Correspondence with Andrew Gant re county council's role in the Botley Road shambles 31 Abbey Road OX2 0AD julianlevay@gmail.com 14 January 2025   Dear Mr Gant “NETWORKHELL”: REPORT ON THE IMPACT OF CLOSURE OF BOTLEY ROAD ON OUR COMMUNITY As you know, the botched Network Rail...

His email is andrew.gant@oxfordshire.gov.uk.

My letter is at www.julianlevay.com/articles/cor...

Gant refused to reply.So this Liberal Democrat Council is less open & less responsive to the community than is Network Rail.The arrogance is extraordinary & I will never accept it. If you agree please email him saying you would like to know his answers to the points raised in my letter of 14 January

A month ago I wrote to Andrew Gant the county councillor responsible for transport who maintains that nothing that has gone wrong is his fault. I challenged this listing 9 separate ways in which the County Council either contributed to the project going wrong or failed to mitigate its effects.

Thanks. But, you know, anyone can join in....

@anthonybarnett.bsky.social

Hello! Julian Le Vay here. Thanks for following. How are you and Judith? My brief episode as revolutionary now seems over but it was fun, worth doing and took my mind off the absolute awfulness of everything for a while.

Just so tired of it all. Not just this project but the number of simultaneous huge development projects in Oxford, which 1) mostly don't benefit we who live here 2) are hugely disruptive 3) will add to congestion and housing shortage 4) are without exception, ugly, banal, out of scale.

Some gains. The two groups worst affected, small businesses and disabled, now have groups representing them and Network Rail are listening and there will I think be some. Already more frequent Botley Flyer service. The city and county councils still dodging all responsibility though.

Businesses will close. Jobs will go. The disabled will be imprisoned in their homes. For four years! It is utterly intolerable. The fight is only just beginning.

And asked if he would resign if the new deadline was missed, the minister Lord Hendy, till recently chair of Network Rail, said no - because somebody else might be to blame. These people don't seem to understand roadworks, or politics, or leadership.

Friday's news was awful, unbelievable. Having spent 20 months hacking just 100 yards of road, Network Rail we're going to spend another 20 months hacking at the same hundred yards of road. As in a nightmare, the same thing repeats and repeats, but nothing changes.

Venue changed to
The King's Centre, Osney Mead, Oxford, OX2 0ES

The rail minister Lord Hendy is coming on Friday to tell us that nothing about the Botley Road fiesta is his fault and in anyway everything's now fine. If you disagree, come and tell him, outside the community centre, Botley Road, on Friday at 9:30 a.m.

Transport chief slams rail company over Botley Road closure 'failure' The county councillor in charge of transport said he "shared" residents' frustration over the Botley Road closure as he slams Network Rail.

Councils response to my letter listing 9 ways they bear responsibility for the Botley Road closure; 'yeah, well, we hate N Network Rail too'. That wasn't the question, guys. www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2486516...

Network Hell Network Rail have done immense damage to the individuals and businesses of Oxford. This website intends to give those who have suffered a voice.

Thank you. The project NetworkHell.co.uk has been quite educational for me. Good and bad.

It's hilarious to see such fawning and such cynical maneuvering, reminiscent of the Potimken's famous villages. But it's also absolutely infuriating. The dangerous mess which was good enough for us for two whole years is not good enough for half an hour's visit by his lordship. They disgust me.

Network Rail is busy prettifying the Tunnel of Doom in advance of their masters visit (the minister, who is in law the sole shareholder of the company). Things that we ask for in vain for two years and our suddenly being done, leveling the surface of the walkway etc.

"It is incredibly depressing how little thought went in to what a catastrophic impact this would have on so many lives."

"Thank you so much for doing this. I ended up leaving my job (NHS) because the impact on my commute became unsustainable although I kept going for the first year. I've met another NHS worker who had to leave their post as a direct result.......

The report as prompted quite a few people to describe their experiences for the first time. I thought this one is particularly appalling:

Does your newsgathering extends to west Oxford?...www.networkhell.co.uk

Thanks....

I hardly dare ask, but what are 'adult scholastic books'? For that matter, what are ' children's scholastic books'?

Donate to Protesting the 2 year closure of Botley Road, Oxford, organized by Julian Le Vay Due to a botched Network Rail project Botley Road, the only road li… Julian Le Vay needs your support for Protesting the 2 year closure of Botley Road, Oxford

Lord Hendy the rail minister ( until July, chair of Network Rail - you couldn't make it up !!) is coming to Oxford on 25 January. Please help organise a reception! Contributions towards the cost of the report also welcome gofund.me/55a46d80

We also show how the closure has added to congestion and bus journey times across Oxford, cost the local economy £20m, and the taxpayer c £100m. Network Rail is massively incompetent, secretive, arrogant and unaccountable. Network Rail won't even say who's in charge of the project!

Network Hell Network Rail have done immense damage to the individuals and businesses of Oxford. This website intends to give those who have suffered a voice.

So we bought together our own account of how badly the closure is damaging the 25,000 people on the west side of the barricade. Available for free at www.networkhell.co.uk. graphics statements by 32 local people show how the disabled and small businesses have been particularly badly hit.

The government has been 'reviewing' the project since July but has said nothing.City and County councils do nothing. No one is helping and no one is listening.

When Network Rail sought the Council's approval for their plans to expand Oxford station, they said they would close Botley Road only for four days. (It's the only road that connects West Oxford to the city.) It's now been closed over 600 days. There is now no date for reopened at all.