Oxfordshire council spends £10k on 20mph colouring packs

Oxfordshire County Council has rolled out colouring and activity packs to thousands of pupils aged between five and 11 to highlight its 20mph transformation programme.

But critics have questioned why £9,944 has been spent to promote a scheme that is strongly opposed by some councillors and residents.

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They claimed the money should have been invested into special educational needs services or road maintenance instead.

The council insisted its school campaign had “proved popular” and that it was intended to “change mindsets” about speed limits.

Many towns and villages have adopted the 20mph speed limits as part of the council scheme (Image: Newsquest)

The school packs are promoting a scheme launched in 2022 which has seen many towns and villages adopt 20mph speed limits in a bid to improve road safety.

As part of the activities, pupils are asked to find words such as “safe” and “calm” in a word search and solve maths problems about children walking to school.

A ‘spot the difference’ sheet compares two images – one of a 20mph road with a happy cyclist in bright sunshine, and a 30mph version with a cloudy sky and no cyclist, only cars.

But the activity sheets appear to ignore some of the concerns raised about the scheme, with some bus companies and taxi drivers worried about delayed journeys.

Liam Walker, who is shadow highways chief on the county council, said the authority should not be promoting its “pet project” to schoolchildren.

Councillor Liam Walker said the council should not promote the 20mph scheme in schools (Image: n/a)

The Conservative councillor for Hanborough and Minster Lovell said: “What a complete waste of taxpayers’ money that could have been spent on special educational needs, fixing potholes, or building a rocket to send this coalition of chaos to the planet they belong on.”

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But his opposite number Andrew Gant, the cabinet member for highways who has overseen the 20mph project, defended the school campaign.

"Engaging with children can often be an effective way of reaching parents on issues of health, safety and amenity," the Liberal Democrat councillor for Wolvercote and Summertown said.

A council spokesman added: “Road safety education and training is one of the strands of our Vision Zero commitment – our ambition to eliminate deaths and serious injuries from road traffic accidents in Oxfordshire by 2050.

“These activity packs are a way of engaging with thousands of primary schoolchildren around the county on the issues of road safety, including the introduction of 20mph speed limits in areas where communities have requested it, and the promotion of active travel.

“The campaign has proved popular so far and includes a competition to design posters which will be displayed in their local areas to promote the benefits of 20mph areas – especially for children.”