More than 1,000 oppose link road (From The Oxford Times)

More than 1,000 oppose link road

10:56pm Monday 3rd November 2008 in

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Campaigners are claiming bumper public support against the building of Witney’s £15m Cogges link road.

In a public consultation over the scheme, West Oxfordshire Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said more than 1,000 Witney residents have so far recorded their objections, with only four showing support.

David Condon, CPRE spokesman, said: “I got the figures from the county council’s planning department in the middle of last week. It is the latest they have and it obviously shows the way people are thinking.”

Oxfordshire County Council is carrying out consultation on the scheme until November 28. It backs the link road which has been on the drawing board for nearly 20 years.

Council spokesman Paul Smith said they would not officially discuss the figures: “We would not release them while consultation is going on because it might influence the way people respond.”

The CPRE’s claim is the latest move in a battle for public support. They brought out thousands of leaflets to persuade residents to back their scheme for a four-way junction on the A40 Witney bypass at Shores Green.

In reply, Witney Town Council last week started a similar campaign urging people to back the Cogges link. Both sides are disputing facts and figures used in the leaflets.

Mr Condon added: “This is the biggest issue the town has had for years. But we have to keep the pressure on. We might be winning the campaign, but I am not yet convinced we will win the war.”

The county council is expected to decide on the link road in January.

If it decides in favour, that will not be the end of the story. Local landowner James Mawle, of the Mawle Trustees, has vowed he will resist compulsory purchase of land needed for the line of the road.

That would force a public inquiry which, at the least, would delay the road’s construction. If the inquiry upheld the Mawle Trustees objection, the council would have to decide what further action to take.