A PLAN for new slip roads on the A34 at Chilton is to go ahead after parish councillors dropped their objections.

It is hoped the £10m plan for two north-facing slip roads at the Chilton interchange will improve traffic flow, particularly at the Milton interchange.

Yet Chilton Parish Council objected to the “wasteful” £10m proposal, meaning a public inquiry would need to be held.

Half the cash would come from the Government but there were concerns this would be withdrawn if not spent in time.

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Now following discussions with county council officers the parish council has agreed to withdraw its objection.

The junction currently has two south-facing slip roads.

Work is expected to start when another £10m project is completed, for a road through the centre of the Milton interchange from the westbound A4130 onto the northbound A34 towards Oxford.

These are expected to start by the end of the year and last about 12 months.

The county council is keen to go ahead with the scheme because it will mean commuters travelling to science parks such as Harwell will be able to stay on the A34 rather than leave at Milton Interchange and use local roads.

This will also mean Milton Interchange will be less congested for people travelling to Didcot and Milton Park.

County cabinet member for transport David Nimmo Smith said: “Some officers went down and talked through with them what we will be doing in that area. We have not made any changes to the proposal.

“The fact that the objection has been withdrawn allows us to start planning the work.

“If we had the diggers ready we would do the work today but we have now got to get a contractor on board.”

The county council is keen to go ahead with the scheme because it will affect commuters travelling to science parks.

Chilton Parish Council said the scheme would be a “waste of money” and there is need for a strategic plan rather than a “sticking plaster”.

Parish council chairman Chris Broad said: “The meeting has now been held and from our perspective it went well and no further problems are anticipated with the project.”

He declined to comment further. Because the parish council is a statutory consultee for the scheme, if it had not been prepared to withdraw its objection an inquiry would have to be held.

The Highways Agency had already written to the parish council confirming that it was starting the process of launching a public inquiry.

Advice the county council had got from the Planning Inspectorate indicated the earliest an inquiry could be held would have been in early 2015.

This raised doubts over whether the county council could have spent the £5m by the deadline of March 2015.

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