As the festive shopping season fast approaches a county councillor in West Oxfordshire has called on the cabinet member for highways management in Oxfordshire to help spread some festive cheer this December.
County Councillor Liam Walker has submitted a written question to Cllr Tim Bearder ahead of the county council full council meeting on Tuesday 14th December asking for him to remove parking charges at county council owned P&R sites to help support the Oxford high street and reduce congestion in the city centre during this busy festive period.
Cllr Walker said "In August 2020 to support the governments Eat Out To Help Out scheme and then in December 2020 to support the festive shopping period, as the then cabinet member for highways, I removed parking charges at our two sites and encouraged Oxford City Council to follow us in doing the same. This really helped to support Oxford businesses at a challenging time and I strongly believe the new county council administration should now look to do the same and drop charges for people parking their sleighs this December."
"I have long campaigned and argued that making the P&R sites free to park at will go a long way in helping to reduce congestion in Oxford and encourage more people to use public transport rather than parking in the city council owned car parks."
The county council are responsible for both Water Eaton and Thornhill Park and Ride sites whilst Pear Tree, Seacourt, and Redbridge are the responsibility of Oxford City Council.