MONEY spent on new road signs was the topic of a dispute between Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors in the Cotswolds.

Cotswold District Council and Lib Dem leader Joe Harris defended the party after members of the opposition Conservatives questioned the wisdom of putting the CDC logo on street signs across the district, while at the same time the administration is spending £75,000 of taxpayers money to look into replacing CDC with two larger unitary authorities for all of Gloucestershire.

Cllr Gina Blomefield (Conservative, Chipping Campden) asked Cllr Harris why CDC was pressing ahead with plans to put the council’s logo on street signs, when at the same time his administration is working with Cheltenham Borough and Stroud District councils to explore merging the current seven councils in Gloucestershire into two authorities.

Cllr Blomefield said: “It just seems a waste of time, effort and taxpayers money to be putting our council logo on street signs, while at the same time the leader of the council is using £75,000 of our residents’ money to lobby for a new authority to be set up.

"We are facing a second wave of Covid-19 and our council budget is being pushed to its limits, so I am not sure this is a good use of time or resources. It is possible that these new tailor-made signs could soon become a historic memento of the Cotswold District Council.”

In response to the written question, Cllr Harris said: “The new street sign design will include the council’s crest and the locality or parish, not the ward name. This is being done as part of the administration’s civic pride agenda which I’ll be providing more information on in the coming weeks.

"I’d welcome the Conservative group’s input into this and I’ve been trying to catch up with the leader of the Conservative group on this but unfortunately he’s been very hard to get hold of."

Councillor Richard Morgan, leader of the opposition Conservative group said, “I am sorry that Cllr Harris feels he has struggled to get hold of me to discuss this issue. He has my personal mobile number and I am always curious and willing to discuss his ideas about how his Lib Dem administration will be spending more residents’ money on non-essential projects."