CYNICS often view council public consultation exercises as paying mere lip service to the taxpayer before the scheme is railroaded through.

That does happen of course, leaving those opposed to plans wondering what the point was in bothering to give their opinion.

But councillors are elected to make decisions and the problem with that is someone will always disagree with them.

So it will be interesting to see what now develops over Oxfordshire County Council’s plan to cancel free transport for pupils who choose not to go to their closest school.

The 600 signatures on a petition opposing the plan is not a huge number, but on Monday night there were people queuing out the door at Kennington Village Centre for a meeting on the proposals, so there is a groundswell of negative opinion building on this.

The county must undoubtedly cut costs, but this scheme will “only” deliver £340,000 in savings. It is not a huge in the grand scheme of things.

Melinda Tilley, the councillor overseeing the plan, was heavily criticised by those in Kennington for not turning up to the meeting. Many have subsequently called for her to resign.

To be fair, she did say she had prior commitments and two senior county council officers were there to face the wrath of the villagers.

She may not have been there, but there can be little doubt the mood of the meeting will have been conveyed to her.

This public consultation is going to get a lot rougher.

We suggest councillors fasten their seat belts. It’s going to be a very bumpy ride.