We need people to make this campaign work. Here’s a few ways on which you can help. G
Ask your County Councillor to say no the the Expressway!
On Tuesday 2nd April, Oxfordshire County Council will vote on a motion to oppose the Oxford- Cambridge Expressway. This new road is being forced through without local consultation or environmental assessments, will devastate our countryside, increase air pollution, fuel climate change and will not solve the transport problems facing the region.
ACT NOW
Please contact your county councillor and ask him or her to say no to the Expressway. We know this will have an impact – thanks to hundreds of people who wrote to their councillors Oxford City Council passed a motion opposing the Expressway in Date.
To make it easy a draft email is given below which you can copy, paste and edit and send.
To find out who your councillor is and to send an email direct to them go to – https://www.writetothem.com
It is far from certain the motion will be passed. Councillors need to hear how important this is to their constituents so please write to them today!
Draft letter to councillors to copy, paste, edit and send
Dear councillor
I am writing to you to urge you to support a motion opposing the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway on Tuesday 2 April 2019.
Many people across Oxfordshire are opposed to this plan, including Oxford City Council, which recently voted against the Expressway. The new road would also undermine the County Councils own Local Transport Plan stresses the need for “a significant shift away from dependence on private cars, towards walking, cycling, and using public transport.”
There are many reasons why the Expressway is a bad idea:
- The Expressway is presented as providing a solution to transport problems across the county including congestion on the A34. But for over 30 years of research shows that new roads create more traffic. Extra traffic will result in even more congestion, worse air pollution and slower journeys in neighbouring towns and cities such as Oxford.
- The Expressway’s development arc will see the construction of up to one million new homes. Yet car dependent commuter settlements strung out along a road will do nothing to meet the regions need for genuinely low-cost housing that are near schools, doctors, shops and jobs. Furthermore, the projected growth figures used to justify building the government’s one million homes target are now widely questioned.
- The Expressway will also lead to a significant increase in air pollution with proven impacts on public health. New developments such as widespread use of electric vehicles are unlikely to have a significant impact until well after the Expressway is built.
- The Expressway will irreversibly damage Oxfordshire’s countryside. The RSPB and the Council for the Protection of Rural England have highlighted that many vitally important wildlife sites could be destroyed including ancient woodlands, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
- The Expressway will fuel climate change. We need a low-carbon transport system that is fit for the 21st century, not one stuck in the 20th. The United Nations has warned that we have just 12 years to act on climate change and the UK government has committed to developing a carbon neutral economy by the middle of the century. This won’t be possible if we keep building new roads.
- The Expressway is a waste of money. The £4 billion or more that would be spent on this project would generate far better returns if spent on affordable and social housing where its needed, local infrastructure, local jobs, and better bus and rail systems.
There are alternatives. The construction of an electrified ‘East-West’ Oxford – Cambridge rail link, along with associated feeder bus links, park and rides, and cycle routes is a smarter, cheaper and more sustainable way to solve the regions connectivity problems and ensure the continued development of the technological hubs of Oxford and Cambridge. Smarter traffic management could also reduce congestion. Once these things have been done then and only then should we consider whether new roads are needed.
I urge you to vote in support of this motion. This is not a done deal. With your support there is still time to stop it – proposed road schemes have been cancelled many times
Best wishes
- Get an organisation that you are involved with to support us. There are lots of people and groups out there who don’t want this monstrosity wrecking our communities and our countryside. If your group is onside already then sign up and support us. Download our membership form, fill it in and email it back – see the form for details.
- Organise a discussion about the Expressway and get people to support us.
If there’s a group of people you meet with regularly try and set up a discussion. It could be a parish council or an environmental group, but it could be a book club, a walking group, a faith-based organisation, or your Saturday morning sports group. Everyone needs to make their voice heard on this. Email us at info@noexpresswayalliance.org and we’ll send you a sheet of ideas on how to organise a discussion. - Organise an open meeting.
This might sound a bit scary, but we can help. If you are able to set up a meeting we can supply a speaker and publicity materials – we can pay to book a room if need be too. Get in touch and we’ll call you to talk about it. - Offer us your help!
We need people: people to spread the word, to help us get organised, to help develop this website (we need you, web people), to boost our social media, to lobby councillors and so much more.
If you want to help stop the Expressway, we want to hear from you! Contact us: stevedawe@gn.apc.org