The original Oxford Street plan
Oxford Street needs fewer shops and more restaurants and cultural venues to restore its reputation as the UK’s premier shopping street, according to a new council chief.
Plans to create a pedestrian “piazza” at Oxford Circus have formally been axed — along with the wider pedestrianisation of the street.
Geoff Barraclough, cabinet member for planning and economic development in Westminster council’s new Labour administration, said the “mix” of businesses had to change. He told a Voice of Authority webinar: “Everybody agrees that Oxford Street should be the nation’s premier shopping street.
“It’s 1.8km long, the centre of the biggest city in Europe and it’s not right. We know that the mix of commercial needs to change. There isn’t really demand for 1.8km of retail. We need a mixture of leisure, of hospitality, and cultural uses … I’m very keen to support that.”
Last year, the council warned that “Oxford Street’s current condition does not match its importance”, with “poor quality” public realm, high congestion and pollution and limited amenities.
Before the pandemic, about 200 million people visited the area each year. But the council’s former Tory administration ditched plans with London Mayor Sadiq Khan to part-pedestrianise the street to create extra space for Elizabeth line passengers, though the opening of its new station at Bond Street has been delayed until autumn.
Mr Barraclough said the previous administration “burned through £35 million” set aside to upgrade the area, including £6 million on the Marble Arch mound fiasco, while only spending £70,000 on the street itself.
He revealed he had “cancelled” the piazza plans, which the Tories put on ice last November.
“We are not going to block Oxford Street,” he said. “We are not going to pedestrianise Oxford Street. That is not the right thing to do at the moment.”
Video of @w9maidavale @CityWestminster plans for Oxford Street is here (h/t Toby Fox @TheVoiceofAuth) https://t.co/LHJPZBNatZ
— Ross Lydall (@RossLydall) August 19, 2022
The council is investigating 30 businesses, including candy stores and “poor quality” souvenir shops, for potential business rates evasion worth £7.9m. More than £574,000 of counterfeit goods have been seized.
In addition, it has written to 28 freeholders, urging them to recognise the damage that such stores do to the street’s image.
Dozens of dockless hire bikes found abandoned on pavements have been removed.
Mr Barraclough said a two-thirds discount on business rates was on offer to landlords who allowed empty shops to be used for innovative “pop ups”.
He also signalled that the council was prepared to use compulsory purchase orders - normally avoided because of the cost and legal complexity - to reshape the street. “We are very happy to take more assertive action if there are landowners blocking change,” he said.
