{"id":411040,"date":"2025-09-09T17:56:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T17:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/411040\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T17:56:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T17:56:09","slug":"latest-on-oxford-street-westminster-city-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/411040\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest on Oxford Street | Westminster City Council"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Update, 9 September 2025Statement on the redesignation of Oxford Street as part of TLRN<\/p>\n<p>Westminster City Council has\u00a0begun the process of designating Oxford Street as part of Transport for London&#8217;s strategic road network, making it the highway authority following a formal request from the Greater London Authority (GLA).<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this\u00a0year\u00a0the Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, announced his decision to create a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) and asked for views on the idea of pedestrianisation\u00a0of Oxford Street.<\/p>\n<p>Since then the council\u00a0has worked hard, through\u00a0engagement and negotiation,\u00a0to ensure that the voices of local residents and businesses are heard. The Mayor\u2019s team have taken on board our feedback and\u00a0made\u00a0a number of improvements in response to our concerns\u00a0that were formally agreed in the spring:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Mayor and Westminster have agreed that the GLA\u00a0will\u00a0bring forward plans for the east of Oxford Street\u00a0which incorporate existing progress and deliver improvements in line with the principles of the council&#8217;s previous proposals. Recognising the current challenges of pedestrianising the eastern half of Oxford Street from Oxford Circus to Tottenham Court Road, this means that, in line with the council\u2019s proposals, bus travel will continue along the eastern section of Oxford Street.<\/li>\n<li>The Mayoral Development Area will be one block either side of Oxford Street. The council remains responsible for all services outside of the boundary area.<\/li>\n<li>Improved security and safety measures to be managed by the MDC and TFL together with the council and the police. This includes hostile vehicle mitigation in the area.<\/li>\n<li>The Mayor has agreed to work with TfL on the development of proposals for consultation with a view to retaining some north\/south access. The GLA will also ask TfL prioritises the introduction of electric buses for displaced routes. \u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The Mayor has confirmed that he would expect the MDC to undertake freight consolidation<\/li>\n<li>The Mayor has\u00a0confirmed his support for an equitable approach\u00a0that will enable Westminster City Council to retain development funds collected in the area\u00a0(related to\u00a0strategic infrastructure, carbon offset, employment and skills and affordable housing)\u00a0to ensure that investment in the wider borough is not unduly negatively impacted by the MDC.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The council will also be represented with\u00a0three\u00a0seats on the board of the MDC.<\/p>\n<p>The GLA have now formally requested the council\u2019s consent\u202fto redesignate\u202fOxford Street (A40)\u202fas a\u202fTfL\u00a0Road\u202fand to designate short\u202fsideroad lengths\u202fas either TfL Roads or TfL Side Roads.<\/p>\n<p>As part of that process, today (Monday 8 September), the council has published a report setting out the intention to hand over control of the road.<\/p>\n<p>In line with legal requirements\u00a0that\u00a0report must be published for five clear working days before a formal decision is taken by the council\u2019s Cabinet Member for Streets, at which point the Mayor will then take a decision.<\/p>\n<p>Initially the road will be managed and maintained in a similar way\u00a0to Park Lane or Edgware Road. The council will remain the licensing authority.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/committees.westminster.gov.uk\/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=2983\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read the full published decision.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Update, 7 May 2025<\/p>\n<p>The council has submitted its response to the Mayor of London\u2019s consultation on the proposed Oxford Street Transformation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The council\u2019s response is available here:<\/p>\n<p>Original statement, 28 February 2025<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s announcement regarding the Mayoral plans for Oxford Street is a step forward in what has been a long-running issue for London. We all share a commitment in making sure the nation\u2019s high street has a bright future, one that brings benefits locally, regionally, and nationally.<\/p>\n<p>Since the announcement was made last year to create a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) to pedestrianise Oxford Street, we have been working hard to ensure that the voices of residents and businesses are heard. The Mayor\u2019s team have taken on board our feedback and agreed a number of improvements in response to our concerns:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Recognising the current challenges of pedestrianising the eastern half of Oxford Street, from Oxford Circus to Tottenham Court Road. The Mayor and Westminster have agreed that the GLA should develop plans to bring forward improvements to the area at the eastern end of Oxford Street.<\/li>\n<li>The Mayor has committed upfront investment to help fast-track delivery of a high-quality scheme to radically improve the eastern section. This is expected to be aligned to the plans the council had already drawn up as part of its Oxford Street Programme.<\/li>\n<li>The proposed Mayoral Development Corporation boundary area is now reduced to one block either side of Oxford Street, subject to consultation. The council remains responsible for all services outside of the boundary area.<\/li>\n<li>Improved security and safety measures to be managed by the GLA together with WCC and the police. Including hostile vehicle mitigation in the area.<\/li>\n<li>The Mayor has committed, under any future plans to pedestrianise, to consult on the basis that some north\/south access will be retained for taxi access. The GLA will also prioritise the introduction of electric buses for displaced routes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/li>\n<li>The Mayor has recognised concerns we raised on behalf of residents and confirmed that he would\u00a0expect the MDC to undertake freight consolidation<\/li>\n<li>The Mayor has, in principle, agreed a mechanism that will enable Westminster City Council to retain development funds collected in the area, relating to strategic infrastructure, carbon offset, employment and skills and affordable housing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The council will now work to ensure these commitments, and future ones, are all recognised in legally binding agreements. The consultation assumes a minimum of three seats for Westminster City Council nominations on the MDC board, ensuring local voices will be heard clearly throughout the lifespan of the programme.<\/p>\n<p>The Mayor has been clear that any future proposals to pedestrianise Oxford Street will be consulted on rigorously with all stakeholders, including residents.<\/p>\n<p>Cllr Adam Hug, Leader of Westminster Council, said:\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Subject to the outcome of the Mayor\u2019s consultation, our role is to ensure that the Mayor&#8217;s proposed Oxford Street Transformation delivers for local communities, as well as for London.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have already fought hard to secure numerous improvements from the Mayor of London to ensure that any plans for Oxford Street are deliverable and meet the needs of local residents, businesses, and wider London. We seek to work pragmatically with the Mayor&#8217;s team to ensure a bright future for the nation\u2019s high street as well as for our residential communities and businesses.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Update, 9 September 2025Statement on the redesignation of Oxford Street as part of TLRN Westminster City Council has\u00a0begun&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,257,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-411040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115175632661488385","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}