THE leader of the county council addressed residents about his plans for the county’s transport system in the last of a series of public meeting.

Ian Hudspeth has held seven meetings now across Oxfordshire, the last taking place last night at Oxford’s County Hall.

One of the ideas put forward in the Connecting Oxfordshire plans is a monorail connecting key locations around Oxford’s ring road. Other suggestions include pedestrianisation of St Giles and George Street, Oxford, creating a rail link from Cowley to Oxford city centre, with a platform at the BMW factory, and trams in St Giles.

About 100 people attended last night.

Mr Hudspeth said: “I don’t think doing nothing is an option. Now we can change things for Oxford to be a better place.”

Concerns were raised about the current and future provision of cycle routes in the city.

Speaking after the meeting Peter Thompson of Oxford Civic Society said: “It is about encouraging people to get on their bikes and making sure that option is there.”

Asked by a number of people how many extra cars new link roads may lead to, Mr Hudspeth said: “If we provide other options, such as a monorail and better public transport, I think that will improve the traffic.”

A number of people raised concerns about the Northern Gateway development, a business park north of Wolvercote.

Mr Hudspeth said the county council was working to mitigate against the impact of the added traffic.