THE leader of Oxfordshire County Council has declared unwavering support for the councillor in charge of low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) and the backlash they have created.

Councillor Tim Bearder (Lib Dem, Wheatley), the county’s cabinet member for highway management, has been at the eye of a storm over the rollout of LTNs in Oxford. 

The measures enable the use of giant plant pots and bollards to close off side roads to through traffic, limiting the volume and speed of motorised vehicles.

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Cllr Bearder was criticised for a social media post relating to LTNs ahead of taking a decision over whether to make the temporary changes permanent in February.

As a result, it was decided that call should be taken collectively by the council’s cabinet – the ruling group of councillors – and it emerged at this week’s meeting of full council that four complaints had been received about Cllr Bearder. 

Councillor Eddie Reeves (Con, Banbury Calthorpe), the leader of the opposition who had requested the information, asked: “Four complaints, one cabinet member, less than one year. How many complaints is too many?”

County leader Councillor Liz Leffman (Lib Dem, Charlbury & Wychwood) said the complaints had all been “about the same thing from four different people”, stating her belief that “there will be no more because the matter has been put to rest” by Cllr Bearder apologising. 

When contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Leffman confirmed the complaints related to a social media post on LTNs made by Cllr Bearder, that the complaints process had finished and that no further action would be taken.

She also stated there is “no plan” to alter the LTNs currently in place. 

“Councillor Bearder has done an excellent job as portfolio holder for highways management,” said Cllr Leffman. 

“The LTNs are a topic of great interest. We continue to get lots of correspondence and we take those comments very seriously but our plan is to ensure that we turn Oxfordshire into a green travel county and that is what we are aiming to do. We will continue with that strategy.

“It is a very divisive subject and change is always difficult. There will always be people who will not be not satisfied with the decisions taken but it is incredibly important that we change the way traffic goes through the city and this is part of that process.”

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