Sir – The blocking of the costly Cogges Link bypass in Witney is excellent news for Witney campaigners. It should free-up millions of pounds for urgent traffic schemes across Oxfordshire.
But it is a disaster for councillor Ian Hudspeth, the new leader of the Tory–run county council.
If Labour wins a majority in next year’s county council elections, we will implement the much cheaper Shores Green alternative, using the A40 dual carriageway. We will also introduce sensible bus, cycle and pedestrian priority in Witney. That is what the Conservatives on Oxfordshire County Council should have done all along.
The Tories bang on about value for money. But when it came to Cogges link they were very happy to waste over £20m on an environmentally damaging while elephant, which would not solve Witney’s traffic congestion. The support of local MP, David Cameron, for this ludicrous scheme is simply embarrassing.
Councillor Hudspeth should apologise to the council taxpayers of Oxford for wasting over £4m of our money on engineering plans and legal costs. The Tories should now tackle Witney congestion without delay. But of course we know incompetence and dithering are much more likely.
John Tanner, Labour county spokesman for growth and infrastructure
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