Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the combined impact of (1) the planned Oxford to Cambridge expressway, and (2) their ambition to build up to one million homes along the Oxford–Cambridge Arc, on the UK’s 2050 target to reduce carbon emissions by at least 80 per cent of 1990 levels; and whether this assessment is based on (a) electric, (b) petrol, or (c) diesel vehicles using the route.
Highways England is in the process of identifying potential routes within the preferred corridor for the Oxford to Cambridge expressway for a non-statutory public consultation in the autumn. This work will include an assessment of environmental impacts, including carbon emissions using the Defra forecasts for emission rates.
Conserving and enhancing the natural environment is at the heart of the growth ambitions for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc. Any housing development in the Arc will be subject to assessments as appropriate in line with legal requirements.