Lib Dem budget - Maintaining Pavements, Cycleways and Roads Properly

4.03.28pm GMT Mon 4th Feb 2008

The alternative budget produced by the Liberal Democrats for the County Council invests significant additional money in highways. They propose an extra £1.5m for repairs to roads, pavements in cycleways in 2008/9 - considerably more than the Cabinet propose.

The Liberal Democrats have also proposed extra money for weed clearance, unlike the Conservative Cabinet.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson on transport, Cllr Bob Johnston, said, "The Tory budget is short-sighted; this year there was no budget for routine spraying of weeds and they grew enormously. In some places, it is clear that they are damaging pavements, roads and drains - all of which will need repairing now. And the same picture applies when looking at the general repair budget - the Tories are prioritising minute tax reductions over fixing the state of our roads, pavements and cyclepaths."

The Liberal Democrat budget also includes money for pedestrian safety measures (such as crossings), more towards repairing the Thames Towpath both inside and outside the City of Oxford, and additional flood alleviation measures.