Permission has been granted to dig up sections of Botley Road after three years of disruption caused by railway bridge work near Oxford Station.
Road stretches extending from Botley Bridge to West Oxford Primary School along Ferry Hinksey Road may be excavated following Oxford City Council’s endorsement of plans for subterranean cable installation on April 27.
The cables would power the Red House Solar Farm situated in the Vale of White Horse, provided it secures approval through a national planning appeal after the district council’s refusal in November 2025.
This decision comes despite opposition, including calls from one local for alternative corridors due to impacts on residents.
Cumnor Parish Council observed that the scale, duration and extent of the proposed cable installation works along the B4044, West Way, Botley Road and Ferry Hinksey Road would generate substantial and prolonged disruption to vehicle movement, public transport and neighbourhood inhabitants, particularly when considered alongside recent and ongoing road projects in the vicinity.
The council added that the applicants had failed to establish that the proposed connection point, and consequently the planned route, constituted their only viable option.
The council classified the scheme as not meeting acceptable standards and also opposed the solar farm due to its location on protected green belt land.
One submission backed the initiative, with a resident welcoming infrastructure improvements and asking whether building could take place while the current Botley Road closure remains in effect.
Roughly 4km of cabling would connect the proposed solar installation with its electricity grid connection point.
The application paperwork explains that where the cable route traverses the carriageway, the stitch method will be applied wherever ground conditions allow. This technique minimises disturbance; a shaft will be excavated, a road section will be drilled horizontally to a predetermined length reaching a second shaft, a conduit will be drawn through, fused at shaft locations, shafts will be refilled and subsequently the cable will be threaded through. The method used will depend on ground conditions but the aim is to employ this wherever practicable.
Expected duration involves approximately four days to lay a 100m section of cable across farmland and around five days per 100m segment within the carriageway.
The application specifies that no road closures are intended.
A city planning officer’s report indicated that the county council and National Highways had been consulted about the scheme and raised no objection to the development.
They noted the county council acknowledged Botley Road as a key approach into Oxford, further stating that construction activity demands careful organisation to maintain pedestrian, cycling and bus priority, minimise inconvenience and guarantee works are suitably scheduled.