ORAA asks Councillors not to agree to fund the Watlington Relief Road

Oxfordshire Roads Action Alliance (ORAA) (1) has written to all County Councillors to ask that they vote against funding for the Watlington Relief Road in the County’s proposed captial budget which is voted on by Full Council in February.

Dear County Councillor, 

I am writing to you, on behalf of members of the Oxfordshire Roads Action Alliance, to ask you and fellow county councillors to exclude the unfunded Watlington Relief Road from the Council’s 2025/26 budget. The Council’s draft budget published for consultation, proposes £11.1M is invested for the WRR as one of a number of schemes “that enhance active travel”.  This  not an active travel measure and should not be considered as such.      

The proposed scheme has attracted a string of negative press headlines and does not align with the Council’s transport strategy and targets as set out in the Local Transport and Connectivity Plan. The Council’s transport spending in 2025/26 should deliver these targets to reduce car trips and deliver a net-zero transport network, not undermine them. 

The Council has justified the road scheme to ORAA by stating “eliminating car journeys is not realistic for rural residents where there are not sustainable alternatives at present” (31st October 2024). Yet spending money on new roads will ensure there is no, or less money, to provide the alternatives and hence undermines the Council’s objectives.  

The scheme is not needed for housing planned in the area.  Developers have agreed to implement, at their cost, off-site highway improvements and traffic management that will improve journeys for many people, without the need to build the road. 

Just to emphasise how dysfunctional this suggested approach is, Watlington has the least frequent bus service of all seven-day services across South & Vale. That is where the investment is needed to give people a choice in how they travel outside Watlington.    

The full cost to build the road is unknown, exposing the council to risk. There is no Full Business Case and neither does it have planning permission. At a time when money is scarce, any money spent on roads should be spent on fixing their dire state and filling the many pot-holes. We urge councillors not to agree to fund the Watlington Relief Road in the 2025/26 budget. 

Thank you for reading this email.

Chris Church (Joint Chair)
Greg O’Broin (Joint Chair)

Oxfordshire Roads Action Alliance

1.            Oxfordshire Roads Action Alliance (ORAA) is a community alliance and campaign group to prevent unsuitable road development in Oxfordshire.