It’s never a surprise that so close to an election the Conservative candidate for mayor seeks to blame the Liberal Democrats for something the Conservative-run county council has complete control of.

The fact is that Herts County Council, as the highways authority, is 100 per cent responsible for managing and maintaining the Woodmere Avenue width restriction. The original width restriction was installed in 1980 to prevent lorries using Woodmere Avenue (a residential road) going to nearby industrial estates. In 2010, following county council officers’ concerns and residents’ complaints about HGVs still trying to get through or doing U-turns, officers proposed several changes. In 2011, £25,000 of county council money was spent on making the restriction as it is now with the six posts close to the road in each direction.

Read more: 'End in sight for real change' at width restriction

The Conservative candidate’s lack of knowledge is obvious. The facts show that previous county councillors for the area, Audrey Oaten and Kareen Hastrick along with newly-elected county councillor Steve Cavinder and myself have repeatedly raised concerns about the current scheme.

Following a petition in 2019, at a meeting with senior county officers and the county lead member (Conservative) to discuss what could be done, the county council said “it was not considered a hazardous site for collision reduction investigations”. The county council wanted no changes but Cllr Hastrick did fund some additional signage and road markings to help improve its visibility.

County councillor Steve Cavinder, since being elected last May, has repeatedly pressed for action and had meetings with officers in Woodmere to point out the issues. Following a most recent meeting with officers and a subsequent email from the Tory Highways boss at County Hall it is clear, despite media reports of a ‘quick win’, any radical changes are unlikely for some while.

Yes, the county council is now looking, once the law changes, to install ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) equipment. However, on February 27, 2022 the Tory Highways boss told Cllr Cavinder “we hope to dispense with all physical barriers, but have to accept this will not happen overnight, although a scheme is well progressed in its design. We will need a full consultation, and there is the suggestion that we include a question in there to ask if residents want us to move to 7’6” in the meantime, although this has yet to be thought through.” So short term changes, such as moving the posts, are not on as Cllr Cavinder was told by the Tory Highways boss “there is no justification for using core budgets to make alterations”.

So, there we have it. The Conservative-run county council finally accept it’s their problem to resolve – mind you it’s taken 10 years for them to do so. So rather than blaming the Liberal Democrats, the Tory candidate for mayor should be asking why did it take the Tory county council years of complaints to accept it needs to change the restriction?

County Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst

Liberal Democrat group leader