// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Politics and pedestrians: How traffic was removed from Oxford Street
Traffic will be blocked from using a large part of Oxford Street
On a bright, summer's day at City Hall in 2024, the mayor of London's senior advisers were in a room mulling over how to solve the most contentious of issues - getting vehicles off Oxford Street.
In the planning meeting, they were advocating a new approach.
The thorny issue of the pedestrianisation of London's most famous shopping street had foxed mayoral administrations for years.
Every time a new plan emerged, it was scrapped by Westminster Council, who owned the street and could be swayed by the marginal seats on either side of the debate.
Now the mayor's senior advisers were giving him another way he could end the impasse - using a development corporation.
The use of a development corporation for Oxford Street had actually been discussed in City Hall as far back as 2018 when yet another plan got scrapped.
Sadiq Khan had the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street in his 2016 manifesto and plans for it were advanced.
But in 2018, the then-Conservative Westminster Council rejected the idea following opposition from local residents.
This followed a plan by locals to stand for election on the single-issue ticket of anti-pedestrianisation. In the face of such a challenge, the council changed its mind.