00:00Hello, yes, the Mayor of London has been accused of giving Westminster City Council just an hour's notice before announcing a car-free day on Oxford Street.
00:13The street is due to be closed to traffic from 12pm to 8pm on the 21st of September later this month for a free public event featuring fashion, music and food designed to showcase how pedestrianisation could work on Oxford Street.
00:34Now, correspondence seen by a local democracy reporting service has suggested that the Greater London Authority, also known as the GLA, passed on only limited details to the council before issuing a press release on the 29th of August.
00:54Now, a spokesman for Sir Sadiq Khan has rejected this allegation, insisting it was completely untrue and stressing that City Hall had been working closely with the council on the event.
01:09Officials framed the day as a test for the Mayor's long-term ambition to pedestrianise Oxford Street, a vision he first outlined last year and has been pushing for a while.
01:21Sir Sadiq Khan described the occasion as an opportunity for Londoners to see Oxford Street in a new light, which would be traffic-free and filled with music and food, with pop-ups and entertainment.
01:36He said he was determined to unlock the street's potential and deliver a world-class, accessible and clean avenue.
01:45So what do Londoners think about the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street?
01:49I'm sure it's not the only street in London or in another major city that has pedestrianised times.
01:58I think if you go to places like Barcelona, for example, there's a lot of pedestrianisation there.
02:05You've got shops there, how are they going to get their deliveries?
02:10The logistics would be a big problem, is the way I see it. I can't see that being pedestrianised.
02:16Obviously, it's a big retail area, so they will need to get deliveries, so I'll have to probably schedule things.
02:25But I cycle a lot, and cycling down the middle of Oxford Street is awful.
02:31There's loads of pollution, lots of traffic, there's chances to get knocked off.
02:35I'd say it's probably a good idea to at least trial pedestrianising Oxford Street.
02:45Which way, I couldn't tell, but a one-way system would probably work better, and that would help with the shops and minimise traffic, that's fine, yeah.
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