Residents’ groups call on Mayor Khan to rethink Oxford Street take over

Residents’ groups in the City of Westminster have this week called on Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, to rethink his proposal to take control of Oxford Street away from Westminster Council.

In a letter to the mayor, Tim Lord, chair of Westminster Amenity Societies Forum, says Khan’s sudden announcement in September has “wasted several millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money and already constrained council resources and officer time” and has delayed “any meaningful improvements to the public realm on Oxford Street”.

Lord says that Westminster Council’s scheme was already in progress with council funds allocated and further business funding agreed in principle.

“There was extensive support for the project from local communities and businesses,” says Lord writing on behalf of 22 amenity societies.

“The Westminster Council scheme, including greening, new pedestrian crossings and additional space for pedestrians, would have been implemented in 2025 and completed in 2026.”

But due to the mayor’s intervention the private funding to support the project was withdrawn by the New West End Company and the council was forced to abandon the project.

“The fact that the [announcement] was issued without consultation with Westminster Council (or even TFL) has undermined confidence in your office,” says Lord.

“While your announcement, as yet, lacks any detail, it is entirely possible that the removal of buses and taxis from part of Oxford Street will, once again, be unsupported by the local community and businesses, and prove impractical.

“Local people and smaller businesses who would be most impacted by the change, and those who have the most knowledge of the area, remain of the view that removing all traffic from this main east west arterial route is not practical.”

The mayor has yet to explain how buses and taxis will be diverted from the shopping street but people living in Fitzrovia and Marylebone fear that the re-routed traffic will be directed along Wigmore Street, Mortimer Street and Goodge Street, and possibly through other side streets.

Lord says that Khan’s proposal for a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) is “both unprecedented and unanticipated by the Localism Act”.

“We are not aware that a MDC has ever been used in a central city area, and certainly not the most intensively developed and valuable centre of a global city. This is not what MDC’s are for,” says Lord.

Khan has so far failed to provide any details of the MDC despite Adam Hug, leader of Westminster Council, asking for details eight weeks’ ago.

“While it is not yet clear what powers the MDC might seek, we wish to put on record that if the MDC seeks to take planning powers from Westminster Council, it will face opposition from many Westminster residents due to the loss of accountability that would result,” says Lord.

“We care that planning policies, planning enforcement and planning decisions remain in the hands of locally elected councillors — who represent the people most directly impacted by those decisions.

“The loss of that mechanism to an MDC controlled solely by you and a board representing property interests with no community representation — would be resisted. If your plans rely solely on support from property investors, visitors and tourists, this will be a significant problem going forwards.”

Lord asks the mayor re-consider his approach and instead “work with Westminster Council and local communities on plans which can deliver for Oxford Street more quickly and with a degree of consensus”.

The London Standard reported on Thursday that officials at the Greater London Authority were finalising the scope of the mayoral development area and a public consultation is due in the new year.

Khan told the Standard “we are having great conversations with the council but also businesses as well, and TfL are talking to residents [sic] and others to make sure we get the best possible scheme for that street.”

However, The Fitzrovia News understands that neither the Mayor nor any TfL officials have approached any residents living in the neighbourhoods surrounding Oxford Street about the mayor’s plans.

A spokesperson for the mayor told the Standard: “The mayor’s proposed plans, working with the new government and the local council, are the only way we’ll be able to transform Oxford Street, create new jobs and economic prosperity and restore this famous part of the capital to its former glory.”

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