Council resolved to:

Reject the following motion:

Council notes:  

• The cost of the Oxpens bridge has substantially increased since its original approval, and is running considerably behind other Growth Deal projects.  

• That government has the option to repurpose the money for use in other active travel schemes and entrust the County Council to manage this. 

• Government can and does vary the rules of the Deal from time to time. Thus far, government has rightly prioritised the spirit and objectives of the Deal above the letter of the agreement.  

• Doubt remains that the Oxpens bridge will be able to provide a dry route to Osney Island and thereby unlock housing, due to the low-lying railway underpass in-between. 

• The Growth Board (now Future Oxfordshire Partnership) was strongly urged against pursuing the Oxpens bridge project to begin with.  

• £8.8 million of the funding for the proposed Oxpens Bridge came from the Government Growth Deal via Oxfordshire County Council and £1.5 million of the funding came from Homes England. 

• These 2 funds should be spent on unlocking affordable homes, which this bridge does not do. 

Council therefore believes it would be sensible to examine alternatives, and open a conversation with the County and/or the Ministry on options that deliver greater benefits for the residents of Oxford.  

Council therefore resolves  

• to ask the Leader to write to the relevant Minister, in full consultation with the accountable body for the Growth Deal funds, requesting that in the event of the bridge not going ahead:  

• That the Growth Deal by varied as necessary to permit the funds to be used for other specified purposes in Oxford;  

• That other options be explored to better employ the funds, including but not limited to:  

• Resurrecting the substantive scheme for Woodstock Road improvements to mitigate the effect of housing development to the north;  

• Revisiting the pedestrian bridge across the A40 at Barton Park which was dropped at planning stage, resulting in very real and significant safety concerns for residents;  

• Resurrecting the long-discussed plan for a foot/cycle bridge across the Thames at Jackdaw Lane, providing a safe and convenient alternative to the challenging Plain roundabout for residents of south and east Oxford.  

Council notes that each of these schemes has been worked up in detail, and are thus available to re-visit, making any one of them attractive to a government which has the best interests of Oxford’s residents at heart.