OXFORDSHIRE County Council will be asked to “regret” the loss of £10m over the failed Cogges Link Road scheme in Witney.
Labour councillor John Tanner has put a motion to the Conservative-led authority to vote on at the full council meeting today.
The motion says: “This council regrets the £10m of public money lost on the failed Cogges Link, the collapse of the recycling centre strategy, the failure to tackle delays in hospital to home transfer and the continued under-performance of too many Oxfordshire schools. “We urge the cabinet, within existing budgets, to provide youth workers for every area of the county, to provide accessible transport for elderly and disabled people, to safeguard Oxfordshire’s children’s centres and to pay at least the living wage to all county council staff and contracted employees.”
The Cogges Link Road aimed to reduce congestion and air pollution in Witney, but a Government inspector refused to allow the compulsory purchase of land needed. Funding received over 20 years to build the road had a time limit to be spent in January or be returned to various developers. The council had hoped to renegotiate use of the cash. It will discuss the motion at County Hall from 10am.
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