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LCON responds to the Oxford North proposal

LCON has submitted our objection to the controversial Oxford North development. You can download it here.

In summary we covered:

Energy efficiency and energy supply

We want to see this site (if it goes ahead) pioneering a zero-emission future in energy use in buildings and in transport.  We have strongly objected to the idea that solar PV might be installed ‘subject to roof design’.  Roofs should be designed so that they are suitable for PV panels!

Roads and transport

We have strongly objected to road layout plans. There are no safe and attractive routes into and out of the site for people who walk and cycle. Air quality legislation dictates that no development is permitted to make air quality worse within problem areas, yet this development with its predicted extra car movements will make it worse.

Employment and housing

One of the main reasons for allowing this part of the Green Belt to be built on was ‘poor housing affordability in Oxford and ….. backlog of housing needs’. We have thus objected to the lack of provision of affordable housing, particularly social rented housing.

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Roads are for people: Andrew Gilligan calls on Oxford and Oxfordshire residents to put pressure on local politicians


“Oxford is too polite.” This was one Oxford resident’s response to Andrew Gilligan’s presentation at the “Roads are for people” event, held on Tuesday 2 October in Oxford’s Town Hall and hosted by Low Carbon Oxford North (with Cyclox, the University of Oxford and Oxford Civic Society). 

Over 180 people turned up to hear Andrew talk about Oxford’s congestion crisis and the need for greatly improved cycling infrastructure. The answer to Oxford’s traffic issues, he said, was “staring us in the face”. There was huge support from the room, including from local politicians Tom Hayes (city), Susanna Pressel (city and county) and Neil Fawcett (county), and on behalf of local MPs Anneliese Dodds and Layla Moran as well as Leader of the County Council Ian Hudspeth.  

Andrew Gilligan’s recent report to the National Infrastructure Commission, “Running out of Road”, calls for £150m to be invested in cycling to combat unmanageable traffic volumes and create a healthier, cleaner and safer city. Specific proposals include segregated cycle lanes on arterial roads including Banbury and Botley Roads.

Andrew called on Oxford and Oxfordshire to put “pressure on the leaderships of the City and County for change”. He highlighted the importance of having someone in power whose job it is to bring about change – the equivalent of his role as Cycling Commissioner in London. And instead of being too polite, he told residents, “make yourselves a nuisance”. 

Building on the success of this event, LCON will be working with other organisations to build public pressure and identify priority asks from the city and county councils.  

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Get Finance out of Fossil Fuels – Monday 17th public meeting


Monday, 17th Sep at 7pm — The Threshold, St Michael & All Angels Church, Lonsdale Road, OX2 7ES

Sarah Rowe, Campaigns Office for Christian Aid will give an illustrated talk entitled: “Fossil Fuel and Climate Justice. What part do the Banks Play”. The talk, which will review their work in the Big Shift Campaign with four major banks during the last year and their follow on work with HSBC, will be followed by discussion.

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Roads Are for People: a public meeting with Andrew Gilligan

Roads Are for People poster

LCON is holding a major public meeting in  Oxford Town Hall’s Assembly Room, on Tuesday 2 October. The main speaker will be Andrew Gilligan, who recently wrote the report ‘Running out of Road’, commissioned by the National Infrastructure Commission. The report details the need for ambitious investment in cycling in Oxford.

The meeting is financially supported by Cyclox, the Civic Society and the University of Oxford, to whom we are very grateful.

This event aims to bring together all the groups and concerned citizens looking for a sustainable 21st century approach to transport in our city. We intend to create a clear manifesto and action plan – and a coalition to take the work forward.

We hope that as many LCON members and supporters as possible will attend. The address is Town Hall, St Aldate’s, Oxford OX1 1BX. The event is free and there is disabled access. Doors open at 18.30 for a 19.00 start.

We advise that you reserve your seat in advance via Eventbrite, because there is significant interest in the meeting and we cannot guarantee entry without a ticket.

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LCON Open Meeting – July 25th

    LCON would like to meet you!

Like any voluntary group LCON depends on people getting involved as volunteers.  And we’d like to find some more of you, who might like to move on from simply reading this newsletter to playing a more active part in greening North Oxford and cutting our carbon emissions. So we’re inviting you to come and hear about what we do and how you could be involved.

We are holding a special open meeting on Wednesday 25 July at the North Oxford Association community centre in Diamond Place, Summertown 7.30pm – 9pm.  We welcome anyone with a desire to get involved and ideas for what could be done in this area.  We’ll have time set aside to talk about what we are doing with local people on plastics, and we’ll discuss other issues such as air pollution, energy efficiency and whatever else you’d like to raise.

We know North Oxford has plenty of people with ideas and enthusiasm – we’d like to use some of that to make lasting change. Please do join us on the 25th.

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Climate Justice – action in North Oxford

Low Carbon Oxford North is supporting a new (July 2018) initiative by the FairPlay Network to encourage people in North Oxford to engage with ‘climate justice’ issues. Evidence from around the world shows that it is the poor and vulnerable who suffer the most from a changing climate. This is also making existing inequalities worse since those with least resources often lack resilience in crisis situations.  FairPlay’s work shows that there is plenty that we can do in richer nations to help tackle these problems.

Find out more about FairPlay here

 

 

Public meeting, 18 April: Air quality in North Oxford – what can we do?
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Public meeting, 18 April: Air quality in North Oxford – what can we do?

Please come to our public meeting on Wednesday 18 April. Our guest speaker at this meeting is Dr Tim Chatterton, who will be talking, among other things, about the Claircity project that he has been involved in. This is about citizen-led interventions to improve air quality, hence the title for his talk: What can we do?

We will start with an update from Allen Shaw on what is happening to monitoring air pollution in Oxford.

The event is part of our work to help inform people in Oxford about the air quality situation, how it is affecting our health and what we can do about it. We are hoping, also, that better informed citizens will result in extra pressure on Oxford City Council to introduce effective policies.

We look forward to seeing our supporters and friends there – it is free and there will be ample time to ask questions and network.

Wednesday 18 April, 19.00 – 21.00
Baptist Church, 198 Woodstock Road
Facebook event page