New Oxford traffic measures branded 'tax bombshell'

The measures include an expanded Zero Emission Zone, new traffic filters and a proposed workplace parking levy

There is a £57m "tax bombshell" coming from new traffic measures planned for Oxford, it has been claimed.

Conservatives on Oxfordshire County Council have said that is the total estimated income from three proposed schemes in the city over five years.

It includes charges for an expanded Zero Emission Zone, new traffic filters and a planned workplace parking levy.

Council leader Liz Leffman said the measures were to encourage more sustainable travel.

Conservative finance spokesman David Bartholomew said: "It's no secret that the Lib Dems hate cars.

"They are doing some things that are laudable and well-intended in terms of encouraging walking and cycling and buses, which we are supportive of.

"But we think there has got to be carrot, not just stick. The Lib Dem approach is to just hit people with fines."

'Very little income'

The Liberal Democrats, who are running the county council as a minority administration, have said the measures will make Oxfordshire a "safer, healthier" place to live.

But the plans have attracted sustained criticism, with staff and councillors suffering abuse and threats over their introduction.

Ms Leffman said: "The purpose of these measures is not to levy a tax, it is to encourage people to travel more sustainably.

"If people are leaving their cars at home and using buses and trains to travel to Oxford, there will be very little income from these schemes, but Oxford will be a much better place to live and work.

"I would be delighted if we had no income at all from these schemes."

Robin Tucker, co-chair of the Oxfordshire Coalition for Healthy Streets and Active Travel, said the Conservatives were being "disingenuous", having introduced the three traffic schemes themselves in 2015.

He said: "We supported them then, and we support the current administration in continuing to deliver them now because it is the best plan anyone has yet come up with to solve Oxford's decades-old traffic problems."

No figure has been set for how much each space would cost in the workplace parking levy, and the scheme would need government approval before it was implemented

A decision on the expansion of the Zero Emission Zone for Oxford is expected in the spring.

A trial of six new traffic filters in Oxford is expected to begin in the autumn.

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