UPDATE: December 23, 2019

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Wishing you all a VERY merry Christmas & splendid Expressway free 2020!

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What’s new  (for full details click here)

NEG challenge to candidates on the Ox-Cam arc

  • At the time of election 48 of the 98 candidates across the arc, pledged support for our campaign, with one candidate refusing to support and another’s response rather unclear.  That’s 49% of all candidates

  • Candidates pledged from the Brexit, Conservative, Green, Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, as well as independent candidates

  • Of the 20 MP’s elected, unfortunately only 6 had pledged their support as candidates.  They are: Greg Smith (Buckingham, Conservative), Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge, Labour), Anthony Browne (Cambridgeshire South, Conservative), Ben Everitt (Milton Keynes North, Conservative), Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East, Labour), Layla Moran (Oxford West & Abingdon, Liberal Democrats).

Government Expressway Review?

  • During the election campaign, Grant Shapps said he’d undertake a priority review of the Ox-Cam Expressway

  • There was confusion with some candidates reported as saying it was a cancelled, whilst it had not

  • NEG has written to Grant Shapps three times now and has even spoken with his constituency office staff who escalated this to his Chief of Staff.  We have formally requested, as the biggest campaign group across the Ox-Cam Arc, to be a part of any priority review and to meet with Grant Shapps to discuss our involvement and how and when any review will happen.  See our letters here.

  • We are very disappointed that despite what Grant Shapps said during the election campaign, discussions on any Expressway review are not seen as a priority.  Given the depth of concern of communities all along the Ox-Cam Arc and the increasing uncertainty of the scheme, this meeting should in fact be a top priority

  • NEG has asked the six supportive MPs above to interced with Grant Shapps on our behalf

  • NEG has produced an email for supporters to send Grant Shapps asking him to reconsider and meet NEG. You can get the email wording here .

    Please email Grant Shapps at  TransportSecretary@dft.gov.uk

  • So, NEG’s campaign is not over, not until the Expressway and the target of one million houses are cancelled.

In the Press

  • No Expressway Group has again had good media coverage with Oxford Times front page & page 2 article and page 22 Editorial about NEG’s attempts to get information about the promised Expressway review and meet with Grant Shapps.  Mix 96 website also picked this story up.  See full details here.

NEG Petition to STOP the Expressway!

  • If you haven’t already done so, PLEASE sign our petition now! And get everyone you know to sign it too!  Every sign up makes our campaign stronger.  Some people are saying they have already signed ‘a petition about the expressway’.  This is a new petition on the NEG website (not on change.org or Government website) and will give us the chance to stay in touch with you about petition news and the NEG campaign, if you wish.

Further NEG activities

  • We continue the awareness-raising campaign with more signs going up and presentation at Ickford and contact made with all (over 400) Parish and Town Councils within 5km of the Ox-Cam Expressway corridor

  • NEG has sent Christmas cards to all 20 Arc MPs, key ministers and secretaries of state, the Prime Minister, Chancellor, and leaders of all Arc District, City and County Councils, to remind them of our campaign and to wish them a happy expressway free 2020!

What’s next

  • Driving petition sign ups on site

  • Working to get meeting with Grant Shapps to discuss the review and NEG’s involvement

  • Meeting with Highways England to discuss the consultation process - delayed to Jan 21st by HE

  • Continue working with the Stronger Together group and working on a programme of activities for schools

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.

Guest Userupdate, december 19