Serious Concerns for Wildlife Trust

The Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) have issued a statement following the recent Department for Transport announcement about the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway and associated ‘Growth Corridor’.

The Department for Transport has selected ‘Corridor B’ that extends from South Oxford and in a north easterly direction, which will be used to accommodate the Oxford-Cambridge Expressway and associated housing development. In BBOWT’s opinion this is the worst of the three options that were under consideration. The Department for Transport has yet to decide whether the expressway would pass west or east of Oxford City.

Estelle Bailey, Chief Executive BBOWT, said, “In our opinion Corridor B is the worst of the three options. We told Highways England that the potential impact on biodiversity of Corridor B is so serious that the route should have been discounted entirely. The only way to avoid exceptionally serious impacts on biodiversity would be to develop a road route that is so convoluted that it would fail to qualify as an expressway.

“Our most serious concerns are for the designated sites and nature reserves in Cothill Fen, Oxford Meadows, the Otmoor Basin, Upper Ray Valley and Bernwood Forest.”

Please click on the link to read and download the full press release.