At the end of November we were relieved to hear from Highways England that Dorchester no longer lies within one of the two possible corridors currently proposed by Highways England for the massive Oxford Cambridge Expressway development. In fact, the most southerly of the two corridor options put forward in the latest plan would be near the Golden Balls roundabout at Nuneham Courtney at the closest point to Dorchester.
However, before we relax and assume that this threat is no longer a cause for concern we ought to be mindful that these are early days and much could change. Our experience with PAGE, the on-going campaign set up to prevent large-scale gravel extraction around our village and neighbouring areas, shows that decisions on this scale often take a lot longer to conclude than anticipated.
Revised Expressway plans have to be expected as everyone else will be raising objections and oppositions to any route close to where they live and these might radically change everything.
So it was agreed to continue our support, operationally and financially, for the Expressway Action Group’s initiatives to safeguard the environment and countryside around us. We will remain closely engaged in this fight to prevent a multi-lane highway being built next to us and will keep Dorchester residents informed as things develop.
Chris Hill
