OPPOSITION councillors almost walked out of an important council meeting over claims members of the ruling Conservative group were 'not listening' to their views.

The leaders of the West Oxfordshire Liberal Democrat and Labour groups discussed leaving Wednesday's meeting after one Conservative suggested he did not want to hear one amendment to the council's annual budget.

It was eventually heard and voted down, but the incident fuelled claims that the ruling group has become 'complacent' due to its large majority in the chamber.

Council leader James Mills dismissed this and focused on the budget's successes, such as council tax in West Oxfordshire remaining among the lowest in England.

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But several opposition councillors are still frustrated at the perceived lack of inclusivity, with Lib Dem leader Andy Graham saying he 'despaired' at the 'lack of debate' in the chamber.

He claimed: "The Conservative administration seems to pay lip service to acting on behalf of the community.

"People are fed up because it's not reflective of West Oxfordshire. The residents are poorer for it.

"It's pathetic. No wonder people don't go into politics with that mentality."

Mr Graham branded the attitude of some Conservative councillors 'playground politics', adding: "It smacks of 'we've got the ball and you haven't'."

Witney Gazette:

Andy Graham

Wednesday's meeting focused on setting the budget and council tax for the 2019/2020 financial year and lasted almost four hours.

In that time, amendments on social housing, care services, community transport and community wealth building were proposed by the opposition and all voted down.

The last of these, which asked the council to 'educate itself further on community wealth building', was proposed by Labour representative for Witney East, Rosa Bolger, near the end of the meeting.

The Labour group say Conservative councillor David Macfarlane, of Alvescot and Filkins, tried to stop the amendment being tabled, which he later neither confirmed nor denied.

Mr Macfarlane said: "I'm very pleased the amendment was discussed and debated."

During the following comfort break, Mr Graham and Labour leader, Duncan Enright, discussed walking out if the amendment was not heard.

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Mr Graham said: "Admittedly it was a lengthy meeting, but that's what it needs to flesh out the detail.

"A walkout was on the cards if it had continued."

Ms Bolger added: "There's a real feeling that they're not listening to us.

"They're shouting down the voices of the people they're supposed to represent."

The Conservatives hold 33 of the 49 seats on the council, while the Lib Dems and Labour have just 14 between them.

But last May's local elections saw opposition parties strip the Conservatives of five seats - a third of those defended by the ruling party.

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Leaders of Labour and the Lib Dems believe the council's scrutiny committees do not fully represent the political spectrum of West Oxfordshire, with each one chaired by Conservatives.

Mr Enright, who is vice-chair of the Lowlands planning committee, said this made the district look like a 'dinosaur'.

He said: "The Conservatives are being challenged more now than they have been for years.

"It's really important that all councillors are heard and if that's inconvenient then it's tough luck.

"Every council needs to fight like it's never done before for it's residents."

Wednesday's meeting confirmed council tax for 2019/20 would rise by £5, roughly a penny a day, meaning the average Band D property in the district would pay £99.38.

This will raise a total of £217,970 in council tax, despite being the lowest rate in Oxfordshire by some margin.

Mr Mills, the council leader, highlighted successes in areas including homelessness prevention, with new emergency accommodation in Chipping Norton set to open.

Witney Gazette:

James Mills

He also drew attention to improvements to leisure services, including major upgrades to Carterton Leisure Centre, and added that grants to the community and voluntary sector will be maintained at current levels.

Mr Mills said he was unaware of discussions over a walkout, but disagreed that opposition councillors were denied a chance to debate.

He said: "The budget goes through several committees over a number of months so there are always opportunities to put forward amendments during that process.

"Everyone that wanted to speak was given the opportunity to have their say.

"We invest in a wide range of things to make West Oxfordshire a great place to live.

He added: "Scrutiny committees are about scrutinising the executive of the council and quite often they're the council's biggest critics.

"I don't really recognise the idea that they're not open and inclusive.

"We aren't complacent, we're continually striving to make West Oxfordshire a great place to live and work.

"That reflects more on the person making the comments, rather than the Conservative group."