GRASSROOTS campaigners criticised a new £31m environmental investment plan for Oxfordshire on the day of its launch for “freezing them out”.

Environmental groups accused the manifesto of being a “vehicle for funding local government positions” and giving no money to volunteers already hard at work.

Oxfordshire Woodland Group trustee Ken Hume was one of those who attacked the Strategic Environmental and Economic Plan at its launch on Wednesday.

He said: “We felt frozen out of the process until the last minute.

“My impression was that this a is a vehicle for raising money to fund local government positions.

“It didn’t seem much of the proposal is about getting money to those who actually do things.

“I think you need to get a reality check on some of this stuff.”

The plan, which creators say could double Oxfordshire’s environmental economy by 2030, lists 34 green projects to seek a total of £31m government investment.

It has been created by the county’s Local Enterprise Partnership – a group of 17 business owners and council leaders.

The proposed projects include a £750,000 Oxfordshire County Council scheme to grow trees for wood fuel and flowers for pollinator insects on county road verges and a £1.1m new Cherwell Country Park covering a swathe of land north of Banbury.

The launch was held at the offices of Little Wittenham based environmental charity The Earth Trust, which is bidding for £6.5m in the plan to create an environment teaching centre. Trust chief executive Jayne Manley said the plan was trying to create “stunning places” in the county and make money from the environment to help save it.

Local Enterprise Partnership members told the launch event putting all the schemes in one prospectus would improve the business case for securing government investment.

South Oxfordshire Sustainability chairman John Gordon accused the partnership of working in a “top-down” method and not communicating with grassroots low carbon groups and campaigners.

Helen Pearce, director of LDA Design, the consultants on the plan, said her team had talked to “about” 40 organisations to come up with the 34 projects proposed, adding: “We weren’t able to talk to everyone.”

Oxfordshire County Council economic development strategy officer Dawn Pettis, who led the project on behalf of LEP, tried to reassure groups that the launch event was the first step in a long process, She added that the partnership hoped to include more groups down the line.