Oxfordshire County Council joins our 'Science Cities' this June
Above: Martin Reeves, Chief Executive, Oxfordshire County Council
Future Cities Forum is delighted that Oxfordshire County Council's Chief Executive, Martin Reeves and Corporate Director for Environment and Place, Bill Cotton, will be joining our 'Science Cities' forum at Jesus College, Oxford this June.
Martin Reeves joined Oxfordshire County Council from Coventry City Council where he has been Chief Executive since 2009, and was Chief Executive of Bedfordshire County Council, after serving as Assistant Chief Executive there from 2006 - 2008.
Bill Cotton has been leading a new policy for more trees to be planted in the county to combat climate change. It will put the emphasis on a ‘presumption in favour of trees’ because of the host of benefits they provide to the climate, the environment and the places where people live.
He said: 'This is a bold and ambitious long-term policy to increase investment in trees across the county. Trees are valuable assets for so many reasons and we aim to give them more prominence when looking at areas including planning, transport, connectivity and health.'
Furthering net zero goals, a partnership between Oxfordshire County Council and bus operators has launched what will be one of the biggest UK fleets of electric buses outside London. The £82.5 million project will deliver 159 new battery buses on to the roads of Oxford – the first of which have already gone into service. It has also funded two associated electric charging hubs at the city’s bus depots.
The bus fleet has been funded through a collaboration between the county council and Oxford Bus Company, owned by The Go-Ahead Group, and Stagecoach. The council was awarded £32.8m from the government’s Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme and contributed £6m directly, while bus operators invested £45m.
Oxford Bus Company will deliver 104 electric buses into service and Stagecoach 55. Working with Zenobē, the UK’s leading fleet electrification specialist, Oxford Bus Company has installed 104 charging points at its Cowley House depot, with Stagecoach installing charging points at its Network Oxford site. The charging hubs are powered by EDF Energy’s Oxford Superhub network, providing enough electricity to charge all 159 buses, enough for each bus to drive up to 200 miles per day.