FASTER rail connections to Heathrow, new and improved railway stations and another Thames river crossing are among a list of suggested improvements in a new action plan.

The massive infrastructure boost is proposed in the Science Vale Area Action Plan which will be going out to public consultation later this month.

Planners said they want the area, bounded by Oxford in the north and the M4 in the south, to attract more business, as well as improve the quality of life for residents.

Figures from the 2011 census indicate about 2,000 people travel from Oxford to the Science Vale area every day.

Mike Murray, Vale of White Horse District Council’s portfolio holder for planning, said: “The point of the exercise is to give us a more detailed level of control over the high level of proposed development in that area.


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“It will be an adopted policy document so will carry material weight when dealing with future planning applications.

“The point of the exercise we are about to carry out is to ask stakeholders what they think.”

A Science Vale vision for 2031, contained in the report, includes rail journey times of less than an hour to Heathrow, the expansion of Didcot station for trains to Birmingham and the North, the improvement of existing stations such as Culham and the development of new stations, for example at Grove.

It also includes better bus services and cycle routes, a new Thames crossing at Culham, new schools and colleges with a concentration on science and superfast broadband and 5G coverage.

This would be paid for by a mix of public and private investment.

Didcot councillor Margaret Turner, vice-chairwoman of South Oxfordshire District Council , said: “My thoughts are that the new growth in Didcot is fine but we must look after what we’ve got.

“None of us want to live on a building site.

“The growth has to come at the right time and in the right place but we must remember Didcot is already here and already established. It’s not a blank canvas.”

Alison Andrews, development manager of independent community organisation Didcot First, said: “It’s very much the way things have been happening for several years.

“All the talk has been about Didcot forming the hub and it almost feels like the action plan is saying what is already happening.

The Vale council aims to launch a seven-week public consultation on the draft document on Friday, subject to cabinet approval.