The Mayor of London’s plan to pedestrianise Oxford Street has been described as being “budget” and like they’re from online discount platform Temu by the new leader of Westminster City Council.
Councillor Paul Swaddle has also asked Sadiq Khan to sit down with him, so they can figure out “a plan that actually works” for the famous Central London shopping street.
An estimated £150million will be spent on making the busy road car-free between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street. Cllr Swaddle, who was sworn in as leader of Westminster City Council after the Tories took back control of the authority from Labour at the local elections, has been a vocal critic of the current plans to pedestrianise the busy thoroughfare.
“At the moment we have a bit of a Temu plan. It’s very much budget. And it doesn’t deliver on a lot of things that are really needed,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
He has promised residents to use any possible legal action against Sadiq Khan’s plans to make Oxford Street vehicle-free.
“We’ve taken legal advice to see if there is a way of stopping the Mayor. Unfortunately, the capitulation and handing over the road to the Mayor by the last administration is making that very difficult,” he said.
He added: “At the moment, it’s a bit of a smoke and mirrors trick by the Mayor, because he’s saying, choose this thing that sounds fine, but I won’t tell you any other detail.”
However, this is not the first time the Mayor has brought plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street to the table. A previous plan by Sir Sadiq was blocked by the then-Conservative controlled Westminster City Council in 2018.
Earlier this year, the Mayor was able to use a special mechanism called a Mayoral Development Corporation to push plans through to pedestrianise Oxford Street.
But this took place under a Labour-run Westminster City Council and the local authority turned back to blue at the recent local elections.
Many don’t realise that regular motor vehicles are already banned from using Oxford Street. Plans to make the road vehicle-free will only change things, as they stand, for buses and taxis.
Cllr Swaddle said one of his biggest concerns is accessibility. Oxford Street Tube Station is not step-free, so if buses and taxis are banned, this leaves unanswered questions about how the disabled and elderly will access the area.
“Where do the taxis drop off? Where do deliveries go? How do the bins get emptied? None of these are answered in the public plans that have been shared to date. And that’s the really concerning thing,” said Cllr Swaddle.
One of the Tory’s other major concerns is how pedestrianisation will affect crime on Oxford Street. There are currently major issues with phone-snatching and shop-lifting. A large-scale begging operation, founded on human trafficking, also brazenly operates on the busy road.
“We all know locally who they are because they have the same sign, they’re just such an organised operation that the signs are all in the same handwriting and say exactly the same thing,” said Cllr Swaddle.
He added: “At the moment if you go to Oxford Street at midnight, there are buses, there’re people getting night buses, people around, you would feel relatively safe. If you were crossing that on your own, well if one of my kids was crossing it on their own in the evening, I’d be concerned.”
However, there are examples of pedestrianisation going well. There was much opposition to the pedestrianisation of Carnaby Street. It is now touted as a success, with 30 per cent more shoppers now using the road.
Cllr Swaddle says this is not a fair comparison, as Carnaby Street was never “the main east-west street for buses in London,” in the way that Oxford Street is.
If all goes to plan, Oxford Street will become fully pedestrianised by the end of summer 2026.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London, said: “The Mayor is moving ahead rapidly with the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street and hopes to see the first section going traffic free by the end of this summer.
“He looks forward to continuing to work closely with all stakeholders on these plans to create a beautiful pedestrian-friendly public space that restore the nation’s high street to its former glory, making Oxford Street a place for all.”
