UPDATES: October 2018
There has been a lot of coverage in the local and national media over the last month about the proposed Expressway, 1 million new homes development plan and the idea of a “growth corridor”. Coverage included articles in the Daily Mail, Guardian and discussions on Radio 4 and local news. Much of this has been generated by the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE), BBOWT’s legal challenge and more recently a letter from 11 cross party UK MEP’s to Chris Grayling regarding the lack of public consultation and the process not complying with the Aarhus convention. The Aarhus convention is important as it establishes a number of rights of the public with regard to the environment. The most significant here, is that it provides for “public participation in environmental decision making” which has not happened so far for the proposed Oxford-Cambridge Expressway programme.
We want to thank you all so much for your support in helping us ensure the preferred corridor for the proposed Oxford-Cambridge Expressway does not directly impact our villages or the unique environment of Otmoor. But while we seem to have been granted the all clear for now, this decision (as we have been explicitly told on several occasions by Highways England themselves) is in fact only provisional and could change at any time.
We need to safeguard the gains we have achieved and believe the following are very real threats:
- It is likely the proposed Expressway will go ahead
- It is likely new route proposals will include a new M40 junction near Arncott
- Ongoing plans for an additional 300,000 new homes in Oxfordshire alone by 2050 with all associated infrastructure/services requiring development also
- The Otmoor basin & Bernwood Forest ecosystems are still at risk
- Huge risk that Green Belt land will be lost to the Expressway and associated development
- Highways England has confirmed in writing to the HcSE Group that they could choose a route for the Expressway outside the boundaries of their preferred Corridor B.
Therefore, along with other campaign activities, our group, with the support of the Horton-cum-Studley Parish Council, will be putting up some strategically placed signs around the area, because it remains vitally important to maintain this visual reminder that we are still willing to fight to protect our countryside.
If anyone would like a sign to put in their garden or if you would like to get involved or have useful contacts / exciting ideas to contribute, please contact Olivia Field at olivia_field@hotmail.com.
Thank you again for your support.
Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust is launching a fundraiser to cover fees for its legal challenge against the government’s Expressway project. The charity argues that the government failed to consider environmental impacts before they chose the broad corridor of land where the Expressway and up to one million new homes will be located. They are seeking to raise £40,000 to cover their legal costs http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/expressway.
The Horton-cum-Studley Expressway Group have been reviewing the Government’s preferred corridor announcement of 12th September in greater detail and talking with other groups about the implications (including Cherwell District Council, Expressway Action Group, North Otmoor Expressway Group, No Expressway Alliance and CPRE).
The HcSE Group has identified the following threats:
- There is likely to be an Expressway somewhere
- The Otmoor basin & Bernwood Forest ecosystems are still at risk
- It is likely new route proposals will include a new M40 junction near Arncott
- Ongoing plans for an additional 300,000 new homes in Oxfordshire by 2050 with all associated infrastructure/services requiring development also
- Huge risk that Green Belt land will be lost to the Expressway and associated development
- Highways England has confirmed in writing to the HcSE Group that they could choose a route for the Expressway outside the boundaries of their preferred Corridor B.
Following the Government’s announcement, Highways England’s next steps are to
- Identify possible routes within the preferred corridor between now and Autumn 2019
- Conduct a non-statutory consultation on these routes (members of the public will be invited to comment on the alternative routes)
- Announce the preferred route in Autumn 2019
Hence the HcSE group will be continuing to campaign to raise awareness (including new unified messages for all campaign materials), working with other groups and preparing for the Public Inquiry on the selected route.
On 27th September, BBOWT and the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire launched a legal challenge to Highways England on the process for corridor selection. This could lead to a Judicial Review over the lack of a Strategic Environmental Assessment of expressway corridor choice. The HcSE Group are delighted that they have taken to the next stage the legal work started by the group with the Environmental Law Foundation and FTB Chambers.
On 8th October the HcSE Group held an Expressway Update meeting in the Millennium hall.The group’s campaign so far was widely praised by most members of our community. Useful contacts were made and ideas raised during the Q&A session.Thank you to everyone from HcS and other local villages who took time out from their busy schedules to come to this meeting.
The Horton-cum-Studley Expressway Group has continued its awareness-raising campaign with an Otmoor Riots inspired protest in Bonn Square on 3rd September, with media coverage on ITV local news, Oxford Mail and Oxford Times. There was huge interest in the event, concern over housing proposals and significant support for both the Save Otmoor and No Expressway campaigns which gained 500 new signatures. Thank you to everyone involved from HcS, Beckley and Charlton-on-Otmoor, and not forgetting Colin Turney of Islip who lent us his splendid Oxfordshire Waggon and Gordon Dempster of the Waterperry Farm Museum who lent us some horse leathers and farming equipment. The Riot of Gollins and The Three Pressed Men sang, and two local Morris dancing groups added extra colour and action!
The HcSE Group has also worked with the Environmental Law Foundation to challenge the legality of the lack of Strategic Environmental Assessment, endorsed by the RSPB, BBOWT and the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Further information is available on the HcS website http://www.horton-cum-studley.org.uk/.
On 12th September, the government announced a modified Corridor B as its preferred option. This was originally split into B1 (west of Oxford along A34 route), B2 (across some of Otmoor and Bernwood forest) and B3 (to the east of the corridor). B2 has been rejected and the overall shape of B1/3 corridor has changed to exclude Shotover also. It now looks like this:
This is a win from the Otmoor/Bernwood Forest perspective. Thank you to everyone who’s been involved in getting the Save Otmoor petition to over 10,500 signatories and raising awareness about the Expressway.
However, we have not won the war!
Not all of Otmoor is out of danger. Charlton-on-Otmoor and Oddington are still in or very close to the B1 section of the corridor. The government still wants to build a further 300,000 homes in Oxfordshire, equivalent to 22 Bicesters, and many question the need for an Expressway at all. It is just not possible to fit 300,000 homes into that part of corridor B in Oxfordshire; there is simply not enough room. Many of those houses will have to go elsewhere in the county if they are to be built at all. Thus, there is still a huge threat to Oxfordshire’s environment, Green Belt, pollution and congestion levels. The campaign therefore continues to object to all aspects of the Expressway and any associated development, particularly on Green Belt land. The HcSE Group is part of the No Expressway Alliance to continue the campaign.
Signage around the village is currently under review given the government’s announcement.
A further Save Otmoor event, an evening with Peggy Seeger, will be held in Beckley Church on Saturday 13th October at 7.30pm.
We will hold an Expressway Update meeting on Monday 8th October in Horton-cum-Studley Millennium hall, 7.30pm.
The Horton-cum-Studley Expressway Team, with members from Beckley too, have continued to be very active in their campaign to raise awareness of the potential Expressway and encourage people to sign the SaveOtmoor petition and stay in touch with the group and its activities.
The group’s Walk the Moor event was a great success with around 100 people enjoying the walk, the views as well as the music of the Riot of Gollins at the lunch stop. The group has also run SaveOtmoor stands at Boarstall and Arncott fetes, Beckley Open day, Forrest Hill Feast and at Rectory Farm. There has been a lot of interest and concern expressed at all events.
The group have been reported in the local media following a meeting with Keith Taylor our Green MEP as well as the Walk the Moor event.
The HcS Expressway Team are now planning to re-enact the Otmoor Riots at the St Giles Fair on 3rd September, permissions and Shire Horse permitting, and are arranging a Peggy Seger concert to be held in Beckley Church (date TBC)! More information on both to follow.
The decision on the Expressway corridor is now expected late summer. It has also been leaked that the new Housing Minister, Kit Malthouse, has asked all Councils and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP’s) along the proposed corridor as well as the Universities to submit ideas by 14th September of where the additional 1 million new homes should be built (300,00+ in Oxfordshire). So the campaign to object to the Expressway and any associated development, particularly on Green Belt is all the more important.
Please can you write to object to this timescale and undemocratic approach by writing to David Hughes, Barry Wood, Dan Sames, Ian Hudspeth, and Martin Tipple.
If you want to get involved or have useful contacts / exciting ideas to contribute, please contact Olivia Field on olivia_field@hotmail.com
It’s been a very busy few months for the Horton-cum-Studley Expressway Group. The Group has been raising awareness of the Ox-Cam Expressway and its implications by leafleting the villages of Otmoor and beyond and taking the “travelling pagoda” with maps and information about the proposed Expressway to village fetes/open days and Rectory Farm. Additionally, the HcSE Group held two major events, Walk the Moor and in Bonn Square, inspired by the Otmoor Rioters of the 1830s, which gained huge interest from the public and excellent local media coverage.
The HcSE Group has worked closely with others across Otmoor, groups including the RSPB, BBOWT, EAG, FoE and CPRE Need Not Greed and has met with Councillors, MPs and our MEP.
Additionally, the HcSE Group has worked with the Environmental Law Foundation and a barrister from the FTB Chambers in London to challenge the Government and Highways England for not following UK and EU law by failing to complete a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and a Habitat Regulations Assessment (HRA) in its work to select a preferred corridor for the Expressway. This was formally supported by the RSPB, BBOWT and Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (BCNWT). The HcSE Group are delighted that this has now been taken to the next stage by BBOWT and BCNWT who announced launching their legal challenge to Highways England on the corridor selection process, on 27th September. This could lead to a Judicial Review over the lack of SEA and HRA.
The Government announced Corridor B as their preferred corridor on 12th September. They have published a new map of Corridor B which now excludes but runs very close to the Otmoor Basin and Bernwood Forest eco system.