Issued by the Ferry Hinksey Trust
12 December 2023
RESIDENTS WHOSE NEARBY PUBLIC LAND WILL BE COMPULSORILY PURCHASED FOR OXFORD’S FLOOD ALLEVIATION SCHEME NOT GIVEN PROPER NOTICE TO OBJECT!
As the deadline approaches for a decision on the compulsory purchase of public land for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme, opponents say the current methods to make the public aware of their legal right to object is “not fit for purpose”.
By law, a S19 Notice, authorises that the purchase of new rights over such land will be subject to special parliamentary procedure unless the Secretary of State gives a certificate. This notice must be served on any “qualifying person” (ie owners, lessees), and be published for two successive weeks in one or more local newspapers. It must also be fixed on, or near land covered by the Order.
Opponents to the OFAS say that due to the low circulation of local newspapers, and the fact that only a very small percentage of the electorate would physically walk past any lamp-post notices, the current process is inadequate and alienating. The timescale is also too short. and not properly publicised. They want the Environment Secretary to order the Notice period be re-started in the new year, and more diverse methods used to engage all members of the electorate, including young people who are very exercised by environmental and justice issues. Social media must be used, they claim, if all the electorate are to be engaged in democracy. There is also no requirement to ensure notices attached to lampposts or gates remain in place. Campaigners fear that the archaic and convoluted process means that land passes out of the public domain or is swapped for unsuitable exchange land without the public getting a proper say. The current deadline is now xxx. (insert)
The Ferry Hinksey Trust and the Oxford Flood Environment Group and over 5,000 people who have signed a petition to save Hinksey Meadow, have said: "We object to the proposed flood channel as the EA has failed to consider alternatives that would obviate the need for exchange land.
“They are putting an unfair burden on taxpayers, and on land use that should be used for other purposes, including environmental, or should remain in private hands. We also object to most of the choices presented because the exchange land and/or the new access rights will not offer an equivalent level of amenity to what is currently enjoyed. The exchange land does not represent a net gain to the public as it is in most cases, substituting land that is already open to the public and where there is existing access. Land cannot be exchanged for public use when it is already in public use!”
The loss of the land is absolute and leaves the public in a worse position vis a vis amenity.
The 16-page submission made reference to the weakness of the EA’s proposals regarding land at Seacourt Nature Park Jewson’s Field, Hinksey Meadow, the east side of Oatlands Recreational Ground, land adjacent to the Electric Road, Kendall Copse, land at Egrove, Kennington Pools, Grandpont Nature Park, a plot of land across the Abingdon Road, Hinksey Park and the edge of Botley Park.
The conclusion made further reference to the lack of effective democratic consultation by the EA. “The land exchanges are supposed to represent land that is equally advantageous to the public and users. Yet there is little evidence of public consultation other than random visitor surveys and not at the hours when people often take their recreation (e.g. Weekends, evenings, early mornings) so the results are lacking a strong evidence and representational base. The surveys conducted date from 2018 and are therefore pre-pandemic and 5 years out of date. We conclude there was inadequate consultation as part of the process.”
For CPOs to be legal, the EA must have considered alternatives which do not require all/as extensive an area of land to be compulsorily purchased. Campaigners to the OFAS say the EA has failed to do that. The vast majority of the CPOs are not needed, campaigners say, if the EA adopted a combination of four viable alternatives, outlined to a Public Inquiry into the £176-million Flood Alleviation Scheme, including a Twin-Pipe and Pump House proposal.
The current OFAS includes creating a 5km long ‘channel’ which would run from just north of Botley Road, to south of the A423 southern bypass near Kennington, where it would re-join the River Thames. Leading independent ecologists say the dug channel would destroy 13 acres of the rich, rare species of the irreplaceable plant community of Hinksey Meadow. An estimated 4,000 mature trees and miles of hedgerows would also be lost in the West Oxford wildlife corridor and green belt.
Objectors to the OFAS have been making representations to a Public Inquiry into the OFAS, held at The King’s Centre in Osney Mead since December 14. They are seeking to persuade the Inquiry Inspector to recommend to the Environment Secretary that he order the EA to fully consider the four alternative options to the scheme, as presented, including a full cost comparison, based on a detailed specification. It is anticipated that the Secretary of State will make a ruling mid-2024.
Objections to the CPOs must be made by 2359hrs, on December 12, via email to: PCU@levellingup.gov.uk, quoting ref. PCU/S19/U3100/3321729. Objectors to the S19 Notice will be heard by the Public Inquiry via Zoom, on January 19, 2024,
- For details of the objection to the S19 Notice, and for alternatives to the OFAS, visit www.hinkseyandosney.org
Editor’s notes
Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO): The EA made its CPO for the OFAS on 16 February 2023.
A CPO is a legal process that allows land, property and rights of access to be obtained from a landowner when there is a “compelling case that the land is needed in the public interest and can only be applied for where land or access is vital for a scheme to function”. Compulsory purchase is a legal process which allows the EA to acquire the land and rights in land needed to build the scheme without the consent of landowners.
The CPO for exchange of land designated a public space is subject to special Parliamentary procedure unless the Secretary of State for Levelling Up Housing and Communities gives a certificate in accordance with the provisions of Section 19 of the Acquisition of Land Act 1981. As part of the application for such a certificate it is required to advertise the Notice of Intention and to provide an opportunity for members of the public to make representations and objections to be made.
For information re S19 Applications, visit Acquisition of Land Act 1981 (legislation.gov.uk)
- For more information, visit Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme - Updates and CPO Information - Environment Agency - Citizen Space (environment-agency.gov.uk)