PRESS RELEASE: NEG Launches challenge to all parliamentary candidates on the Ox-Cam Arc
No Expressway Group campaign challenges all Oxford to Cambridge parliamentary candidates, to support its campaign
Supporters from across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire came together to help launch the No Expressway Groups campaign’s challenge to all parliamentary candidates along the Oxford to Cambridge.
The No Expressway Group (NEG) is challenging all parties’ candidates to support its campaign to STOP the Ox-Cam expressway and over inflated one million new homes target.
NEG believe the top issue in these constituencies is the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway, which includes aspirations for inappropriate housing targets (3-6 times ONS national average growth rates by 2050).
NEG is demanding that the new government shifts investment from private, car-dependent transport to public transport systems such as fully electrified East-West Rail instead. Build the railway. Stop the expressway!
NEG believe the voters need to know where candidates in their constituency stand on this issue and whether they will stand up for them if elected. So, NEG will publish responses, or lack of response on their website noexressway.org.
Olivia Field, Chair of No Expressway Group, said “This fantastic turnout of people of all ages from across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire shows just how passionately people feel about these appalling and ill thought through proposals. Rightly so! The scale of development from the proposed Expressway and aspiration for one million new homes along the Ox-Cam Arc would be devastating for our environment, our health and our communities for generations to come. This is a national issue because the environment is a national asset.”
Beccy Roberts of No Expressway Group added “All candidates along the Ox-Cam Arc be warned! You must take this seriously, commit your support to NEG’s campaign and get your party to add into their manifesto that they will put a stop to the Ox-Cam expressway and one million houses along the arc. Your support for our cause alone is not enough, if you end up being a lone voice of opposition within your party. We need to know that this will be stopped!”
For further information please contact the press office on
Melissa wright
07811 167190
NOTES TO THE EDITOR
Challenge sent to all MP candidates along the Oxford to Cambridge Arc
Dear
Congratulations on being selected by your Party as a Candidate in the 12th December general election!
We believe the top issue in your constituency is the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway, which includes aspirations for inappropriate housing targets (3-6 times ONS national average growth rates by 2050).
The scale of development and urban sprawl will cause devastation to the environment and increased congestion that will harm local communities and wildlife. It will also create levels of air pollution that will damage our health now and into the future. Ecosystems and habitats are already stressed, with many species in catastrophic decline. Please do not be fooled. With this scale and type of development, ‘net zero carbon’ targets are unattainable and ‘net environmental gain’ proven unachievable. We are demanding that the new government shifts investment from private, car-dependent transport to public transport systems such as fully electrified East-West Rail instead. Build the railway. Stop the expressway!
Will you agree to support our call for this to be scrapped and allow us to list you as a supporter on our website?
Please confirm your support by sending a letter or email to noexpresswaygroup@gmail.com. We will post information about which candidates have and have not pledged their support on our website noexpressway.org.
Good luck with your campaign!
The No Expressway Group
The No Expressway Group (NEG) was established to raise awareness of the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway across the Arc. We are not affiliated with any political party and are run on a not-for-profit basis. We receive donations from our individual supporters but no funds from any group with commercial or other interests in the Arc proposals. In the last 12 months NEG has given talks and made presentations to villages across the Arc, from Sunningwell, West of Oxford, to Wavendon, Southeast of Milton Keynes. We have not found a single community in favour of the Arc proposals.
We urgently need your help.
Your donations are needed now, to help us run the campaign and pay for political consultants and other professional experts to bring this campaign to the attention of Westminster as well as local politicians.
No Expressway Group believes there is no need for an Oxford-Cambridge Expressway, nor the over-inflated housing targets associated with it, and we will actively campaign against it and support other organisations with the same objectives.
Our environment is a national asset which is critical for everyone’s health and well-being. We must not let it be destroyed.
Your donations help us to spread information about the Expressway, run and build support for the campaign:
£10 could pay for one roadside Correx poster
£15 could pay for one roadside poster on a wooden stake
£20 could pay for one A1 printed colour poster for our pagoda display
£35 could pay for 250 A5 printed leaflets for the campaign
£70 could pay for one pole and two panels for our travelling pagoda display
£150 could pay for one feather flag for our travelling pagoda
£180 could pay to run this website for one year
£300 could pay for a 3 minutes of an Expressway Story
£500 could pay for a 5 minutes of an Expressway Story
A greater or other amount could contribute to the cost of professional support for our campaign in general and in preparation for Planning Inspectorate hearings
Please note:
The No Expressway Group has a group bank account to which the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer are signatories. The group will publish accounts on noexpressway.org each year which will be audited by an accountant from outside the NEG group.
If any funds are left at the end of the campaign, these will be donated equally between RSPB and BBOWT.