A new petition is pressuring the Government to abandon controversial 15-minute city schemes, a topic that has generated intense discussion in Oxford.

The petition argues these initiatives undermine personal freedoms by restricting movement and imposing limits on where inhabitants can live, work, and travel.

As of publication, more than 2,000 people had added their signatures, with Oxford cited as a key location where such measures have been rolled out without any central Government instruction.

Backers are calling for ministerial action to prevent further local authorities from adopting comparable strategies.

They maintain that the 15-minute concept breaches both the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights, which protect the right to travel freely and choose one’s residence without undue interference.

The 15-minute city model aims to ensure every resident can access vital facilities—including schools, healthcare centres, and parks—within a quarter-hour walk or bike ride.

During November 2022, Oxfordshire County Council sanctioned a linked traffic filtering scheme intended to cut congestion and boost public transport services.

The plan entailed requiring private cars to obtain permits for travel through specified zones

These permits would cover a maximum of 100 days each year

All other vehicle types would be exempt from permit requirements

The filters were intended to encourage greater use of public transport and enhance safety for those walking and cycling, rather than to confine people to their immediate localities.

Nevertheless, the plan provoked considerable resistance, including a substantial protest in February 2023.

Ed Nix recorded an image on 19/02/2023 displaying thousands parading through Oxford’s central district in protest against the 15-minute city proposals.

Some platform users mistakenly alleged the scheme formed part of an effort to restrict people to their neighbourhoods for environmental reasons.

Oxfordshire County Council insisted these claims lacked foundation and that the traffic filters were never designed to limit freedom of movement.

The council further emphasised that 15-minute cities and traffic filters represent distinct concepts.

In a joint statement, Oxfordshire County Council and Oxfordshire City Council declared that their objective was to reduce traffic volumes and congestion, improve bus reliability and frequency, and establish safer, more pleasant conditions for cycling and walking. They explained that the 15-minute neighbourhoods concept aimed to guarantee that every resident could reach essential services—shops, medical care, parks—within a 15-minute walk from their home, with the goal of supporting and expanding services rather than imposing limitations.

Despite these clarifications, the misinformation circulating about the alleged climate lockdown resulted in councillors receiving threats to their personal safety.

Following the intense backlash, the city council decided to strip all references to 15-minute cities from their planning documents.

The substantive planning decisions, however, remained intact.

Louise Upton, planning cabinet member, noted that removing the terminology would have no perceptible impact on planning determinations.