More than 1,000 people have signed a petition against a "concrete monstrosity" bridge on the edge of Oxford with opponents saying they will march later this month to show the signatures to decision-makers.
Committee members at an Oxford City Council planning meeting in March gave the green light to the Oxpens River Bridge which will link Osney Mead to Oxpens, the site of a new Oxford quarter.
Some questioned the need for an additional £10million bridge at the Grandpont Nature Reserve when there was already one "two minutes away" and suggested it would "trash" the local habitat.
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A planning appeal meeting in April saw councillor Amar Latif describe the bridge as a "concrete monstrosity" as the previously refused plans passed by one vote.
Now, objectors will march to County Hall next Tuesday (June 18) to deliver a 1,000-strong petition demanding Oxfordshire County Council withdraw its support for the city council project.
A spokesman for the Friends of Grandpont Nature Park group said: "It (the bridge) eventually passed by just one vote (five to four) after Chris Smowton was brought in at the last minute to replace Liberal Democrat committee member Roz Smith.
"The collaboration agreement between the two authorities (city and county councils), signed in 2020, states that the county council may withdraw its support and require the funds to be repaid if the city council 'undertakes activities that are likely to bring the reputation or name of the county council into disrepute' or 'makes any representation … that is incorrect, incomplete, untrue or misleading'."
Objector Dan Glazebrook added: "This is money that is supposed to facilitate affordable housing.
"To use it effectively as a subsidy to the university, to augment their planned new commercial developments at Osney Mead and Oxpens, is a total abuse of public funds."
Ward councillor Anna Railton has suggested Mr Glazebrook's comment is inaccurate saying this "chunk of growth deal funding" is now about enabling social housing and enabling economic growth, not about the direct delivery of social housing.
Dr Smowton has said the claim his vote related to his marriage is "complete nonsense".
He added: "I set out my full reasoning before the planning review committee, the video of which is available online, but the objectors simply did not bring any material planning reasons that were in my view sufficient to refuse permission.
"At the meeting, councillors opposed eventually proposed to reject the bridge using a rule intended to prevent unsuitable development in an area that may flood.
"That reason is so weak - it's a bridge over a river, it inherently must traverse floodplain and indeed the river itself - that I saw no reasonable alternative but to vote to grant permission.
"There are reasonable objections to the council's plans here - considering the cost of the new bridge, personally I would like to see improvements to the gasworks rail bridge pursued, or at least see more detail about why the council thinks it is unsuitable - but these are political arguments, not planning reasons."
Speaking out in response to the concerns, Labour city councillor Anna Railton, who represents the Hinksey Park ward, said: "Oxpens bridge has passed through two committees made up of democratically elected members.
"Both times members failed to find a valid planning reason for refusal.
"I have consistently and openly backed this scheme as walking and cycling infrastructure that enables much needed housing and brings the paths in Grandpont Nature Reserve up to current standards before lots more people start to use it.
"It uses funding that will very likely otherwise be spent on a road project elsewhere in the county.
"As ward member I have spoken to and emailed a few hundred people about this and it is fair to say opinion is split.
"I’ve always tried to be open and honest about my support for this bridge and the reasons for that (rather than a more comfortable fence-sitting position in a local election campaign).
"I welcome the engagement with the democratic process with this petition and the various other campaigns around the bridge and have tried to be as helpful as possible answering questions about it and the process.
"Without specific details of supposed wrongdoing by the city council it is impossible to comment on that."
The petition can be found on Change.org by searching Grandpont Nature Park.
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