Oxford News
Abingdon: ‘Strong support’ for town centre ‘improvements’
An active travel scheme for Abingdon East St Helen Street was proposed last year in a bid to use some of Oxfordshire County Council‘s £1.5million funding pot for transport initiatives.
Oxfordshire County Councillor Nathan Ley for Abingdon North has said locals showed ‘strong overall support for the proposals when asked for their views.
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Plans include introducing a two-way cycle contraflow along East St Helen Street, giving pedestrians priority by putting in continuous footways at side roads, and installing ‘new and improved’ crossing at the High Street, Bridge Street and Stert Street junction.
The aim is to ‘make it safer and easier to walk, wheel, and cycle through the town centre’ and to add a missing link in the National Cycle Network Route 5 which connects the town to Oxford and Didcot.
A consultation was held between September 30 and October 28 last year, which councillor Ley saw strong engagement with the proposals and 345 survey responses submitted.
Of these, 81 per cent expressed support for the main town centre crossing improvements, 77 per cent supported new crossings on East and West St Helen Street, and 76 per cent were in support of improvements at the Lombard Street junction.
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For the cycle lanes contraflow on West and East St Helen Streets, 70 and 69 per cent supported the proposals, respectively.
Cllr Ley said: “Importantly, most respondents said they would be more likely to walk, wheel or cycle if the scheme goes ahead
“There was also strong recognition that these changes would make it easier for older residents, people with disabilities, and parents with pushchairs to get around town.”
The councillor said the consultation was held to gather feedback to improve the proposal, and welcomed the “broad support for making Abingdon town centre safer, more accessible and better for active travel”.
Although plans are progressing, he added that the timeline has ‘slipped’, with the final design stage currently ongoing and expected to continue through 2026.
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Construction is likely to take place from autumn this year until spring next year, and the county council said the ‘close out period’ would be from spring 2027 until spring 2028.
Oxfordshire County Council has been allocated £1,473,679 from the government’s Active Travel Fund, intended to support specific projects to improve walking and cycling infrastructure int he county.
The Abingdon scheme, which is including in the Abingdon Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan, was one of the projects that received funding for ‘full project delivery’ from design to consultation and delivery.
Seven emergency service vehicles are currently at the scene of a police incident in Oxford.
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Shane Sterling, who studied at Oxford University, is currently a judo athlete, practising magician and is the owner of Oxford Magic Walking Tours.
He was hospitalised with heatstroke after conducting three back-to-back walking tours through Oxford on Monday (August 3).
Shane led tours at 11am, 1pm and 3pm, spending most of the day outdoors and walking between Oxford’s historic landmarks in hot weather.
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His tours are highly interactive and can occasionally run slightly beyond their scheduled finish time.
This can leave Shane with only around 20 minutes to return to the meeting point, check in the next group and begin the following tour.
Around an hour into his final tour at 3pm, he began to feel increasingly unwell, but determined not to disappoint his guests, he continued and completed the tour.
However, shortly after the tour ended, his condition quickly became worse.
“I suddenly felt extremely sick and dizzy,” Shane said.
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“I had a severe headache, I was incredibly thirsty, and I knew something was not right.
“Luckily, my wife was meeting me after the final tour. She immediately realised how unwell I was and made sure I received medical help.”
Shane was taken to hospital that evening, where he was treated for heatstroke.
Medical staff warned him that the situation could have become extremely serious if help had been delayed.
The tour guide is sharing his experience as a warning to others, particularly with further periods of hot weather expected.
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“I spend a great deal of time outdoors, and I consider myself to be extremely fit,” said Shane.
“I represent Team GB in judo and have trained at a high level for many years. I never expected something like this to happen to me, but it shows that heatstroke can affect anyone.”
He is now urging residents, visitors, tour guides and outdoor workers to take extra precautions during periods of extreme heat.
“Drinking water is essential, but it is not the only thing people need to think about,” Shane said.
“Try to spend time in the shade, take proper breaks and avoid pushing through if you begin to feel unwell.
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“Move to a cool or air-conditioned place as quickly as possible and seek urgent medical help if your symptoms are serious.”
Common warning signs of heat-related illness can include dizziness, nausea, severe headache, intense thirst, confusion, weakness and feeling unusually unwell.
Shane, who has now recovered, added: “I pushed through because I wanted to finish the tour for my guests, but looking back, I should have stopped as soon as I felt ill.
“No tour, job or appointment is worth putting your health at risk. The hospital staff told me that this could have ended very badly for me.”
According to The Sun, the hosts will join YouTubers Thomas Holland and James Engelsman as well as social media star Francis Bourgeois in series seven.
Having presented Top Gear together for over a decade, the famed trio departed the BBC show back in 2015, moving on to Prime Video’s The Grand Tour.
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The petrol enthusiasts are expected to help ensure the show’s reboot gets off to a smooth and welcoming start, according to co-creator and TV producer Andy Wilman.
Mr Wilman, who is also executive producer of Clarkson’s Farm, told The Sun that the guys will do cameos as they “pass that baton on” in the series which debuts on Friday, September 4.
The TV producer told 3Bs radio at the Buckingham Literary Festival: “We’ve got three guys coming soon with a new Grand Tour and we’ve got behind them.
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“We’re really supporting them. Our guys are in the shows doing cameos, so we’re wishing them well because we do want to pass that baton on.”
This will be the first time in almost two years the Top Gear originals, who went their own ways professionally, will be seen together since September 2024.
That was when The Grand Tour: One For The Road was released on Prime Video, marking an end to over two decades of Mr Clarkson, Mr May and Mr Hammond working together.
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