The Parish Council’s opposition and campaign against the HIF1 road is building, as the road planning process has hit more delays. Working with the Neighbouring Parish Council Joint Committee (5 parishes) and other alliances, Appleford Parish Council (APC) continues to work to influence Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) that this scheme is a costly gamble that will not solve congestion.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
- Objections to the Secretary of State by landowners, APC and others on CPOs for HIF1
- HIF1 is deferred and will not be heard by the Planning Committee on 17 April 2023.
- The Planning Officer has issued a further Regulation 25 Request letter (31 March 2023)
A second Regulation 25 Request is highly unusual and opens a further 30 day consultation on responses from the applicant (OCC Highways).
This sets the HIF1 planning application back even further and makes it unlikely that the application will be heard by June. HIF1 is fraught with risks and is under pressure.
Please read the section on objections to CPOs elsewhere on this site.
NATIONAL NEWS
The Government recently announced that it would delay several planned road schemes in the second and third national roads programmes (RIS2 and RIS3). This follows the Welsh Government’s decision in February to delay, change or scrap all their major new roads schemes, to assess their contribution to carbon emissions.
At the same time most local authorities plan to ditch or review major road projects due to rising costs. For example construction costs have risen by 25% for highways projects. According to a new survey from the County Councils Network (CCN), inflation is averaging 9%. A transport economist based in Oxford has calculated that HIF1 will require an additional £55M. The fear is OCC will lever it’s political influence to get planning permission and descope the project resulting in part delivery. Promises of mitigation will be first to go as funding for HIF1 runs out.
Keep abreast of developments and don’t allow Councillors (many from outside the immediate area) vote this damaging scheme through!
POSTER BOARDS
Hopefully you will have seen the poster boards in the locality opposing the HIF1 scheme. These have been supplied by Oxfordshire Roads Action Alliance (ORAA).
Support your Parish Council by staying engaged and help us and your community win this campaign!
Doing nothing is not an option!
PETITION
Please sign and encourage your friends to sign the HIF1 petition being run by Oxford Friends of the Earth: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-oxfordshires-road-to-ruin
