CYCLING, potholes and swim parks are top of the agenda for Witney’s newest town councillor.

Andy McMahon was elected to represent Witney North last month following the departure of Carol Reynolds earlier this year.

Mr McMahon only decided to stand a matter of weeks before polling day, but living in the town for eight years means he knows the issues that matter.

As a keen cyclist who uses his bike to get around, the 43-year-old’s main aim is to improve two-wheeled transport.

He said: “I think we should be putting cycling infrastructure in almost before roads.

“If we had better roads maybe we wouldn’t need so many cars as people would want to cycle.

“I realise it’s hard to influence at town council level so I would potentially want to go higher, but I don’t want to run before I can walk and for now I’m going to concentrate on Witney North.”

West Oxfordshire’s road network has drawn criticism for potholes in recent months, with five nights of resurfacing taking place on the A40 later this month.

This comes as Oxfordshire County Council pledges an extra £10m to resurface 46 miles of highways across the county.

While Mr McMahon realises this is another issue he cannot affect directly, he wants to ensure Witney’s roads benefit from the work.

He said: “The county council has done a great job repairing over 28,000 potholes since January but it’s clear there’s more to be done to get on top of this problem.

“I am pushing our district and county councillors to continue their work in this area and try to ensure Witney is prioritised for repair work and improvements.”

Roads are clearly close to Mr McMahon’s heart and the councillor’s final key issue has also affected him personally.

He has a nine-year-old daughter who wants to enjoy the summer weather but Mr McMahon feels she has already grown out of the target age range for the town’s two swim parks and want these facilities upgraded to make them suitable for older children too.

He said: “After age six or seven there’s not really anything like this for young people.”

Mr McMahon currently has more free time on his hands due to writing a sci-fi fantasy novel.

But he is determined to ensure he uses this time to represent a ‘proactive’ town council as best he can.

He said: “We’ve got a great town council in Witney who go out of their way to make things happen.

“Everyone is motivated to keep Witney a great place to live.”