PRESS RELEASE: Budget - 'A missed opportunity to scrap the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway' say campaigners
Press Release - UPDATED IN LIGHT OF RIS2 PUBLICATION
For immediate release
Budget – ‘A MISSED OPPORTUNITY TO SCRAP THE OXFORD TO CAMBRIDGE EXPRESSWAY’ SAY CAMPAIGNERS
Campaigners have slammed the Budget as ‘a missed opportunity to announce the scrapping of the Oxford – Cambridge Expressway’. Speaking moments after the Chancellor sat down Olivia Field, Chair of No Expressway Group (NEG), the largest campaign group against the road, said, ‘This Budget which gave significant announcements about infrastructure spending, was the ideal event during which to formally announce the scrapping of this unwanted, unnecessary and damaging road. In every sense this is a missed opportunity. The Road Investment Strategy 2 has just been released and says the Government is going to pause further development of the scheme. This is the Government dithering. Does this mean the Expressway scheme might come back again? First a ‘review’ was promised during the election by a whole array of candidates and by the Secretary of State for Transport, then the Prime Minister himself told Daniel Zeichner MP that he would “learn more” about the future of the Ox-Cam Expressway in the March budget. Now the Government tells us the scheme is paused. A pause is not a cancellation. The Government has missed the opportunity to announce that the Expressway is scrapped. It begs the question - when will the Government get this decision done?’
The 3.3 million people living along the Oxford to Cambridge Arc need clarity. An announcement that gives clarity about the future of the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway scheme should not be delayed any further.
The No Expressway Group held a cross party event in Westminster on 26th February and delivered a nearly 15,000 strong petition to 10 Downing Street calling on the Government to scrap the Ox-Cam Expressway and the aspirational target of 1 million houses across the Ox-Cam Arc. Are the Prime Minister and his Government listening?
NEG Chair Olivia Field said ‘the NEG has been raising awareness of the Ox-Cam Expressway scheme and aspirations for the Arc from West of Oxford all the way to Cambridge and all communities are amazed and deeply concerned by the scale of the plans. But none of our supporters or any of the 3.3 million people across the Oxford to Cambridge Arc has ever been consulted even though we are faced with the awful prospect of an unnecessary and destructive new road ripping through our environment and communities. The Government needs to listen and cancel the Ox-Cam Expressway once and for all. The East-West Railway is being built and is the best low-carbon solution connecting the two University cities, and the communities in between. There is no longer any justification for the Ox-Cam Expressway, which should be scrapped now.’
NEG Woburn Sands spokesperson Alex Poppleton said ‘the established town of Woburn Sands and surrounding villages in South Milton Keynes are threatened directly by plans to cut through houses and thriving communities with a new road. These plans have been kept under wraps for two years without involving local people and without consideration of the devastation that this “community severance” could have. RIS2 might pause the scheme, but it also says congestion around centres such as Milton Keynes must be alleviated. What does that mean for “community severance”? The Government needs to cancel these catastrophic plans now.’
Ends
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NOTES TO THE EDITOR
The Oxford to Cambridge Expressway scheme is based on the idea of opening-up the countryside for development, including an aspirational target of one million new houses by 2050. The National Infrastructure Commission’s 5th Studio Report shows a split by both region and type of housing across the Arc. The target includes ‘unlocked’ homes enabled by the Expressway, London commuter homes and those in Local Authority plans. We agree more housing is needed, but not increases in housing stock for Oxfordshire >100% by 2050, affected parts of Buckinghamshire by 66%, of Northamptonshire by 74% and of Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Huntingdonshire by 81%. These growth rates are vastly greater than the Office of National Statistics predicted average 16% population increase in England by 2050. The impact of this on our environment, pollution and infrastructure, should not be underestimated! All those homes need infrastructure: schools, clinics, hospitals, water and electricity supplies, waste and sewage disposal etc. For example, one form entry primary school is required for every 800 new houses. That’s 1,250 such schools across the Arc for those one million new houses by 2050. Developers make only minimal contributions to the real cost of infrastructure, which is ultimately borne by the Government, i.e. ultimately by tax- and rate-payers.
England has destroyed 97% of its wildflower meadows since the 1930s and more ancient woodlands in the forty years after WWII than in the previous 400 years. How much more destruction can our environment take without catastrophic declines in our life support systems?
The impact of “community severance” of roads through existing communities under threat has been a huge omission in the analysis by Highways England (HE) of the Ox-Cam Expressway. HE identified that any route in the preferred corridor in the Woburn Sands area “would likely result in significant adverse effects caused by community severance and loss of amenity for local communities.” Its own assessment criteria recognises that ‘severance’ is in the most significant category of constraint that has an impact on decision making, while admitting the guidance behind the criteria, from 1993, is “somewhat dated”. HE should update its approach to calculating the impact of “community severance” to include up-to-date, best-practise research such as that conducted by University College London.
About:
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 Cambridge. We have not found a single community in favour of the Arc proposals.
The NO EXPRESSWAY GROUP believes that there is NO need for an Oxford-Cambridge Expressway, nor the excessive housing targets associated with it, and we will actively campaign against it and support the many other organisations with the same objectives.
Our environment is a national asset which should be protected for all us, our health and well-being. This is a national and not just a local issue and we will continue to strive to educate people about the threats to our countryside posed by the planned Expressway and its associated housing and development. We will fight to protect our countryside and its wildlife for the health and enjoyment of all future generations.