Letter to the editor: how in touch is our Tory County Council?

11.08.09pm GMT Mon 14th Nov 2005

David Rundle with Cllrs Altaf Khan and Gail Bones

My Lib Dem colleague David Rundle has written to the Oxford Times in response to a letter this week from leading Conservative councillor Don Seale proposing the John Radcliffe needs a new multi-storey car-park. As David points out, with customary sweet reason, this rather flies in the face of the County Council's aim to solve traffic problems in Headington. Put simply: more parking spaces = more cars = more congestion. (I wonder if that will make it into the Conservatives' election leaflets?)

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From Cllr David Rundle:

Dear Sir,

So Oxfordshire County Council now wants to pack more cars onto the site of the John Radcliffe. Is this the same Oxfordshire County Council that is committed to reducing traffic congestion? No wonder many people think the County Council is out of touch with Oxford when it's not even in touch with itself!

Leading Tory councillor, Don Seale, thinks he's had a brain-wave, when he's actually had a brain-storm. He calls for a multi-storey car-park at Oxford's JR. It's not a new idea. And each time it's raised, it begs the question: how will the cars get there? The roads of Headington are already gridlocked, and this is before the JR doubles in size.

Don't get me wrong: we all recognise that some patients, their relatives and medical staff who work shifts can get to the hospital only by car. We must be sensitive to their needs. But being sensitive to their needs means encouraging anybody else who can to use public transport. Only by reducing the number of cars on the roads to the JR - and the Churchill, and the Nuffield - are we going to cut congestion and improve travel-times for everyone.

The County Council claims to have recognised this. The transport strategy for Headington and Marston has, to be frank, been a damp squib, but at least there's an attempt to find solutions. Will Cllr Seale now demand it's torn to shreds? What then would happen to residents parking zones intended to combat overflow parking from the hospitals? They are part of the strategy and I for one have seen the need for them - not just in Headington but in places like Northway and Marston.

But, of course, the Tories are still thinking about charging residents for their parking permits. So, let me get this right: people going to the hospitals should be allowed to park for free, while residents around them will have to pay to park outside their houses. People will be forgiven for thinking that the Conservative County Council is not just out of touch, it's out of its mind!

Yours faithfully,

David Rundle (Cllr)

Liberal Democrat, Headington Ward

Oxford City Council

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