The future of Oxford Street: Power, politics and pedestrians

Oxford Street, one of the busiest retail streets in the world, will be closed to traffic on Sunday for a car-free day.

Half a million visitors pound its pavement every day – but it has seen better times.

It has poor air quality and a high number of collisions. Buses and taxis run right through the middle of the shopping area.

Research indicates it performs worse, in terms of customer spending, than other areas nearby.

Businesses there and the mayor of London think the solution is pedestrianisation – and a recent consultation suggested nearly two-thirds of respondents supported the idea.

But pedestrianisation has thwarted successive mayors. Why?

The idea has been around for decades.

Many local residents do not want it. The displacement of traffic is a concern, in particular the 35 buses per hour – in each direction – that use the street.

An added complication is that the street is also on a political boundary between the councils which control it, Camden and Westminster, and the electoral wards surrounding it are marginals.

There are also others with an interest: Business Improvement Districts; Transport for London, which operates the red route in the road; landowners, and vocal and engaged community groups.

Ed Howe, a Youtuber on the Urban Environment, said Oxford Street was in need of improvement and traffic removal.

“I was in two minds about it. I thought initially ‘where will all the buses go?’ But it looks like many of the bus routes have been phased away from Oxford Street anyway.

“And look at other parts of the country – if you go to Birmingham with New Street, Glasgow with Buchanan Street, Manchester Market Street, Liverpool with Church Street – all of them are pedestrianised streets.

“London is the odd one out with its main shopping street open to traffic. Why should London be different? Why should we have this chaotic shopping environment?”

Robin Smith runs the Soho Dairy on Berwick Street Market.

He said pedestrianising Oxford Street would “be catastrophic”.

“We work with small farms. We bring eggs and milk and creams from different farms from parts of the country multiple times a week.

“If we can’t cross into Berwick Street at the convenience of the farms, we can’t get that supply.”

He added: “If Oxford Street cuts off access into Soho, you have to go via Shaftesbury Avenue, which would be logjammed.

“There are also people living here. These people need buses and they need transport and to get to their front door and this will stop it. This is about a bigger plan about Soho moving into that al fresco zone where the streets are all cut off.

“It’s not a good plan. If it goes ahead it will cripple us.”

There are local elections next summer, and as has happened previously, any plans could be derailed in the ballot box.

Sadiq Khan had the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street in his 2016 manifesto and plans for it were advanced.

But in 2018, the then-Conservative Westminster Council rejected the plan following opposition from local residents.

Locals planned to stand for election on the single-issue ticket of anti-pedestrianisation. In the face of such a challenge, the council changed its mind.

The plan for pedestrianisation had already been through a consultation and previously had the support of the council. Mayor Sadiq Khan called the backtracking “a betrayal”.

Any plan for pedestrianisation would have to be locked in before next summer’s local elections or the same thing could happen again.

The solution for Sir Sadiq could be the creation of a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC). It would give a mayoral body control of the area in terms of planning and development.

It would be unprecedented to use one in a central London semi-residential location.

Previously it has only been used to convert industrial areas at the Olympic Park and Old Oak Common.

Three Westminster councillors would sit on the 12-person board, and one from Camden. The rest will be appointed by the mayor.

Paul Fisher is the local ward councillor for the Conservatives. He said the MDC disenfranchised local people and the council should be making these decisions.

“What he’s doing, ironically, is using powers granted him under the Localism Act to centralise power into the hands of the mayor. He has overridden not only residents but his own council.”

The creation of the MDC – while backed by the government – came as a shock to Labour-run Westminster. Adam Hug, Westminster City Council’s Labour leader, said the plan “was not the council’s preferred outcome” but “it is now important for Oxford Street’s future to move forward together”.

The council’s response to the consultation went further:

“Westminster does not believe an MDC is necessary to realise the transformation of Oxford Street.

“Oxford Street is entirely in Westminster and we remain clear in our view that Westminster is the appropriate authority to handle the transformation of Oxford Street.”

However it concluded it would work with the MDC to improve the area.

City Hall estimated the cost of the plan would be around £150m.

Some would come from local businesses and private funders.

Mayor Sadiq Khan is clear that residents shouldn’t dictate what happens. He told the Financial Times in March:

“What history tells us actually is that residents on either side of Oxford Street, who live in marginal wards, are saying no to pedestrianisation.

“My view is that this is a street of strategic national importance, and it shouldn’t be a handful of residents on either side basically dictating what can and can’t happen.”

This weekend, the road itself will be signed over from Westminster council to Transport for London.

The mayor said it was “a significant step forward” on his pledge to pedestrianize the road and “unlock Oxford Street’s true potential to deliver a world-class, accessible, clean street for everyone as we continue to build a better London for everyone.”

Professor Tony Travers from the London School of Economics said transforming Oxford Street would be “a mighty challenge”.

“There are many complex interests to be squared off, and the area itself is subject to daily media attention. However, international competition means the area cannot simply stand still. Nothing quite like this has been attempted in central London before.”

The use of an MDC will probably face legal challenges and a Judicial Review.

The pedestrianisation of Oxford Street will likely face some hurdles yet.