A villager has vented his anger over 'ridiculous' and 'ideological' blanket 20mph speed limits and said they left opponents feeling 'there is nothing they can do'.

Chris Pyne railed at the measures 'which don't stand up' and questioned why Aston had been 'lumped in with Bampton' in the county council's public consultation.

He said: "Bampton is at least twice the size of our parish and has its own separate needs different to ours."

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The consultation, which was carried out in August 2022, showed the majority opposed the reduced speed limit.

From 68 replies, 31 (45 per cent) objected, 25 (37 per cent) supported it and six (9 per cent) had concerns.

The measures were approved by the county council in October 2022.

Adding to his frustration that the consultation was ignored, Mr Pyne said only 14 responses came from Aston, Cote, Chimney and Shifford with the majority from Bampton.

And he said: "The public consultation showed people from Alvescot, Bicester, Cote, Guiseley - Leeds - and Witney participated.

"Additionally only three responses indicated they would walk or cycle more, one of which included Duncan Enright who is county councillor for Witney North and East division and also cabinet member for travel and development strategy for Oxfordshire County Council."

Mr Enright wrote: “Although I don't represent the area, I know it very well as a neighbour.

"The support of the local parish councils and county councillor is of course paramount.

"However I would also support this, not least because of the safety improvements, and the opportunity for local businesses to benefit from safer access.”

Aston, Cote, Chimney, and Shifford Parish Council did question Oxford County Council why they introduced 20mph speed limits without their permission and at a meeting on April 20, voted on whether to stick with 20mph, revert to 30mph or have a hybrid of 20 and 30mph.

Chairman Russell La Forte offered a combination in eight areas but each was voted down in favour of 20mph.

At the meeting Mr Pyne presented the results of his survey he'd carried out to gauge public opinion with 53 critical responses, and told councillors their vote would be a "forever moment" for the village.

"It was amazing that one councillor was absent and another had to leave before any vote was taken, but constitutionally, this is allowed," he said.

“I appealed to them. I said as parish councillors you should be listening to what your residents want. You can have a view as individuals.

"They voted for anecdotal or personal reasons to do with the safety of their child or their pet."

Mr Pyne agreed the measures were appropriate for safety reasons in some places but will not reduce polluting traffic. 

He said: “I’m not saying it should not be 20mph in certain areas but not for every single road in the village. It’s ridiculous.

“None of the arguments stand up. The consultation says, will it encourage you to walk or cycle more – 90 per cent said they ain’t going to do that.

"Doing such a low speed won’t reduce traffic or lower pollution because of all the new houses here.”

He added: “The vast majority are against it but Oxfordshire County Council just because of their ideology wants it to go ahead.

“I watched some meetings of the county council. People actually stood up and spoke about why it should not happen and at the end [cabinet member for highway management] Andrew Gant uses the same form of words quite regularly and overrides the objections.

"On October 13 2022, he ruled on 13 consultations in 103 minutes, including the one for Aston, Cote, Shifford and Chimney.

"In that meeting four speakers requested to put forward their views. Councillor Andrew Gant overruled all of their objections.

“I read the same thing is happening in Oxford. There’s so much chat on Facebook with people saying there’s nothing you can do – it’s horrible that people have got that feeling.”

He said: "What have I taken away from this? The democratic process shows that unless people openly participate and engage more at local level, your view will not be taken into account.

"When you want to rant, do it your councillor not just on social media. 

"My thanks to the people who put in the time to reply to my survey. It would have been good to have heard from the other 90 per cent."

Oxfordshire County Council said the Traffic Regulation Order for speed limits which needed amending covered all three areas (Aston, Cote and Bampton) which is why the consultation was combined.

"As such it made more sense from an administration point of view to consult on them at the same time, avoiding duplication of time and money - for example it meant a single press notice insread of multiple ones.

"The consultation survey did allow for people to choose to have 'no opinion' on either of the limits that were proposed."

He added: "Oxfordshire County Council will only approve 20mph schemes in areas where they are supported by the town or parish council and the ward county councillor.

"Consultations make up part of the decision-making process, but are not a referendum. The cabinet member for highway management reads all submissions and treats them on their merit before making a decision."

Aston, Cote, Chimney, and Shifford Parish Council was contacted.