‘Mistake’ to set budget for relief road project

AN action group opposed to a proposed relief road says it was a “mistake” for the project to be included in the Oxfordshire County Council budget for the current financial year.

The decision on whether to approve the Watlington relief road has been delayed several times this year.

The Oxfordshire Roads Action Alliance is opposed to the proposed project which, if built, would provide an alternative route and direct access to the B4009, without the need to travel through the town centre.

Supporters say the road will cut congestion, noise and air pollution while linking existing and planned housing on the town’s northern and western edges. Opponents argue it will increase traffic and damage a rural part of the county.

It is being led by the county council’s projects team but the application has repeatedly missed deadlines for consideration by the planning committee.

A total of £11.1m was allocated towards the road in the council’s budget for 2025/26, which was announced in February. The entire project is budgeted to cost £19.3m.

An spokeswoman for the alliance told the Henley Standard she believed it was a “mistake” to include the project in the council’s firm programme budget, saying the money could have been put towards other schemes.

She said: “Given the council’s challenging financial picture, it was a mistake not to adequately assess the risk of allocating scarce 2025/26 council funds to a project that lacked a realistic timeline to spend the monies.

“More residents would already have benefited from prudent investment of scarce council funds on schemes that were certain to proceed, given funding.”

In February when the budget was announced the county council said it expected a planning decision on the scheme to be made in March.

This was later delayed due to local elections and again in June after concerns were raised that white-clawed crayfish, an endangered native species, may inhabit Chalgrove Brook, which the road would cross via a bridge.

The council had said it was anticipating a planning decision “in the summer” but missed the deadline in September after the Environment Agency, among others, lodged a fresh objection.

The Henley Standard understands the council’s projects team is now aiming to for April 2026.

A spokesman for the county council said the scheme is a “complex” infrastructure project” that requires a “robust planning application”.