Infrastructure Strategy (OxIS)
The Oxfordshire Infrastructure Strategy (OxIS) was an Oxfordshire Growth Board-commissioned project (now known as the Future Oxfordshire Partnership) involving the county's six local authorities and OxLEP, with the purpose of prioritising our infrastructure requirements to 2040 and beyond.
The OxIS Strategy directly influenced the £215million growth deal for Oxfordshire announced by the Chancellor Philip Hammond in November 2017's budget.
It provided Oxfordshire with a common platform to:
- Set out the core projects and investment required to ensure Oxfordshire can continue to grow sustainably and successfully
- Strengthen our justification and evidence for securing funding
- Promote the Oxfordshire ‘brand’ within the England’s Economic Heartland (EEH)
- Develop the attractiveness of Oxfordshire as a business investment location
- Facilitate informed dialogue with communities, developers and key stakeholders on the growth planned and the challenges and opportunities this brings
- Deliver sustainable development of Oxfordshire, for both housing and employment, by identifying the infrastructure requirements to support it
Major investment projects outlined through the OxIS strategy included:
- Improvements to the A34
- Rapid bus routes linking key locations
- East-West Rail connecting Oxford to Cambridge
- A long-term strategy to address congestion on the A40
- Redevelopment of Oxford train station
- A new garden town for Didcot
- Incentives to encourage businesses to locate and expand within the Science Vale UK
The OxIS Strategy aimed to provide an agreed template for planning and directing around £9billion of mainly central government investment to support Oxfordshire’s growth to 2040 and beyond.
