Green MEP calls on EU to investigate potentially illegal plans for Oxford-Cambridge expressway

A Green politician has called for the EU to intervene in a controversial project to build a major new road between Oxford and Cambridge.

Keith Taylor, Green MEP for South East England, said the lack of public consultation so far may contravene environmental laws.

In a letter addressed to Violeta Bulc, the European Commission’s transport commissioner, Mr Taylor highlighted the significant impact such a development would have on local people, and said the government had worked on the project “behind closed doors”.

"The way this decision has been handled, without any meaningful consultation with the local communities directly impacted by it, appears to be in direct contravention of the UK's international legal obligations under the Aarhus Convention,” Mr Taylor told The Independent.

“I have written to the European Commission calling for an investigation into the legality of the project."

While plans for a public consultation were laid out after the announcement of the preferred route in September, Mr Taylor wrote in his letter that “the actual notion of the road and the question of its necessity has not been presented to the public”.

The letter comes after the Campaign to Protect Rural England claimed that the million homes proposed as part of the project would require a massive area of countryside to be converted.

Local activists are concerned that the proposed £5.5bn project would also lead to a surge in carbon emissions and air pollution across the region, and have questioned whether it is necessary.

However, the government has stated that the “brain belt” linking the two major university cities would provide a massive economic boost for the region.

They have also emphasised the importance of the accompanying construction project to make up for the massive shortfall in homes being built.

Mr Taylor, a member of the European Parliament’s transport committee, said he was not in favour of more road building and called instead for investment in local train lines.

"That the planned road will run parallel to a much-needed East-West rail link that has already been downgraded from electric to diesel just adds air pollution insult to environmental injury,” he said.

He said avoiding more carbon emissions was a particularly urgent priority considering the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report laying out the thresholds required to avoid dangerous global warming.

In response, a Department for Transport spokesperson said: "The Oxford to Cambridge Expressway will enhance transport connectivity and growth across the region and for the benefit of the UK as a whole.

"We have been engaging with community groups about developing ideas for a road in this area since 2016, and we expect to consult on specific proposals, developed with the help of local communities, next year."