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Cllr Liz Leffman Oxfordshire Leader of the Council OX14 4SB Oxfordshire County Council County Hall New Road Oxford OX1 1ND
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Councillor Emily Smith Leader of the Council
Emily.Smith@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Tel: 01235 422644 135 Eastern Avenue Milton Park Oxon OX14 4SB |
27 May 2022
Dear Cllr Leffman,
I am writing on behalf of Vale of White Horse
District Council in relation to Oxfordshire’s Transport and
Connectivity Plan. We recently debated and passed unanimously, a
motion welcoming your commitment to reducing the use of motor
vehicles and are encouraged by the goal of making walking, cycling,
public and shared transport the natural first choice for
residents.
As you know, one key way we as a district council are able to
influence the move towards more active travel and public transport
use is through the planning process. However, we are often limited
in what we can insist developers provide in relation to transport
infrastructure by the responses from the highways department. As
technical consultees, our planning committee are limited in their
ability to ensure active travel infrastructure is provided because
the comments from the County via the OneVoice response system are
less ambitious that we would like to see.
In order to help deliver on our shared vision of a zero-carbon transport system in Oxfordshire, the Vale are, therefore, asking that the County Council as technical consultees on highways matters fully reflects the aspirations contained within the Transport and Connectivity Plan when responding to planning consultations across the county which will in turn add weight to the efforts of the Vale in pursuing more active travel and public transport focused developments.
I would be very happy to discuss the recent debate at Vale further and to discuss how we can collectively ensure the excellent policies in your emerging Local Transport and Connectivity Plan are put into action.
Yours sincerely
Councillor Emily Smith
Leader of the Council
