Relief road delay fear as fresh objections surface

A MAN from Watlington wants answers as to why a proposed relief road has been delayed.

Steve Bolingbroke has submitted a Freedom of Information request to Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority.

The £19.3 million bypass was due to be discussed by the county council at a planning meeting in September but was delayed after the Environment Agency, among others, lodged fresh objections.

The relief road would provide an alternative route and direct access to the B4009, on either side of the town, without the need to travel through the centre of it.

It is designed to reduce congestion, noise and air pollution as well as connect existing and planned housing developments around the northern and western sides of the town.

Mr Bolingbroke claims that the county council has failed to give a satisfactory explanation as to why the Environment Agency has objected. The planning team behind the relief road consulted with stakeholders for a third time in the summer.

The Environment Agency objected to the proposals saying the scheme poses a flood risk, highlighting that a proposed bridge over Chalgrove Brook and culvert under the raised road to connect the floodplain with the river could become blocked with debris.

It wants a maintenance plan created “to ensure the bridges remain open for the lifetime of the development”.

In its response, South Oxfordshire District Council also raised concerns around flood risk and highlighted discrepancies between proposals in the flood risk assessment and the landscape plans it was sent to review.

The council, which said it supports the “principle” of the relief road, said the flood risk proposals and landscape plans were, in some areas, “completely different”.

The council said these conflicts should be resolved without detriment to the landscape proposals. Mr Bolingbroke, who is also a member of the parish council, fears construction of the relief road could be pushed back to next autumn.

He said: “It’s taken the county council months and months to sort this out. It first identified this issue in August, we’re now in October and we still don’t have a solution.

“Nobody will tell us what the delay is. It is targeting November for the next planning meeting but, given the history of the project to date, I’m concerned it won’t hit November, and the project may be delayed until September next year.”

Mr Bolingbroke described the situation as a “nightmare”, adding that recent gas works demonstrated the need for the relief road when they caused traffic chaos through the town. In the summer, Shirburn Street was closed for more than two months, causing the town to become gridlocked, as heavy goods vehicles navigated the narrow streets.

Ben Higgins, who represents the town on the county council, said: “I share the frustrations of the parish council and people of Watlington at the delay.

“The relief road is the number one issue that comes up on the doorstep, as well as at the drop-in sessions that I hold monthly with the parish council.

“I will continue to push for progress with this essential scheme. I want to see it approved and built as soon as possible.”

A spokeswoman for the county council said the Freedom of Information request will be responded to within the requisite timescales, while the project team and council officers will continue work to ensure the scheme can be taken to the planning committee as soon as practicable.