UPDATE: January 20, 2020
Actions
PLEASE sign our petition!
PLEASE email Grant Shapps MP – to ask him to reconsider and to make time to meet with NEG to discuss his priority pledged review of the Ox-Cam Expressway. Wording and email address to be found here
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What’s new
Government Expressway Review?
“We will provide an update on whether the project should continue in due course.” was the written response given by George Freemen, Transport Minister, to questions regarding the pledged “priority review” and future of the Expressway from three MPs. It answered no questions and said nothing!
Layla Moran MP (Oxford West & Abingdon) wrote to Grant Shapps on 15th January to ask him to make time to meet with NEG. Thank you Layla Moran! We are hoping other MPs will write too.
Have you emailed Grant Shapps yet, to ask him to reconsider and meet with NEG to discuss his “priority review”? This letter letter and email address makes it easy! Every email makes a difference!
Westminster Event
NEG will hold an event in Westminster on 26th February. We are delighted that this is co-sponsored by Layla Moran (Lib Dem, Oxford West & Abingdon), Greg Smith (Conservative, Buckingham) and Daniel Zeichner (Labour, Cambridge) showing this campaign is not party political
We will hold a ‘drop in’ event for MPs and members of the House of Lords to learn more about and pledge support to our campaign. NEG will also deliver a petition to 10 Downing Street.
Flooding
The flooding continues in many areas of the Ox-Cam Expressway Corridor. We were almost caught out on near Piddington on our way present in Steeple Claydon, we only just got through! Please be careful all!
Our drone footage from Christmas Eve is now live on our website. This shows substantial flooding in a Corridor “pinch point” to the East of Oxford, with footage of Waterstock, Waterperry and Shabbington
This will be sent to Highways England and Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government – where could a road and all the housing actually fit without being underwater?
Do you have information/photographs of other areas affected along the corridor that you could send us?
In the News
NEG Woburn Sands makes the Bucks press with article about our group being “unconvinced by Milton Keynes Citizen
NEG’ letter to Sajid Javid to regarding the March budget was on Mix 96 Radio and is reported on its website
A letter from NEG was published in the Oxford Times.
Central Bedfordshire Council using excuse of if being important to the Ox-Cam Arc growth area to approve new dual carriageway which cuts through Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, criticised in media
Planningresource.co.uk reports “Robert Jenrick delivered South Oxfordshire District Council an ultimatum – explain by the end of January why it has failed to adopt its local plan or face government intervention. In a letter to the authority, Jenrick said he is considering passing responsibility for the document’s preparation to Oxfordshire County Council.” SODC planned to withdraw and replace the local plan so as not to build on Green Belt land. This is a significant step from Mr Jenrick.
An “Emergency Public Meeting” is being held at Wheatley Park School, Saturday 25th Jan 2-4pm. You can get free tickets here southoxoninthedark.eventbrite.co.uk
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!
Sign our petition. Every sign up makes our campaign stronger. Some people are saying they have already signed ‘a petition about the expressway’. This is NEG’s own petition trying to bring people from across the arc together in one place.
Further NEG activities
As part of the letter NEG wrote to Sajid Javid (see NEG Press Release) a map of NO Expressway communities was produced. See the map at the end of this Update. NB the lines on this map show the boundaries of Corridor B and it’s sub-options B1 and B3. This map does not show any guessed routes.
We continue awareness-raising with presentations completed in Steeple Claydon and another being scheduled for Great Brickhill in March, date TBC. Details of locations, timings and all previous presentations can be found here
What’s next
Driving petition sign ups on site
Preparing for Westminster event
Working to get meeting with Grant Shapps to discuss the review and NEG’s involvement
Meeting with Highways England to discuss the consultation process – cancelled again 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.