Plan to improve sustainable transport in west Oxfordshire is approved

A plan to create a healthier, better connected and more sustainable future for Witney, Carterton and the surrounding area over the next 25 years has been approved.

Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet today adopted the West Oxfordshire Lowlands Movement and Place (MAP) Plan which sets out 15 objectives and 114 accompanying actions to create a long-term transport strategy for the area.

This is the third MAP plan the council has adopted. These plans will influence movement and place schemes and help to secure funding. 

The plan prioritises walking, wheeling, cycling and using public transport but also recognises that some people will need to use private cars. It aims to enhance connectivity between homes, jobs, services and amenities while creating healthier, safer and more attractive places for people to live, work and visit.

Councillor Gareth Epps, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “For the West Oxfordshire area, including Witney and Carterton, this attention is essential and overdue. Since the closure of the railway to Witney in 1970, the people living along the Windrush valley have been subject to inadequate options for getting about.

“We are investing and making the plans for the future that the area urgently needs, including progressing a mass rapid transit study but also looking for short-term changes to provide better transport options.”

The West Oxfordshire Lowlands is home to around 87,000 people. It is a largely rural area, benefiting from close connectivity to the Cotswolds National Landscape, but is also home to a range of employment sites including RAF Brize Norton, the UK’s largest RAF base, business parks, industrial estates and commercial centres across Witney, Carterton and the surrounding settlements. The area is also a key tourism destination for Oxfordshire.

Around 16 per cent of residents in the area commute to Oxford for work and so improving links between Oxford and other key destinations will be critical.

The plan’s objectives include:

• delivering a comprehensive, comfortable, direct, safe, coherent and inclusive walking, wheeling and cycling network
• ensuring new developments deliver comprehensive on wheeling and cycling provision
• creating a network of transport hubs to support seamless, integrated and convenient travel
• enhancing and expanding bus services to provide a more frequent, reliable and integrated bus network
• working alongside partners to improve rail services and infrastructure.

There are 12 proposed MAP plans for Oxfordshire that the council will be looking deliver – the West Oxfordshire Lowlands one is the third to be adopted, following the Science Vale and the Bicester area earlier this year.

Cllr Epps added: “We are embarking upon sustainable and positive change – placing people, communities and places at the heart of this. The movement and place plans are key to this.

“They reflect the needs and aspirations of our communities, help to protect our natural environment and deliver the homes, businesses and leisure facilities that our communities need and enjoy.”

They will act as supporting documents to the council’s wider local transport connectivity plan, which was adopted in 2022.

Each will be reviewed regularly to reflect ongoing changes within the area.

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