We are calling for an end to the Oxford-Cambridge Arc while supporting fair, democratic and local development.
Our aims
- Challenge the concept of the Arc as an economic entity or as a basis for planning.
- Promote a fully electrified East West Rail for both passengers and freight, with routes decided by the affected communities.
- Preserve and enhance the natural environment.
- Involve local people in deciding their future through genuine consultation.
News and updates
News & Updates
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Our vision
A comprehensive look at the potential impacts of the Ox-Cam Arc, including stresses on the natural environment, water supply and local services. We suggest better ways to benefit the region.
Ox-Cam Arc plans and our work
The Ox-Cam Arc is five ceremonial counties
Ox-Cam Arc summary and our response to it
Thomas and the Extremely Weird Railway
A story
The five pillars of Oxford-Cambridge Arc ambitions.
The National Infrastructure Commission’s (NIC’s) Report, Partnering for Prosperity (2018) identified five key pillars of its vision for the future of the Arc region:
a) 1.1 million new jobs to boost economic output
b) 1 million new houses by 2050 (at 30,000 p.a. for the next 30+ years)
c) 1 Ox-Cam Expressway
d) 1 East-West Railway, all aiming for the prize of…..
e) £163 billion increase in economic output.
Cancellation of the Ox-Cam expressway in March 2021 removes one of these five pillars. But the other four remain, and the economic ambition is exactly the same as before, meaning that - according to the NIC’s own ‘careful calculations’ - up to one million more houses will be needed across the Arc by 2050.
Arc officials and even Government Ministers stopped talking about the ‘one million’ houses in 2021 but continued to claim the same job and economic benefits that require those million houses!
The Stop the Arc (STARC) Group will continue to campaign against the social and environmental destruction that such a huge development project involves.
Why should such a small percentage of the land area of the UK (4.7%), with only 5.7% of the UK’s population be forced to absorb ONE THIRD of all the new houses that will be needed in the country by 2050?
If we don’t protect our countryside, who will?
Are you ready to help?
