A “more focused approach” to revitalise Oxford Street has been laid out by Westminster Council.
The new “streamlined” plan for the future of the retail hub includes wider pavements, “well positioned” seating, additional greening and improved lighting.
The face-lift will extend from Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road,â thanks to a £150m council budget for the project.
It’s a reduced plan that focuses solely on Oxford Street, rather than the wider scope of the former District programme.
“A new, streamlined approach will be taken to the way the Council invests taxpayers’ money in the Oxford Street area”, Councillor Geoff Barraclough, Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment, said in an update.
“The council’s capital funding, together with that from our private-sector partners will now be directed to prioritise and deliver fundamental public realm improvements on Oxford Street itself,” he said.
“Oxford Street needs better public realm, pedestrian comfort, and safety.
“We will do this at pace, mindful of the urgent need to take action to safeguard the economic well-being of the West End. Refocusing the programme on Oxford Street itself will enable us to quickly deliver the improvements that are most needed for the area.”
Mr Barraclough acknowledged that while these improvements will be made in the short-term, a “long-term vision for Oxford Street” is still needed.
For that, a new Oxford Street advisory board will be established, with businesses and residents to “help guide the project over the coming months and years”, he said.
The board is expected to meet for the first time before the end of the year.
“Alongside the public realm improvements, we will continue to work with landowners to encourage innovative use of underused retail spaces as we have been doing successfully with our pop-up programme,” Mr Barraclough said.
“The successful enforcement and other action that has taken place on the street, including tackling the spread of candy stores, will continue.”
Westminster Council said work is planned to begin in Autumn 2023 and “the overarching ambition” is for the face-lift to be finished by Spring 2026.
The new blueprint for Oxford Street comes after previous plans to create a pedestrian “piazza” were scrapped.
Westminster Council said complete pedestrianisation is not the way forward.
“Previous attempts to pedestrianise Oxford Street have met significant opposition and we have considered the concerns raised about the potential impact on public transport, traffic diversions and disabled access in the area. Reopening the debate will be a costly and time consuming distraction when our priority is to deliver much needed improvements as quickly as possible.”
Earlier this year Mr Barraclough pushed for the business make-up of the high street to change, to add more leisure and hospitality options.
In August he told a Voice of Authority webinar: “Everybody agrees that Oxford Street should be the nation’s premier shopping street.
“It’s 1.8km long, the centre of the biggest city in Europe and it’s not right. We know that the mix of commercial needs to change. There isn’t really demand for 1.8km of retail. We need a mixture of leisure, of hospitality, and cultural uses … I’m very keen to support that.”
Last year, the council warned that “Oxford Street’s current condition does not match its importance”, with “poor quality” public realm, high congestion and pollution and limited amenities.
Before the pandemic, about 200 million people visited the area each year, and footfall levels surged in July as the shopping district received a much welcome boost.
The council’s former Tory administration ditched plans with London Mayor Sadiq Khan to part-pedestrianise the street to create extra space for Elizabeth line passengers.
Mr Barraclough said the previous administration “burned through £35 million” set aside to upgrade the area, including £6 million on the Marble Arch mound fiasco, while only spending £70,000 on the street itself.
He revealed he had “cancelled” the piazza plans, which the Tories put on ice last November.
“We are not going to block Oxford Street,” he said. “We are not going to pedestrianise Oxford Street. That is not the right thing to do at the moment.”
