Relief road saga sees new consultation delay to scheme

The route through Watlington is popular with drivers making their way to and from the nearby M40

The debate whether to build a relief road around a small market town, that first began more than 50 years ago, is continuing to rumble on - with plans currently out for another public consultation.

Oxfordshire County Council first made a planning application for the route around Watlington in 2022, with work designed to be concluded by 2025.

But the proposals have been delayed by consistent objections - on grounds ranging from requirement to footfall - raised during periods of public consultation, which in turn must be addressed by the council.

The latest consultation on the proposals runs until the middle of August, with the authority saying it "anticipates a planning decision in late Summer 2025".

But those opposed to the proposal have labelled it as "not needed".

Following the most recent delay, a spokesperson for Oxfordshire Roads Action Alliance (ORAA), said: "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," the group added.

The idea first made headlines in the 1970s

The ORAA has raised dozens of individual objections to the proposals over the past few years - including concerns that the development goes against the council's net-zero ambitions.

Suggestions including the implementation on ANPR cameras in Watlington to prevent HGV traffic, and that the council should instead spend the funds encouraging people to use greener transport have also been put forward by the group.

Some businesses in Watlington have also objected to the proposals, saying the relief road would decrease footfall in the town.

The south Oxfordshire town is less than three miles from Junction 6 of the M40, which it is connected to by the B4009 - which in turn leads-on to the much bigger towns of Benson and Wallingford, and to the busy A4074.

Currently, traffic has to pass through the centre of Watlington - which, at points, is only wide enough to allow one vehicle at a time.

The proposed relief road would provide access to the B4009 from either side of the town, and is generally popular with locals.

One resident previously told the BBC that the lack of a ring road was "killing the town", adding the current situation was "like a war zone".

Another said: "The traffic's an issue - it's a great market town, I've lived here for 20 plus years and it's got busier tenfold so something needs to be done about it."

He added that if the relief road was not built, then it would "destroy" the town.

The council says the route aims to "alleviate congestion, noise and air pollution in the town centre", whilst "enabling future housing developments, by offering more sustainable modes of transport including cycling and walking".

Although the relief road was first suggested in the 1970s, the hundreds of new homes built in Watlington in recent years has provided the authority with the funding, and motivation, to implement the scheme.