City council facing judicial review over greenlight for controversial footbridge

Local campaigners who oppose the construction of a new bridge for cyclists and pedestrians in the centre of Oxford have threatened the council with a judicial review challenge.

The campaign group Stop the Oxpens River Bridge have said they will be seeking a judicial review, and have claimed that Oxford City Council failed to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment it was required to undertake.

The bridge, which is a requirement of the Oxford Local Plan aimed at supporting the wider regeneration of Oxford's West End, was given planning permission in April 2024.

The local authority says the structure will serve as a "vital link" for local people, "offering quick and safe walking and cycling routes, helping to reduce congestion in and around Oxford city centre".

However, opponents say the bridge offers poor value for money and is poorly placed. They also claim that the council failed to consider other options, such as improving a nearby bridge.

The group behind the judicial review claim argue that the council failed to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), as council officers "wrongly characterised it as a stand-alone development and therefore too small to require an EIA".

In a statement on its website, the group pointed to a recent decision by the Court of Appeal in Ashchurch Rural Parish Council, R (On the Application Of) v Tewksbury Borough Council [2023] EWCA Civ 101, which found that "a development cannot be classified as stand-alone where it is "an integral part of a wider project".

"The first words uttered in support of the bridge at the original planning committee which looked at the bridge was that 'the bridge is integral to the wider plan for the West End of Oxford,'" the statement added.

"These are the words of the lead planner of the Oxpens development, Paul Comerford, and he is correct. The bridge has always been presented as integral to the wider Osney Mead and West End development, that is how it is presented in the local plan, and its funding was procured solely on that basis."

Oxford City Council has been approached for comment.

Adam Carey