THERE is a ‘democratic deficit’ in decision making about housing, new roads, and railways in Oxfordshire, according to a group of experts.

A report published by the pressure group POETS (Planning Oxfordshire’s Environment and Transport Sustainably) suggests the groups which are guiding ambitious projects including the East-West Rail link, the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway, and preparations to double the population of the county by 2050 are not accountable enough and are often confusing.

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The experts raised concerns about six groups involved in the plans, which include government agencies, and umbrella organisations involving members of Oxfordshire’s local councils.

These organisations include: the National Infrastructure Commission, which is promoting growth in the Oxford to Cambridge arc; Highways England, promoting the expressway; England’s Economic Heartland, which overlaps with the arc; the Oxfordshire Local Economic Partnership (LEP), which involves councils and businesses; the Oxfordshire Growth Board, which involves the leaders of the county and five district councils; and Homes England, which advocates major housing growth.

Chris Cousins, an author of the report, said POETS was concerned that ‘ordinary people feel increasingly disenfranchised from the planning process. ‘

Mr Cousins said: “Anyone who is concerned about climate change, for example, will find little to reassure them that these unelected bodies are proposing substantive action to address it.

“Despite professing support for local decision-making, central government has reduced both the power and the resources available to directly elected local authorities.”

He added: “The creeping growth of unelected organisations is unhealthy for our democracy.

“We need government at all levels to give priority to tackling the climate emergency.

“This should involve empowering directly elected local authorities, and enabling us as citizens both to contribute and to hold our elected representatives to account.”

But the report’s findings were contested by Ian Hudspeth, the leader of Oxfordshire County Council, who sits on the county’s growth board.

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Ian Hudspeth

Mr Hudspeth said all of the government bodies mentioned in the POETS report had no direct decision making powers, and were instead there to provide advice to the people who did.

He added that the growth board and LEP were democratically accountable, because elected councillors, including himself, were members of both organisations and held sway over their discussions.

Mr Hudspeth said powers over planning still lay with district councils and Oxford City Council, but the umbrella groups like England's Economic Heartland were a way of making sure plans in Oxfordshire did not have negative impact across its borders in neighbouring counties.

But the POETS group said the involvement of local councillors was not very effective.

The report also pointed out the ‘lack of clarity’ about how the different organisations were involved in Oxfordshire’s future, and said their roles were often difficult for people to grasp.

The group warned there was a risk that residents might start to feel powerless in the face of major planning decisions made with the involvement of government agencies they did not understand.

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It also warned that the growth agenda being promoted for Oxfordshire would be damaging to the local environment if it was allowed to continue without more democratic involvement.

POETS suggested local and national government needed to take the climate crisis seriously in its growth plans, and to make sure that councillors were closely involved in the plans for the county.

The POETS report had four authors.

They were: Chris Cousins, a former head of sustainable development at Oxfordshire County Council; Gordon Stokes, a research associate at Transport Studies Unit, University of Oxford; Elizabeth Wilson, a lecturer in environmental planning at Oxford Brookes University; and David Young, former director of environmental services at Oxfordshire County Council.