Oxford congestion charge sparks mixed reactions one month after introduction
A local councillor says it is designed to make the city centre a better place, but some businesses believe it is hurting trade
Today marks one month since the congestion charge was introduced in Oxford city centre, and opinions are divided on its impact.
Councillor Andrew Gant, Cabinet Member for Transport Management in Oxfordshire, explained the rationale behind the scheme.
"Congestion in our city is a major problem. It causes danger, it causes problems for public transport and for children trying to get to school,” Councillor Gant said.
He emphasised that data on the charge’s effectiveness would be regularly and carefully reviewed.
"We will look at the data a month at a time, so once we’ve got a proper run-in that will be analysed by our third-party consultant and we’ll report on that when we get it in early December," he said.
Councillor Gant added that the scheme's purpose is to make Oxford’s centre a more pleasant place, drawing a comparison to another traffic scheme.
He said: "We had this debate 25 years ago when the High Street bus gate came in and we were told that would damage footfall – exactly the opposite happened.
“If you make it a nicer place to be, people will come and that’s what the scheme is designed to do.”
However, local business owners have said that the charge appears to be stopping people from visiting and spending money in the city.
Ervin Tomkys Valteri, who runs Oxford Soap Company, is particularly worried about sales over the festive season.
"We work all year round just for this time of year so we can actually get paid," Ervin said. "It's a huge impact – 40% of our sales happen within six weeks over Christmas, they just couldn’t have done it at a worse time."
He also criticised decision-makers for what he described as a lack of engagement with local business owners.
"They’ve never been to the shops and asked how we’re doing, they’re simply walking around pretending everything is a success, and it’s not," he added.
Jaf Dsouza, another business owner in Oxford, echoed these concerns, stating his leather bag business has seen a sharp fall in footfall since the charge was introduced.
“We’ve suffered a lot with the congestions charge from the last two months, I can assure you, and I don’t see good days coming,” Jaf said.
He also mentioned comments he has heard from being part of the Trade Association.
“There are around 45 traders that I’ve spoken to, normally they close shops at around nine but now it’s six or seven,” he said.
The charge implementation continues to cause controversy, with further data analysis expected early next month to provide clearer insights into its impact.