TRANSPORT is a hot topic for many West Oxfordshire residents, with the problems of getting around Witney itself and congestion on the A40 to Oxford both key concerns.

So we welcome county council leader Ian Hudspeth’s decision to stage a meeting in Witney next week to outline his ideas to keep Oxfordshire moving and to hear what the public wants to happen.

It promises to be a lively discussion in the light of the prospect of another 13,000 new homes being built in the district by 2031, which can only add to the pressures on the road network.

And there are, of course, calls for work to be put into developing potential alternatives to the car, with the recently-formed Witney Oxford Transport Group urging the council to update a previous study of the potential for reopening the old Witney Railway.

Other recent suggestions have included monorails or cable cars, though there would be sure to be a furore over the necessary pillars or pylons marching across the countryside.

While the Witney-Oxford corridor is critical, Mr Hudspeth also wants to hear about ways that the other towns and villages in the district can be better connected in future, with further redoubling of the Cotswold Line railway among the options.

One thing is clear, doing nothing is not an option, so we would urge anyone who can spare the time to attend the meeting at Henry Box School on Monday and join this important debate.