• WHOEVER said that the disabled would be denied access to Oxford Street, it certainly was not me. Of course, provision will be made as some of the cross routes will remain open.

What those opposed to pedestrianisation never deal with is the appalling tragedy of pedestrians being killed and injured on a weekly basis in Oxford Street.

With the millions extra arriving with Crossrail and the planned expansion under the New West End Company proposals which will increase new businesses and workers substantially, where are all these extra people meant to walk?

They can’t fit on the pavement as it is. I have both lived and worked in Marylebone and was always horrified at the amount of rat-running traffic through the area.

This has been going on for decades and nobody has done a thing about it. It’s a bit rich now for residents to complain about more traffic when they have lived with this nightmare for years.

They had an ideal opportunity with the excellent Baker Street two-way scheme to filter out this traffic onto the main roads and not through residential areas but nothing was done. I’m afraid we all have to wake up to a new era in transport planning.

The mayor’s transport strategy is quite clear that the Healthy Streets approach, which means that pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport come first and the motorist is the last priority, is the way forward and this means that we have to give up road space to these priority groups.

There is no alternative to pedestrianisation of Oxford Street if we are to stop the slaughter of pedestrians and remove the simply awful air-pollution from our streets. I appeal to local residents to look at these proposals in a constructive way and work with us to give us a West End that we can be truly proud of.

At the moment Oxford Street is an awful blot on London’s reputation.

PETER HARTLEY
Chair, Westminster
Living streets