‘Quiet Lane’ for Kingston Hill?

ARPC has made an application to Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) Highways department to consider if Kingston Hill could become a ‘quiet lane’.

Kingston Hill was always a single-track lane primarily used by farm traffic. Over the years the roads verges have been eroded, and successive resurfacing have made this a double wide road. Following the use of SatNav and the huge increase in traffic on the B4009 a significant number of cars use this lane as a shortcut to the M40 junction 5 and Stokenchurch.

Kingston Hill can no longer be used safely by non-car users wanting to access the Ridgeway or the Chiltern Hill’s footpaths and bridleways. The Ridgeway is a major national trail used by walkers, bike riders and horse riders and the residents of Kingston Blount along with the neighbouring villages and hamlets. All would benefit from having a direct access to the Ridgeway for recreational use and to non-car access to the shops and further public transport in Chinnor, Princess Risborough and Watlington.

The aim of a quiet lane is to prioritise riding, walking and safe access to the surrounding countryside without impacting car users too much. In this case the A40 is considered the primary route up the hill and would be the alternative route to Stokenchurch and the Hills and the M40 can be accessed at J6.

ARPC submitted an expression of interest to OCC and the idea has passed the first test and the council has advised ARPC that the proposal can go onto the next stage.

It is important to note that no decision has been made, there is a lot of assessment and public consultation to be undertaken before anything happens. It is also important to note that this is a pilot scheme and if the application were to proceed it would be for a temporary time to assess the benefits and the impacts.

As for the next steps, OCC has advised ARPC that an officer will be in touch soon to discuss how it plans to proceed. When ARPC has been contacted by OCC officers regarding the next steps we will keep everyone informed and give everyone the opportunity to discuss and debate the proposal. There will be lots of scoping and data gathering to do, so nothing will happen quickly and there will be plenty of time to assess things as we go along.

For those of you less keen on the idea, please rest assured that the initial scheme doesn’t tie us into anything. If there isn’t local support the scheme will not go ahead.

More information can be found on the OCC website – https://tinyurl.com/y4rzatd7