so the missing responses could be traced and other criticisms of the report investigated.

13 March 2018

The long awaited results of the second Oxford Street consultation which closed over 2 months ago have finally been released. It is now apparent why it has taken so long, because within it is one big, unmissable message for the Mayor – the West End Does Not Want It.

61% of Westminster residents voted against, with a further 16% having unanswered concerns. 68% of businesses voted against with 13% concerned. Indeed only 23% of residents supported it. Businesses were even more damning, giving it a mere 19% support.

Even nationally TfL could only muster 48% for pedestrianisation, with 52% against or having concerns. And this in the face of concerted and co-ordinated campaigning from various pro-pedestrianisation groups, a protracted and one sided media campaign from TfL, including public adverts on 11 of London’s radio stations and the 3 major London papers, posters and roadshows, all offering only the pro-pedestrianisation argument.

These figures torpedo any mandate to proceed with the present scheme. The question has been asked, and the answer is clear: the scheme in its present form must not go ahead. This is a warning to the Mayor and WCC to abandon it in compliance with the will of the majority of those who would have to suffer the consequences. Indeed it is apparent from the lack of endorsement of the proposals, or any recommendation, that there are major concerns, even amongst those trying to push this through.

The Mayor must be reminded what he said last year to the London Assembly:

“Yes, it is of upmost importance to consult with local residents, businesses and those who travel to and through the district”

 WCC should also be reminded of the words of the Leader of the Council in November  2017 to the Westminster Amenity Societies Forum:

“I can assure you we are listening…that no matter what anyone may think Oxford Street is not a done deal.”

 It is now most important, having had a consultation, that this is not seen to be a done deal pushed thorough in spite of the message sent back from it. It is essential, that having been asked, the voice of the West End it is not ignored, that the Mayor and WCC listen to the outcome of the consultation, and pay attention to it.

20 Feb 2018

WESTMINSTER COUNCIL’S EIGHT PLEDGES ON OXFORD STREET

The latest leaflet from Westminster Council, signed off personally by the Leader and the Deputy Leader, contains some surprising announcements.

Westminster Council, we are told: “initially supported the Mayor’s proposal to consult on the proposed pedestrianisation of Oxford Street West…”. We think it went a little further than that. Only last November we were presented with a major leafleting campaign and a JOINT consultation document on “our proposals to transform Oxford Street”, signed on behalf of Westminster Council, the Mayor, and TfL.

So now, apparently, only the consultation was supported by Westminster, not the proposed closure to traffic, and that only because, although WCC have ownership of Oxford Street; “…the Mayor could invoke powers to take over the street should he wish to do so”.

This hardly sounds like the most solid foundation on which to embark on one of the biggest road projects ever undertaken by WCC; a joint consultation that was apparently only joint because the Mayor was holding a gun to Westminster’s municipal head, threatening to take over the Street if WCC did not toe the line. Well, it is unfortunate that we could not have been told this prior to the consultation — it could have put a rather different perspective on things.

What accounts for this change of heart? Maybe it’s something to do with the record breaking 20,000 people responding to the consultation, and maybe many of them did not respond in the desired way? But this is guesswork for no one is permitted to see the response figures. Whatever the reason, the new leaflet tells us that if the now, non-joint, pedestrianisation scheme is to be implemented, it will be, and note the capitals:

“ONLY on the basis that a number of safeguards are incorporated into the plan. These safeguards are what we call “Our Eight Pledges”…”

Well, at least Westminster have finally got the message that there is a great deal wrong with this scheme, joint or not. But the problem now is that most of the “Pledges” are not within Westminster’s power to enforce and, on past performance, the Council will be unable to honour the few that are.

So let’s look at them a little more closely:

OUR PLEDGES TO YOU – City of Westminster

1 We will ensure pollution levels will reduce across the district.

How we will deliver this for you:
As well as initiatives such as the ultra-low emission zone for central London only two bus routes using the greenest vehicles will run through the district, a reduction of almost 100 buses an hour running at peak times. We are monitoring air quality at 100 sites across the West End.

WE SAY: UNWORKABLE – Bus numbers can, and are being reduced without closing Oxford Street. How 18 buses per hour running through the adjacent roads and approximately 40 buses per hour running to redirected stands, 24 hours a day, plus many hundreds of additional taxis, lorries and vans per hour will reduce pollution levels is not explained. As for the ULEZ-WCC have precisely no say over how this is operated. Equally it has no control on TfL deciding later on it needs to push more buses through the area, once it finds that 2 extra routes are inadequate.

2 We will ensure traffic won’t rat run down narrow residential roads

How we will deliver this for you:
We will carefully design the scheme to avoid creating congestion elsewhere. TFL is in- vesting in advance traffic signal technology to allow them to better manage traffic de- pending on different conditions at any given time and we are working to improve road user information so people can make informed journey choices before they travel.

WE SAY: UNWORKABLE – WCC is unable to carefully design anything to avoid congestion, only TfL can do this; and even they really only have control over the buses. The only way TfL can control the rest of the traffic is to jam it up somewhere else using its “advanced traffic signal tech- nology,” i.e. impose large numbers of slow moving queues on the alternative roads and an inevitable increase in congestion and rat running along the rest.

3 We will ensure that pedestrianised areas and surrounding streets will be effectively managed at all times
How we will deliver this for you:  

Uniform officers will have the powers they need for effective enforcement to tackle unlicensed or antisocial activity both day and night security including antiterrorism measures will be well-designed and proportionate and keep people safer.

WE SAY: DOUBTFUL – Just look at the evidence we have of Westminster’s enforcement abilities to date; it is an abject list of failures: Leicester Square; Trafalgar Square North, free-for-alls for amplified buskers and all forms of illegal street activity; Pedicabs, 10 years of totally ineffectual tough talk and no action mean that these third world rickshaws continue to blight our streets; Shisha Smoking joints, unlicensed, noisy, smelly, disturbing residents late into the night; professional begging gangs — all ply their trades openly and unhindered. WCC’s effective management is ineffective, and anyway they have no money to manage anything that does not bring them in revenue, e.g., parking.

4 We will make sure the Oxford Street must remain accessible to all

How we will deliver this for you:
The new Elizabeth line will be step free and some new bus stops will be situated within one block of any traffic free section of Oxford Street and as close as possible to any pedestrianised area. We will also be looking at a new local mobility scheme along Oxford Street to further boost accessibility. Taxis will be able to drop off and collect passengers at the rear of some stores and on each of the side roads.

WE SAY: UNWORKABLE – The tube is not an option for many, for reasons of health, mobility, or cost. The Elizabeth Line may be step free, but the chances are the station at the other end of the route won’t be, so where does that leave accessibility? Bus stops as close as possible, in most cases, means 200-300 metres away. Moreover, most will need to change buses at least once even to get that close. The dismembering of the bus service will also badly affect many shop workers, and the army of night workers who rely on an effective night-time bus network, when the tube is closed. And once in Oxford Street, there will be no choice for all but to walk. The majority cannot afford taxis, and those that can will want to go somewhere less polluted and easier to get to.

5 We will ensure deliveries will be properly controlled and not cause greater local inconvenience
How we will deliver this for you: 

Recent surveys have shown that there are very few shops being serviced from the front via Oxford Street. Our plan is that the maximum distance to a loading bay will be no more than 50 metres. We will use all our enforcement powers to make sure delivery rules will not be flouted.

WE SAY: UNWORKABLE – Our recent surveys have in fact shown that approximately 45% of shops have no option but to be serviced from Oxford Street; even TfL put this figure at 35%. The 50 metre distance to a loading bay is ridiculous, that wouldn’t even get to the junction of the nearest side street from most shops, never mind the nearest bay. It will be a disaster for all but the major stores with rear and side loading bays, particularly if WCC make it even worse by then restricting loading on the side streets, the only place they will have left. Yet if they do not, residents’ lives will be made a misery with the noise of revving lorries and countless metal loading trollies being wheeled to and from the shops. Given WCC’s record on enforcement, this is anyway the most likely outcome. Closing Oxford Street will result in massive disruption either way.

6 We will make sure the night time traffic should not unduly increase disturbance
How we will deliver this for you:

Buses and taxes will be some of the quietest available so that noise levels throughout the area will largely stay unchanged or decrease for the most part with current plans. We will be monitoring noise across the district making all data available and develop mitigation measures including changing the scheme should that be required.

WE SAY: IMPOSSIBLE – Westminster has no grounds for making this assertion. TfL have not even done any traffic modelling to assess the consequences of closure at night and WCC have failed to address the question of why Oxford Street should be closed overnight at all, given the disproportionate amount of disruption which would be caused to residents and businesses. It will guarantee that the 500 vehicles an hour that presently use Oxford Street through the night will be forced to find their way through residential streets. The quietest available buses are by no means quiet enough, the taxis will be the same taxis; and they are not quiet, particularly at night, when there is a drop in ambient noise levels. If WCC really think that running all these extra buses, taxis, lorries and vans through our streets will not dramatically increase noise levels they should spend less time with the TfL modellers and get out a bit more. In addition, passengers will be waiting for buses in residential streets, instead of on Oxford Street itself, bringing with them noise and anti-social behaviour.

7 We will ensure that there will be adequate safe and quiet cycle routes through the area
How we will deliver this for you:

We are developing proposals for a high-quality East-West cycle route to the north of Oxford Street. This network would compliment new facilities coming to the area.

WE SAY: UNWORKABLE – Cyclists are to be banned from Oxford Street with the rest of the traffic, turning the adjacent streets into noisy, polluted, congested, servicing points for Oxford Street. WCC realises that even they cannot put cycle routes down them as well. Previous attempts to find an East-West cycle route have failed because the streets of Marylebone and Fitzrovia are unsuitable. So any cycle route that is eventually designated, will be nowhere near where the cyclists actually want to be; and given all the other constraints, it is extremely unlikely to be “high quality”.

8 We will ensure resident parking bays will be protected.

How we will deliver this for you:
Our plan is that there will be no impact on the amount of resident, disabled and motorcycle parking currently available.

WE SAY: POSSIBLE – Finally, at point 8 we reach something that Westminster Council actually has within its power to promise. But with the huge pressure on all other forms of kerbside use that closure will put on our side roads, even that will be a herculean task to honour. Further they need to go beyond simply protecting this parking, it would need to be properly enforced, and the likelihood of that is very low.

4 Jan 2018

The 2nd Oxford Street Consultation is now closed. You can read the formal response submitted by Better Oxford Street here:

BETTER OXFORD STREET RESPONSE

BOS SCHEDULE 1 – BUSINESS SUMMARY

BOS SCHEDULE 2 – SHOPS SURVEY 

You can read 28 other Organisations responses submitted here: 

MAYFAIR RESIDENTS GROUP RESPONSE

FITZROVIA NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATION RESPONSE

MARYLEBONE ASSOCIATION RESPONSE

BLOOMSBURY ASSOCIATION RESPONSE

WEST END COMMUNITY NETWORK RESPONSE

NEW WEST END COMPANY RESPONSE

MARYLEBONE LOW EMISSION NEIGHBOURHOOD RESPONSE

MARYLEBONE FORUM RESPONSE

ST MARYLEBONE SOCIETY RESPONSE

FITZWEST RESPONSE

PADDINGTON RESIDENTS ACTIVE CONCERN ON TRANSPORT RESPONSE

LONDON TRAVELWATCH RESPONSE

LONDON ASSEMBLY TRANSPORT COMMITTEE RESPONSE

WHEELS FOR WELLBEING RESPONSE

LONDON CYCLING CAMPAIGN RESPONSE

BRENT CYCLISTS RESPONSE

BT INLINK UK RESPONSE

SUSTRANS RESPONSE

ROAD HAULAGE ASSOCIATION RESPONSE

LTDA RESPONSE

LONDON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY RESPONSE

MARBLE ARCH BID RESPONSE

BAKER STREET QUARTER BID RESPONSE

BRAG RESPONSE

HEART OF LONDON BUSINESS ALLIANCE RESPONSE 

WEST END VOICE

TRANSPORT FOR ALL RESPONSE

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS RESPONSE

20 December 2017

CityAM 

Thought that businesses and residents would be happy about the plan to turn Oxford Street into a car-free zone? Apparently not, as groups in the area have launched a protest against the mooted pedestrianisation.

Banning cars and buses from the infamous shopping district will lead to more pollution and gridlocked local roads, according to local amenity group representative Better Oxford Street (BOS).

Added to that, residents fear that the long stretch of empty road will be a magnet for gangs at night.

“This scheme is not wanted by residents or businesses. According to Transport for London’s own figures, of those that responded to the last consultation, 60 per cent of businesses opposed the proposals with a further 16 per cent concerned about them – that is 76 per cent of businesses in total with 66 per cent of local residents are either opposed to it or are concerned by it,” said a spokesperson for BOS.

“The mayor is not a dictator, but is behaving like one and trying to force this dreadful scheme through for purely political reasons to benefit himself and against the will of those in the area.”

Without Oxford Street being open to vehicles, BOS is warning that buses will have to be rerouted around local streets – clogging up routes and making the area more dangerous for pedestrians.

Other bus routes will be axed, it claims, making Oxford Street less accessible for the disabled.

“Whilst the principles of making better public space on Oxford Street are laudable, the proposals as designed and the phasing of transformation show a blatant disregard for the areas immediately surrounding the district – most notably at the western end of Oxford Street and its gateway to Marble Arch and Edgware Road,” said Kate Buxton, chief executive of business group Marble Arch Partnership.

Meanwhile Mark Field, the Conservative MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, said that pedestrianising Oxford Street would “shift the problems caused by heavy traffic elsewhere”.

But other groups are disputing BOS’s statement that the majority of businesses are against pedestrianising Oxford Street.

Full article

19 December 2017

Evening Standard – 19 December 2017

Residents and businesses opposed to Sadiq Khan’s plan to pedestrianise Oxford Street have claimed it will worsen congestion and increase accidents and pollution on neighbouring roads.

They urged people to flood Transport for London with objections before a consultation closes on January 3.

Under the plan, the west end of the street, from Orchard Street near Marble Arch to Oxford Circus, will close to all traffic from next December to coincide with the opening of the Elizabeth line.

The number of buses crossing from west to east would fall drastically with only two “through routes”, the 139 and 390, surviving.

Instead of passing down Oxford Street they will use Wigmore Street, Henrietta Place and Cavendish Square. But Better Oxford Street, which represents residents’ groups, said that as well as buses, delivery vehicles and up to 500 extra taxis an hour would be forced on to nearby streets.

It said: “Vans and lorries will have to use side roads, further clogging up the area that will be overrun by cars and taxis. The Mayor is not a dictator but is behaving like one, trying to force this dreadful scheme through.”

Tim Carnegie, chairman of the Marylebone Association, said the problem of a “red wall of buses” was already largely solved, with the number on Oxford Street down from 5,000 to 3,000 a day.

He said it was “a poor scheme that … does not address congestion, air quality or safety”.

Kay Buxton, chief executive of Marble Arch Partnership, which represents about 200 businesses, said: “Air quality and congestion … are already of grave concern.”

Full article 

6 Nov 2017

66% – of Local Residents opposed/concerned – Why are they being ignored?

76% – of Businesses opposed/concerned – Why are they being ignored?

The Mayor plans to close Oxford Street to ALL traffic. For 24 hours a day.

In his manifesto Sadiq Khan said he would:- “Work with Westminster Council, local businesses, Transport for London (TfL) and taxis, to pedestrianise Oxford Street. I will start by bringing back car-free days, and possibly weekends, before moving towards full pedestrianisation. Our eventual ambition should be to turn one of the world’s most polluted streets into one of the world’s finest public spaces – a tree-lined avenue from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch.”

He has also stressed that this should only be done if there is no detriment to surrounding residential areas.

Despite the results of the first consultation, this gradual development has now turned into a headlong rush to pedestrianise the street all day, every day, with no solutions to the damage threatening residents and businesses or to the myriad accessibility issues.

Elsewhere, the world’s major cities give attention to traffic calming and pollution reduction in their residential areas, directing traffic to the major commercial roads. Even here in London, the “Mini-Holland” schemes to be found in outer London do the same. But with Oxford Street, Mayor Sadiq Khan wants to do the opposite: remove the traffic from one of central London’s few major east-west routes and push all the traffic, the congestion and pollution into the surrounding residential areas. Areas that already have major problems with too many vehicles and pollution levels way above EU recommended safe levels.

What sort of reality does the Mayor live in where he thinks that all this traffic should be taken out of an almost 100 per cent commercial area and pushed through its surrounding residential streets? Shifting congestion, pollution and road safety issues rather than tackling them is unacceptable. The scheme also creates a public realm management challenge at a time when there is no budget to tackle enforcement issues of antisocial behaviour. Westminster Council currently struggle to manage the existing public realm in Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square, Oxford Street would a free for all, for buskers, illegal street traders and other forms of antisocial behaviour.

And why hasn’t he listened to the message that came through loud and clear from residents and small businesses, schools, hospitals and many of the area’s stakeholders from the first consultation?

The majority of those that live and have businesses in the West End are against this scheme* – if this had been a referendum it would have been thrown out then. Instead it is being pushed through to the detriment of the wider West End. The people who know the area, who know the consequences of these hasty and ill thought out proposals, don’t want it.

THE PROPOSALS

This consultation is fuelled by many untested and unevidenced assumptions:

That “transformation” of Oxford Street can only be achieved by full closure.

That pollution in Oxford Street can only be solved by full closure.

That footfall on Oxford Street is increasing, whereas the figures show that it is declining.**

That pedestrianisation will increase the footfall and the retail take.

That Crossrail will result in huge extra numbers in Oxford Street.***.

That users of Oxford Street, particularly those older and disabled, those that work there, indeed those that shop there, do not want to be able to get a bus there.

That traffic, once Oxford Street is closed, will simply evaporate and not run though the streets nearby.

That businesses actually want it, whereas many will have huge problems in getting goods to their stores.

That the huge amount of additional enforcement that will be vital in the wake of pedestrianisation, particularity through the night, will actually happen.

That residents will not be affected by all the shops and businesses having to be serviced from the small streets surrounding Oxford Street.

That these proposals can be pushed through without significantly affecting other existing and approved major road alterations including the Baker Street Two Way Project and, the Tottenham Court Road Scheme, which already will be removing significant road capacity.

THE CONSEQUENCES FOR SURROUNDING AREAS

The proposals as currently set out will have the following consequences for the surrounding areas:

On TfL’s current figures approximately 350 buses (hybrid/diesel engined) will run through Marylebone, each day and through the night, complete with bus stops where there is no room for them and idling areas where there is no space for them. The rest of the well established east-west bus routes are to be either curtailed or diverted at considerable disadvantage to the many passengers who rely on the current routes to and through Oxford Street.****

All other traffic will be displaced through surrounding local neighbourhoods of Marylebone, Fitzrovia, Mayfair and Soho. That includes: vans, lorries, taxis and pedicabs. After 7.00pm it also includes not only all the taxis but all the private vehicles and non black cab traffic that fill Oxford Street through the night. It means that all Oxford Street shops, stores and offices will need to be supplied and serviced through the surrounding residential streets.  And we are told that this will improve the wider area!

THE BENEFITS TO OXFORD STREET

During the day Oxford Street will be open to amplified buskers, traders, pavement artists, clowns, jugglers and beggars; such as we already see in other pedestrianised areas in Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square.

Westminster Council has neither the funding nor the will to control those relatively small areas. What chance is there that they will be able to police a mile of pedestrianised road?

The only “transformation” will be to a higher level of tackiness than can be presently imagined.

The scheme, as has been acknowledged, will increase the likelihood of terrorist hostile vehicle attacks, as recently seen here and in other cities. The proposed way to stop this is to have vehicle safety barriers at all junctions crossing Oxford Street, unsightly, ungainly and of course a major problem for any vehicle access, from emergency services to road cleaning.

At night things will be even worse with an extremely long, empty un-patrolled street open to roaming gangs and the sort of anti-social and illegal behaviour that the police and the council find difficult to control even under the present conditions of easy access.

THE COSTS

Finally, not only do these proposals threaten to severely damage and undermine some of London’s finest historic conservation areas, and to do so without any good reason, but they are extremely expensive. TfL estimate they will spend in the region of £60 million to implement full closure, with an ongoing servicing obligation of many million pounds a year.

Transformation of Oxford Street? More like mutilation of the areas surrounding Oxford Street.

Reduce the pollution in Oxford Street by reducing buses and emissions NOT by pushing it all through the surrounding areas.

For interviews or more information contact communications via: contact@betteroxfordstreet

Notes for Editors

Better Oxford Street – is a campaign for a better Oxford Street, not a closed Oxford Street

Better Oxford Street is a not for profit residents and business group formed and supported by The Marylebone Association, the Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association, Charlotte Street Association, Mayfair Residents Group, Residents’ Society of Mayfair and St James’s, all members of the West End Community Network. The area covered has a total residential population of approximately 42,000 and circa 470,000 business employees.

Better Oxford Street, 229 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 5PN Web  www.betteroxfordstreet.org  Email contact@betteroxfordstreet.org  Twitter@BetterOxfordSt

Notes/Sources

*48 per cent of local residents are unequivocally against, 18% have concerns only 29 per cent support the proposals put forward by Mayor Sadiq Khan and pushed for by campaign group Living Streets. Residents say they are strongly against buses being diverted along parallel roads and taxi ranks being placed in side streets.

Businesses are even more opposed to the scheme: 60 percent are unequivocally against, a further 16 percent with concerns, and only 19 percent are fully in favour of the scheme. This figure puts most businesses at odds with the New West End Company which is in favour of the proposal albeit with some reservations.

Nearly 50 percent of all respondents either oppose or have concerns about the proposals and only 43 percent support the transformation of Oxford Street and are comfortable with the changes that would be necessary to make it possible, according to the consultation report.

So only 29% of local residents and 19% of businesses owners actually supported “transformation” without reservations.

Source: TfL Consultation Report September 2017 page 28

** “Footfall is in decline, particularly in the western section of the street.”  – New West End Company

Source:- New West End Company’s response to the WCC/TfL consultation on the transformation of Oxford Street June 2017 https://newwestend.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/170811_Oxford-street_NWEC-response-to-consultation.pdf

*** In 2007 160 million passengers used the four Oxford Street tube stations.

In 2015 161 million passengers used the four Oxford Street tube stations.

A 0.1% rise in passengers meanwhile London’s population grew 13% over the same period. London growth does not translate into increased journeys into Oxford Street.

Source: Marble Arch, Bond Street, Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road Station entry/exit data from TfL

****London Buses propose removing most existing west/east bus routes to Marble Arch or Oxford Circus. The existing bus route network that runs along Oxford Street has 8 routes at 75 buses per hour. This will be slashed to 2 routes, the 139 and 390 which will be diverted along Wigmore Street at 18 buses per hour day time and night services of 8 buses per hour.  This will curtail a well established bus route network, with easy access/interchange- for the many users who cannot use the tube network. The 2 diverted routes are not easily accessible to Oxford Street, and make it hard to get to interchanges between bus routes – at Marble Arch/Park Lane. This will disadvantage many, but again particularly those vulnerable passengers, the elderly and disabled who will no longer find these routes viable.

27 May 2017

TfL have now launched their consultation on Oxford Street pedestrianisation. The weight of their guidance on the subject appears to lean heavily in favour of closure, if not 24 hours at least for most of the day, opening late evening to allow for deliveries at night time, so that it can be claimed as “partial closure”.

This is to all intents full closure and will have a drastic effect on Marylebone in terms of congestion, pollution and local amenity. It is simply shifting Oxford Street’s problems elsewhere.

The Marylebone Association, together with all the West End Amenity societies, whilst supporting traffic mitigation on Oxford Street is against its full or partial closure. We have had 10,000 copies of the flyer below printed for distribution in the West End area via the Marylebone Association, Soho Society, Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association, and the 2 Mayfair Societies. As Marylebone is on the front line with regard to the first stage of the proposed closures we will be looking to distribute about 5000 of these in our area.

Every individual response to the consultation matters so we would urge all to engage, and please ensure that the pdf below is distributed as widely as possible to everyone you know in the area.

We are looking for volunteers to help with distribution of the flyers within Marylebone so please contact us.