The petition organiser may address Council upon the petition for up to 5 minutes at the start of this item.

Council is asked to consider a petition meeting the criteria for debate under the Council’s petitions scheme.

The full text of the petition is contained in the accompanying report.

If a Member wishes to put a substantive motion/recommendation on a petition they must submit this by 10am on the working day before the full Council meeting (Friday 22 November 2024). These are then published in the Council briefing note. Any amendments to these must be submitted by 11am on the day of the meeting (Monday 25 November 2024).

If no substantive motion is agreed, Council is asked to note the petition.

Josie Proctor, the Petitioner, thanked the Lord Mayor and Council for their time. She presented a petition asking for a children’s playground to be built in the city centre. She said that the city of Oxford is currently not good for families, demonstrated by the lack of children’s play areas in the city centre. She stated that at the beginning of the month, they had asked the County Council to take this petition forward and the County Council have been supportive of this petition. She emphasized that other, similar cities have found ways to become more family friendly, by inputting play areas, benches, and other infrastructure in the city centre which benefit families. She added that building a play area in the city centre would benefit Oxford, by bringing more business into the city. She presented the opinions of other petitioners who support the petition to build a children’s play area. She noted that today was not about finding the funds for the play area, but she noted that corporate partnerships could be a way forward. She finished by stating that the most significant feedback that came from citizens regarding this matter was that the play area should be accessible to children of all abilities.

Councillor Upton responded that her day job places her particularly well to discuss how important a child’s surrounding is to their development. She said that living in a city and looking after children is stressful. Although the city does have a lot of great green spaces, she noted that there are very few in the city centre. She said that it is important that children with families are able to come into the city centre. She added that they are working with the County Council to find a way to introduce a play area to the city centre.

Councillor Miles proposed that the Council, agree in principle, that they develop a children’s play area in the city centre. She said that they are aware that children and residents want this to be introduced to the city. She stated that having a place for children to play would benefit the city and the families that visit the centre of Oxford. She noted that Oxford has had falling numbers of children in the city and as a Council, they want to be attracting families to live in Oxford. She said that by creating a space for children in the city centre, it would make the city more family friendly and safer for families. Creating a play area in the city centre would also make this area more inclusive, as well as having commercial and economic benefits. She urged the Council to support this report.

Councillor Kerr seconded the motion and expressed her support for the recommendations. She said that creating a play area would make the city centre more family friendly.

Councillor Djafari-Marbini said that many of the residents in her ward avoid coming into the city centre. She said that this is because there is not a place to walk around in the city centre for families. Building a city centre play area could help to address these issues and make the city centre more inclusive and accessible. Additionally, she stated that this could help to address health inequality in the city and the county. She noted that there is a town and gown divide in this issue, as colleges own large tracts of land that are not accessible to the public. She emphasized that this should stop, and the university should use their resources to help address health inequality in the city.

Councillor Arshad expressed support for the children’s play area in the city centre. She said that this was something she had long noted that would be beneficial for Oxford and the city’s residents. She noted that with the ongoing crises of mental health and cost of living in this country, implementing this play area could benefit children from across the city and county.

Councillor Munkonge said that the motion proposed by Councillor Miles is in line with the recommendations of the report. He said that they are doing a lot as a Council, to support children’s ability to safely be in the city centre and to address health inequality.

The motion proposed by Councillor Miles was put to a vote and approved.

The recommendations of the petition were put to a vote and approved.

The Council resolved to:

1.           Note the contents of the report;

2.           Hear the debate by the petition organiser;

3.           Debate the proposal contained within the petition and any relevant motions/recommendations submitted by Members by the deadline;

4.           Agree the action it wishes to take.