County Green Group wins key amendments to budget

County Green Group wins key amendments to budget

At Oxfordshire County Council’s budget setting meeting on February 10th, the Green Group successfully introduced amendments to the administration budget amounting to an additional £1.2m of revenue spending in what was the first set of budget amendments proposed by the Greens at OCC in 10 years.

The following additional revenue spends were agreed :

• £900K new ring-fenced funding to maintain pavements, paths and cycleways
• £150K to support projects in relation to climate change adaptation and resilience including supporting those at risk from extreme heat
• £50K to address the mental health impacts of climate change through Community Action Groups
• £100K to support local initiatives intended to increase community cohesion and to build mutual understanding and co-operation.

Green councillor Ian Middleton said :

“I was extremely pleased to see our amendments included in the final budget and feel we can now address many important issues that will increasingly impact residents across Oxfordshire.

We’re already beginning to see the effects of lack of action on climate change that were baked in decades ago as extreme weather conditions become more common year on year. Adaptation and resilience to the effects of these inevitable climactic shifts must be prioritised if our residents are to be kept safe and healthy as we all come to terms with what will be a very different world over the coming decades… In the meantime we will continue to engage further with residents and councillors about the plans.

The largest funding pot we added is aimed at making our paths, pavements and cycleways safer for all residents, particularly older and infirm people. This is a ring-fenced fund that will address many of the concerns that have been raised by residents about the lack of essential maintenance to these vital pieces of transport infrastructure.”