'Countryside LTNs' could ban traffic on rural roads

Plans to close some countryside roads to cars in an attempt to encourage more people to use the routes for cycling and walking have been proposed by a local authority.

Oxfordshire County Council is proposing the new pilot scheme, known as quiet lanes - which it hopes will support safer active travel in rural communities.

As part of the scheme, traffic calming measures - including full road closures - could be installed in places where alternative routes for vehicles exist.

The council says the project will provide "safe access to enjoy the countryside", but critics have suggested it could risk cutting off rural villages.

Explaining the proposal, council leader Tim Bearder said: "A lot of people living in our towns, villages, or cities want to go out and enjoy the rural landscape but they're just put off by dangerous roads."

The Liberal Democrat - who became council leader earlier this week - said quiet lanes would only be implemented "where there's an alternative traffic route".

"We can reallocate that road space for the benefit of cyclists, pedestrians, people who want to ride horses and it means people have got this safe access to enjoy the countryside," he added.

The council said physical measures, such as traffic gates and bollards, could be introduced alongside speed limit reductions as part of the project.

This has led to comparisons with the authority's controversial Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in Oxford - which prevent vehicles from travelling through certain routes in the city.

Some Oxfordshire residents have raised concerns over the new scheme, with one questioning how it may affect the county's large agriculture industry.

Steve, who works in farming, told BBC Radio Oxford: "What about the farm track or the machinery that need to manoeuvre down these roads?"

"I just think it's madness - you can't just close roads to vehicles when when you've got HGVs delivering to and collecting from farms."

The authority clarified that the pilot would still allow access along closed routes to landowners and farmers - who will be consulted when deciding a location for the filters.

It added that HGVs "may need to take an alternative and more appropriate route but will not be cut off from their destination".

Oxfordshire County Council said it would now be working with the county's parish and town council's to identify potential routes to pilot the scheme.

One of the proposals currently being consulted on is to close Shepards Pit Lane in Stanton Saint John, which resident Nicola Mallows said was "the main access road" into the village.

"I feel that closing this road is not to the advantage of the residents of Stanton Saint John, whereas chicaning it... may also be a problem," she said.

Mallows added that although she thought the scheme was "well-intentioned", most people in the village "rely upon a car" to get around.

But Stanton Saint John parish councillor David Polgreen disagreed, saying: "The idea is that If you actually allow active travel only along there, then people who are cycling and pedestrians and horse riders can just relax."

"They know that there won't be any other motorised traffic along there, and there is a very good other route that a lot of people take anyway," he added.