The Lib Dems have defended their plans to introduce a congestion charge in Oxford, following criticism that the proposal was not mentioned in campaign materials ahead of last month’s local elections.
The proposed scheme would see motorists charged £5.00 a day to drive on six roads in Oxford at specific times. The Oxfordshire County Council cabinet is due to consider the proposal and whether to launch a six-week public consultation at its meeting on Tuesday, 17 June.
If approved, the consultation would begin on 23 June, with the charge potentially coming into effect in the autumn. It would remain in place until the delayed traffic filter trial is introduced.
Read more: Temporary congestion charge proposed for Oxford as council seeks urgent fix for traffic crisis
The Lib Dems won a majority on the county council for the first time in history at the elections on 01 May. But critics claim the congestion charge was deliberately left out of the campaign.
Independent candidate and business owner Zack Iqbal, who runs First Stop Spanner Works, said the proposal “was a bolt out of nowhere”, according to reporting by our Local Democracy Reporter Esme Kenney.
“We had the elections four weeks ago,” he said. “These plans are well developed – they are not something that could have been cooked up in a week. The Lib Dems knew these plans at election time.”
Iqbal added that he believed the party “would have lost the election” had the policy been announced beforehand.
Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds echoed the concerns, saying: “None of us heard of this scheme until now. It certainly wasn’t talked about during the local elections, yet they were only a few weeks ago.”
She warned against “knee jerk solutions imposed from outside by Oxfordshire County Council” and urged the council not to “impose yet another scheme on us above our heads”.
Read more: Oxford MP criticises county council’s congestion charge plans as “knee-jerk solution”
But Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran, a Liberal Democrat, said the party had been clear with voters about the need to tackle congestion.
“My understanding is that county council officers quite rightly started looking at the various options to tackle congestion following Network Rail’s announcement of the further delay to Botley Road reopening in February,” she said.
“The Lib Dem view that we need to take action to reduce congestion was well known to residents before and during the election campaign.”
Council leader Liz Leffman said the scheme had been developed in response to calls for an alternative to the delayed traffic filter trial, following news that Botley Road will remain closed until at least August 2026.
“As we have made clear, this scheme was worked up in response to calls from bus operators, the city council and others to come forward with a ‘Plan B’ in the light of the latest delay,” said Leffman.
“This proposal is a serious attempt to meet those demands by delivering the benefits of the filters scheme while Botley Road remains closed.”
Leffman added that presenting the proposal in a “clear and accurate way” was essential before opening it up to public comment:
“Comment and reaction follow from a presentation of the facts: that’s entirely proper, and we look forward to engaging with that process.”
She also accused Labour of “facing both ways” on traffic measures:
“Labour urged us to implement all the recommendations of the recent Citizens’ Assembly, which included ‘implement a congestion charge’ and ‘make the city centre car-free’, then turned against their own initiative.”
“This scheme, if approved, matters for the whole of Oxfordshire and indeed beyond. Transport schemes don’t exist in isolation just in one place. Transport moves.”
The proposed congestion charge would apply daily between 7.00am and 7.00pm on Hythe Bridge Street, St Cross Road, Thames Street and St Clement’s Street. On Marston Ferry Road and Hollow Way, the charge would apply Monday to Saturday between 7.00am and 9.00am, and again from 3.00pm to 6.00pm.
Read more: Interactive map of roads in Oxford that could get a temporary congestion charge
A number of exemptions and permits would be available. While the Lib Dems hold 36 county council seats, only two of the 13 divisions in Oxford are currently represented by the party.
