Council calls for Oxford Street impact assessment

Westminster City Council has written to the government to demand a full environmental impact assessment, ahead of Sir Sadiq Khan's plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street.

The central London borough, which is back under Conservative control after May's local elections, wants a detailed study into how traffic, noise and air quality in the surrounding neighbourhood would be impacted by the plans.

The flagship shopping street is due to be pedestrianised from Orchard Street to Great Portland Street after the mayor approved the proposals earlier this year.

Transport for London (TfL) said it was waiting for the government to "determine whether a full environmental impact assessment is required".

Oxford Street will be closed to traffic between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street [BBC]

The council's Conservative leadership is worried that pushing bus and taxi traffic into roads to the north and south of Oxford Street could have a negative impact on the health and safety of residents and workers in the area, as well as on local businesses.

They have therefore written to the government to request a full environmental impact assessment.

Speaking to BBC Radio London, Tim Barnes, the deputy leader of Westminster City Council and cabinet member for growth and planning, said: "If you're going to take all of the traffic that was on Oxford Street and push it into side roads, it makes sense that those trucks and buses are going to find themselves chucking out fumes or getting way too close to pedestrians and cyclists.

"The mayor would rather we weren't talking about that, and he really would rather that we didn't put out that kind of environmental assessment and so he's trying to get out of having to do it."

A spokesperson for the mayor of London said City Hall was following all of the correct legal processes and would "continue working closely with the council and all other stakeholders on these plans to create a vibrant, world-class, accessible destination, restoring the nation's high street to its former glory".

Pedestrianisation plan controversy

Earlier this year Sir Sadiq Khan said his aim was to see Oxford Street closed to traffic by the end of the summer.

That target has not been met, but his team said so-called "enabling works" had been carried out this summer "with a view to the first section going traffic-free as soon as October".

The idea of making Oxford Street traffic-free has proved contentious.

London's mayor has clashed with Westminster City Council over the issue in recent years, particularly with the Conservatives after they blocked his early attempt to pedestrianise the road back in 2018 when they last ran the council.

He also clashed with the former Labour leadership of the authority.

In May this year, the Conservatives won back control of Westminster City Council, after four years in opposition following Labour's shock win there in 2022, but now the council no longer has planning authority over what happens to Oxford Street.

This is because last year the Labour government agreed to give what is in effect control of the street to Sir Sadiq.

Earlier this month, the planning functions for the road were formally handed over to the Oxford Street Development Corporation from the London Borough of Camden and Westminster City Council.

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Conservative councillor Barnes said his party's actions in pushing for a detailed study of the noise and traffic impact on surrounding streets "isn't about using the environmental impact assessment to stop the Oxford Street pedestrianisation.

"It's about trying to make sure that the scheme that comes forward, and what we see at the end of all this process, is as good as it can be."

He added: "We know that there are going to be negative impacts on noise, and on air quality, and potentially on pedestrian and cycling safety.

"We just want to understand what the impact of those might be, to be able to compensate for those downsides."

A spokesperson for TfL said it had "submitted an environmental impact assessment screening opinion to the MHCLG [Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government] and are awaiting the outcome.

"This will determine whether a full environmental impact assessment is required and will influence when the transformation works begin."

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