Following the publication of research by the Centre for Cities that Oxford ranks amongst the worst cities for the amount of indoor and outdoor living space per person (55th out of the 58 towns and cities surveyed) [1] the Greens are calling for the Council to initiate a post-COVID review that brings together the management of Oxford's open spaces, leisure centres and building standards to ensure that people have sufficient access to open spaces for wellbeing and mental health and exercise.
We know that leisure provision - via the City Council's leisure centres - is likely to be severely impacted for some time due to COVID. And lockdown has led to a new appreciation of the value our open and natural green spaces for the purposes of exercise and wellbeing. Meanwhile the Council, in its new Local Plan, is proposing further 'densification' of the City with more people living in increasingly dense developments.
Says Green Cllr Craig Simmons; "The Council needs to step back and look again at how we can most effectively use our open spaces to provide ample room for leisure and exercise whilst protecting nature. We are still seeing examples of where the Council is getting the balance wrong; like paving over grass areas in residential streets to increase off-street car parking or destroying wildlife habitats in Botley to extend the Park & Ride."
FMI: Cllr Craig Simmons 07739803047
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