Jeremy Mogford, famous hotelier and entrepreneur gave a fascinating talk about his love of Oxford and how it’s being mismanaged by the City Council.

He first came to Oxford in 1976 and opened his first restaurant. Since then he has been responsible for such Oxford culinary institutions as Browns, Old Bank, Quod, the Old Parsonage, Gees.

His biggest concern in his role with Rescue Oxford (now ROCS) is that Oxford needs a long-term view, whereas counsellors (perhaps understandably) tend only to be thinking about their own four year term.

Ideas that Jeremy would like to see given more thought included:
– The presence of buses in the high street
– Free hop on hop off electric buses to help connect the historical city core whilst keeping traffic out
– Consideration of a way to tap college tourism
– Free parking on Saturday and Sunday nights, to help the night time economy
– Affordable housing for those who work in hospitality in the city centre
– Elimination of Gloucester Green, to be replaced by a bus hub outside the city, and with free transport into the city from there
– Reduction of rents in the covered market
– Manipulation of the retail presence in the city to make sure that retailers are appropriate for the city