Last week, the Mayor of London announced that he would press on with forming a Mayor Development Corporation and the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street. His consultation with the entire city of London (approximately 9 million residents) received only a little over 6,500 responses. One third of these responses rejected pedestrianisation. We suspect that many of these are the most affected, those living in and around the area, here in Westminster. We have asked for a detailed breakdown. Those objectors are the people who understand the complexity of what is being proposed, and who will suffer from the changes.
The Mayor has not offered any answer to the questions that residents pose:
• Where will all the buses, cycles and taxis go?
• How will our less able access the one-mile street?
• How will the area be policed, especially at night?
• Who will pay for it?
The whole process is undemocratic and removes local accountability. Locally, Labour-run Westminster Council is rolling over and refusing to stand up to the Mayor on behalf of residents.
Your local Conservatives will stand up for local people. We put a proposal for a legal challenge to the Council meeting in March, Labour voted it down. We will fight on.
Oxford Street doesn’t need a Mayoral vanity project, it needs a real plan to tackle crime, vacancy and antisocial behaviour. Instead of pedestrianisation, we need investment in safety, public transport and support for small businesses. The original scheme, proposed by the then Conservative council, provided an improved street with widened pavements and greening, while upgrading access.
We're calling on the Mayor and Westminster Council to listen to local people.
