Oxford Times letters 6 November 2025
Oxford Bypass and Flood Relief — a Better Way Forward
Sir —
On 13 October Councillor Judy Roberts announced that the County Council is preparing a case to a new government structural fund to fill a £71M gap in commissioning the A423 Kennington Improvements at Oxford.
The unspoken downside is that the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme (OFAS), designed to reduce flood risk to the city, is queued behind this bypass work.
Yet there is a solution. If OFAS were to implement what it calls its own “details of scheme design”, it could release more than half of that funding gap — while disentangling the flood scheme from the bypass construction queue.
In August 2020, the Hinksey and Osney Environment Group (HOEG) offered to discuss this option at the monthly A423 coordination meetings between the County Council, OFAS and Network Rail.
That offer remains open.
Rod Chalk, HOEG
Jonathan Madden, HOEG
Sally Prime, HOEG
Chris Sugden, HOEG
Jocelyn Wogan-Browne, Oxford Flood and Environment Group
Brian Durham, New Hinksey