A COUNCILLOR has said‘moving goalposts’ are the reason behind why half a grant to promote cycling was lost, as Oxfordshire is tasked with spending more ‘free’ travel money.

Oxfordshire is expected to start working on the next round of emergency ‘active travel’ measures by August 2, which it will then be able to claim a Government grant for.

The county council is expecting to get £2.338m from the Government to make long term changes which can include pedestrianising shopping areas, promoting new bus gates in Oxford, widening pavements and building cycling lanes.

The money is the second part of a two-part funding deal, the first part of which was aimed at small changes to encourage cycling and walking while maintaining social distancing.

In its first bid, the council had expected to get nearly £600,000 but only received half of that because the Government did not think the work which was done in Oxfordshire was in keeping with its requirements.

READ AGAIN about the first funding bid Oxfordshire made here

As Oxfordshire County Council met yesterday, cabinet member for transport Yvonne Constance said the council has less than four weeks to submit a bit for the second pot.

She added that the council was ‘once again’ at the mercy of the Government’s Department for Transport ‘moving goalposts’ as it faced the tight deadline.

She assured councillors at the meeting that the focus of the second round of works would be ‘more urban’ to meet DfT’s requirements.