Banbury media were not told about road changes to 'get people back on buses' - but new consultation is promised

The Banbury Guardian tried to discover whether a plan to make changes to the Bridge Street – Concord Avenue, traffic light-controlled junction had been publicised, allowing all residents and motorists the chance to give their views in a consultation starting on March 4 and ending April 1 - described in this story on April 23.

The article reported on a scheme to reduce lanes for through traffic to allow quicker access for buses to reach the bus station. It is described as an ‘ambitious bid for investment to get people back on the buses’.

The ‘Banbury Bus Service Improvement Scheme’ would mean three-lane roads into Bridge Street from the M40 would be reduced to two and two lanes from George Street would be reduced to a single lane.

Few people knew about the plan before the Banbury Guardian report, by which time the consultation had closed.

Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) said a press release had not been sent out on this plan. However the early consultation was publicised in an online newsletter with letters delivered by hand to residential and business addresses in the vicinity of the scheme, posters on buses and at the Town Hall, and on social media. Official public notices had not been published in newspapers at that stage.

"We engaged with local county, district and town councillors. Councillors from all three tiers of local authority were invited to a briefing in advance of the consultation and were able to provide feedback and ask questions. We will hold a wider consultation over the summer,” a spokesman said.

The OCC spokesman said: “The Cherwell Street scheme forms part of the Oxfordshire Bus Service Improvement Plan, approved by our cabinet in October 2021. The work is in the early stages, with a consultation held on a conceptual design in March 2024.

“The consultation was promoted in a variety of ways including hand delivered letters, posters on buses and in various Banbury locations, social media posts and digital bulletins. A press release was not issued.

“Feedback from the consultation is currently being used to refine the proposals and produce an updated design. Further modelling and detailed design work will take place over the coming months before we hold a wider consultation over the summer.”

Peter Monk of Banbury Civic Society (BCS) said: “The BCS understands the original idea was to provide a bus lane between George and Bridge Streets (possibly by reducing the width of the west pavement).

"The scheme now put forward does not provide for any bus priority in this location, but will seriously reduce facilities for 'non-bus' traffic at the George Street junction with Cherwell Street, in Cherwell Street itself (both ways). It will do little for incoming buses or departing buses.

“In our estimation, the scheme under consultation will actually worsen conditions for bus movement. It fails to take account of the possible relocation of the bus station, anticipated in the Local Plan review. The proposal underlines the fiction that Cherwell Street is a 'by-pass' for the Town Centre. It should be rejected out of hand as counterproductive and a waste of public money.”