Oxfordshire Green campaigners and councillors are calling on the County Council to rethink a major road project around Didcot ahead of a key Cabinet vote on the proposals.
The cost of the “Access to Didcot” scheme, has ballooned to £296m, and is currently designed as a road corridor between the A34 Milton Interchange and the B4015 north of Clifton Hampden. Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet will vote on Tuesday (15 March) on a proposal to advance the scheme to the next stage.
Greens are calling for the Cabinet to pause the project before committing further public funds. We are also asking the County to urgently embark on the design of a sustainable, holistic long-term transport strategy for the Didcot area, engaging with recognised experts, local councils and communities and drawing on international best practice.
Cllr Robin Bennett, County Councillor for Berinsfield and Garsington Division, which includes some of the areas most affected by the scheme, said: “Didcot and the surrounding area is seeing unprecedented levels of housing growth. We recognise the pressing need for transport infrastructure to meet the demands of the local community, but in its current incarnation, this is the wrong scheme.”
“The HIF as presently designed is a series of new roads, a vast flyover, a river crossing and road dualling. This is a 20th century solution to a 21st century problem. We can see how other areas are creating transport solutions that meet the challenges of the climate crisis. It’s absurd that in an area steeped in rail history, a light rail solution apparently isn’t even being considered. Didcot, in the heart of the Science Vale, can and should become a model for the transport of the future,” Cllr Bennett added.
Greens have also expressed concerns at the apparent lack of meaningful consultation with parish, town and district councils and communities throughout the HIF1 process. The County Council has already spent £11m on the project, but the public roadshow for the scheme was cancelled due to Covid and replaced with an unsatisfactory online public consultation.
Cllr Sam Casey-Rerhaye, District Councillor for Sandford and the Wittenhams, which includes Culham, said: “In their consultation responses, South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils have both outlined ways in which the current design fails to comply with key policies in the local plans of both councils and with Didcot Garden Town policies. This scheme bears all the hallmarks of infrastructure imposed from above on the basis of outdated algorithms. A quality solution that meets the needs of local people requires real input and consultation with local councils and communities.”
Greens are calling for the County Council to embrace an alternative vision. This could include a revenue-generating Science Vale Light Rail transit system, similar to schemes currently being developed in Cambridge and the West Midlands, excellent interconnected cycleways, improved buses and an integrated fare system.