West Oxfordshire parties debate district's future

With the local elections on the horizon, BBC Oxford assembled the parties fighting to gain control of three district authorities to hear their proposals for your local areas.

First up is West Oxfordshire District Council, where 16 of the authority's 49 seats are up for grabs.

The council had been controlled by the Conservatives for more than two decades before they lost overall control in 2022.

Now, the Liberal Democrats are the largest group and run the authority with help from the Labour Party and the Greens.

As part of Monday's debate, all five main parties were asked to put together a "minute manifesto" on why voters should put an X in their box come 7 May.

Lib Dem leader of the council Andy Graham said his party was "delivering a different approach" to previous Conservative administrations.

He said this was "focused on results and not negative rhetoric".

"We're providing excellent reliable frontline services that residents depend on every day - whether that's high-performing waste and recycling collections or well-managed social housing," he said.

"At the same time we're investing in our communities... supporting local businesses and delivering over a half a million [pounds] for community projects."

Liam Walker, from the Conservatives, said his party would offer voters "something different" to the current administration.

"We've had years and years of this Lib Dem-Labour coalition hiking up our taxes, putting up green waste costs, not taking fly-tipping seriously," he said.

"We hear it time and time again on the doorstep, but what we've not heard from these minute manifestos is actually what they're going to do as they're running the council."

Among the Conservative proposals Walker listed were plans to tackle fly-tipping, as well as schemes to improve local infrastructure.

Labour's Duncan Enright said his party was "focused on one issue above all others, and that's inequality".

"We have some of the richest people in the whole of the world living in west Oxfordshire, but we also know that we have a below average income for the South East," he explained.

"We want to make sure that everybody takes part, [and that] everybody has a good standard of living."

"We're bearing down on the cost of living and using every lever available within West Oxfordshire District Council to make sure that everybody has a rich life within strong communities," he added.

The Greens currently have four councillors on the authority, with Rosie Pearson saying what makes her party different from others was its "joined-up vision".

"We see the connections between global problems, climate change, nature loss, war and migration and the everyday problems of people's lives in our neighbourhoods," she said.

Among her party's plans are tougher planning rules around fragile waterways and ecosystems, as well as the creation of more council housing and improvements to current provisions.

"People feel they don't have a voice and we want to give them one - we'll put communities at the heart of all decisions and pay proper attention to local expertise," she added.

Reform UK councillor Natalie King declined an invitation to Monday's debate - but did send in her party's proposals for the district.

She said her party winning seats in May would mean "positive change for residents".

Plans her party has proposed for the district include building more infrastructure around housing developments as well as pushing back on Oxfordshire County Council's 20mph roll-out.

She also said energy would be focused on "ending council waste".

"This will ensure more of your money goes into the frontline services that you care about, such as filling potholes, bin collections and making safer communities," she said.