Sir Sadiq Khan’s plan to pedestrianise Oxford Street could blight local investment, cause an uptick in crime, and “destroy” the area if mismanaged, City Hall was warned on Wednesday.
The London Assembly was told by Tim Lord, chair of the Soho Society’s executive committee, that the mayor’s proposal had created uncertainty for developers and that pedestrianisation on a nearby street had previously led to an increase in criminal offences.
Sir Sadiq announced in September last year that, with support from the new Labour Government, he will press ahead with plans to remove motor vehicles from the road regarded as “the nation’s high street”.
His plans were announced despite the fact that the Labour-led Westminster City Council had already set out “shovel ready” plans for a £150m transformation of the wider area, which sought to make the street more pleasant for pedestrians while crucially “maintaining vehicular access on the street”.
Mr Lord told the Assembly’s planning and regeneration committee that the mayor’s intervention had disturbed a consensus among local residents.
“All of that work has now been lost and wasted, because of a press release from the mayor in September saying that he might consider pedestrianisation,” said Mr Lord.
“That then triggered all the businesses to pull all their funding from that [Westminster Council’s] scheme. The residents are pretty disappointed, because instead of having a certainty for improvements to Oxford Street, that would already be under way, we are now back in the world of an enormously contentious - with the local community - idea about pedestrianisation, which has been proposed in the past.
“Every time it’s proposed, we ask three questions and we’re still waiting for answers. We’ve said: where’s the traffic going, how will older people get to Oxford Street on buses and taxis once you pull them away, and how will the businesses get access [for deliveries]?”
Sir Sadiq’s plan involves creating a mayoral development corporation (MDC) around the street, removing it from the sole control of the council.
“We now have a whole debate about what will happen to all of planning in the mayoral development area,” said Mr Lord.
“I think all of the property developers will wait until the end of that debate before they make any more investments. You want to know why? Because the planning rules might change.
“We might have a different planning policy for the mayoral development area than we do for the rest of Westminster, so in my view, there was a tragic mistake in September, because we had a scheme that was ready to go, that everybody agreed with, and we’re now going back to another massive uncertainty as to where we’ll end up, and that’s what’s going to slow down investment.”
The discussion later turned to the issue of crime, and whether pedestrianisation could make it worse locally.
“My understanding is it can go either way, so there’s evidence in both directions,” Mr Lord told the committee.
“What we do know from our direct experience [is] that Old Compton Street was pedestrianised in Soho in 2000 I believe, and nine months after they did it, they had to dig it all up because of the crime increase that happened on Old Compton Street.”
Addressing the current level of crime in the local area more generally, he said: “There are 40,000 reported crimes a year in the West End ward. 2,000 robberies, 2,000 violent assaults and 500 sexual assaults.
“The West End ward has something like 75 per cent of all the public realm crime in Westminster, so there are really serious crime problems and I think the visitors are beginning to notice it.
“In the Westminster After Dark consultation... the first thing people say, when you ask them what they’re concerned about in the West End, is safety and security.”
He added: “The thing that we’ve raised, because we’re worried about it, is this suggestion that there can be a massive increase in the night-time economy on Oxford Street. I think yes, there might be, but in our experience in Soho, if you mismanage late-night, alcohol-led activity, the crime rapidly grows out of control, and the police do not have the resources to deal with it.
“So that has to be front of mind, because you could destroy all of this, you could really destroy Oxford Street, if it becomes a centre for crime.”
Westminster Council leader Adam Hug told the committee he was glad that aspects of the council’s pre-existing plans for the street were being incorporated into the mayor’s new proposals.
He added however: “It is a different set up. It’s not one we would have chosen and it’s not one we think is wholly necessary, to do this, but we understand where the mayor is coming from.”
A spokesman for Sir Sadiq said: “Oxford Street is an area of critical national economic importance, contributing billions to London's economy. A revitalised Oxford Street would increase visitor numbers, create new jobs, and boost retail and growth for London and the rest of the UK.
“The mayor is working closely with local businesses, residents and local authorities whilst he consults on proposals to pedestrianise Oxford Street and create a mayoral development corporation, which would super-charge regeneration and unlock the potential of Oxford Street as we continue to build a better London for everyone. The mayor encourages everyone to respond to the public consultation he launched in February by 2 May.”
