NIC Annual Monitoring Report 2020, Feb 26
National Infrastructure Commission reports “2020 must be year of action following “decidedly mixed” progress on infrastructure priorities”
The National Infrastructure Commission ‘s (NIC) Annual Monitoring Report includes references to plans for the Ox-Cam Arc and Expressway.
The report says “Recent announcements on infrastructure spending must be set within a proper long term strategy in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and to meet the challenge of climate change, according to the National Infrastructure Commission’s annual report on government progress towards key infrastructure objectives.
“The report notes a surge in recent announcements relating to infrastructure programmes, including approval for High Speed 2 and a decision on the preferred route for the central section of East West Rail between Bedford and Cambridge. However, the report argues, such announcements are seeking to catch up with delays on a range of projects and do not in themselves represent a comprehensive strategy to face the UK’s future infrastructure challenges.
“Writing in the foreword of the Commission’s Annual Monitoring Report 2020, Sir John Armitt, Chair of the Commission, welcomes recent spending commitments, while noting “money alone can’t make up for months of lost time on some programmes, and government now needs to set these funding pledges within a cohesive long term plan.”
“The annual monitoring report is designed to keep track of government progress towards implementing Commission recommendations, where ministers have previously indicated they accept the conclusion of Commission studies and reports.
“The Commission’s report highlights:
Rates of house building in the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford arc continue to be well beneath target, with no clear plan to increase the delivery of new homes to maximise the area’s economic potential. While the recent decision on the new Bedford to Cambridge rail route is welcome, clarity is still required on the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway in particular”
So the NIC are still pushing for significant housing growth and delivery of the Ox-Cam Expressway. The NIC were the organisation that initially identified the aspirational target of one million houses for the Ox-Cam Arc.
Bidwells, a land and property management company have said this on LinkedIn (image) It focuses on property and house building on a very large scale, but does not mention the Expressway. Even if the Ox-Cam Expressway is cancelled, there is a huge fight to be had over the scale of housing targeted and being pushed for across the Arc.
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
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£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
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£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.