Last week the chancellor of the exchequer announced that Oxfordshire would receive from Whitehall £215m towards infrastructure improvements.

This was described as a reward for its commitment to build 100,000 houses by 2031. 

Some ‘reward’! More a ‘Greek gift’. £200-odd millions of devastation of our homes, our communities and our environment.

If, when you bought a house, you were told to pay for its associated infrastructure, what percentage increase would you expect?  10% might be too low;  30% too high.  Let’s choose 20% and let’s work out whether the government offer (bribe, I call it) of £215m comes anywhere near the actual infrastructure cost.

The housing need for Oxfordshire to 2031 has been estimated (using a new Government methodology) to be in the range 50,000 homes (says CPRE) to a higher estimate of 67,000 homes.  I choose a middle figure of 60,000 homes.  And the government wants Oxfordshire to increase the 60,000 to 100,000.  That’s 40,000 extra homes.  The associated infrastructure for these extra 40,000 homes would be 20% of their cost, so would be the same as the cost of 8,000 homes.  An Oxfordshire home costs what?  I find numerous estimates on the web.  Mid range would be £350,000 per home.  So the infrastructure cost would be 8,000 x £350,000 = £2,800 million.

And that means the bribe by government of £215m falls short of the need by a massive £2,585m, an amount that one way or another will be saddled upon the people of Oxfordshire.

Senior council officials describe this as showing government having faith in the county.  Well from the government’s point of view they are getting a bargain basement price of £215m when they might have expected to pay 1100% more.

Is this a gift to Oxfordshire or a massive burden?  Or is to yet again an example of plans hatched out in the Conservative party HQ,  to be foist upon the unsuspecting people of Oxfordshire?  How will we pay the missing £2.5 billion?  Or will we be in debt for generations?

And the Council Officials are doing this in our name?  Not mine!

Dr Peter Harbour
South Avenue
Abingdon