Two senior councillors from across the political divide are at loggerheads over whether a public meeting was promised by Swindon Borough Council’s administration to find out what residents think about the long-overrunning Mead Way roadworks.

At a Communities and Place overview and scrutiny committee meeting last week, Labour councillor Jim Grant said his group leader Jim Robbins was trying to find the email he said had promised a meeting after the completion of the Mead way works which were bedevilled by delays.

At the meeting the council’s Conservative deputy leader and cabinet member for strategic infrastructure and transport Gary Sumner said he didn’t think any such meeting had been promised.

Since then there has been an exchange of emails between Couns Sumner and Robbins, but they are no closer to agreement.

First Coun Robbins wrote to Coun Sumner: “I've been trawling through my emails trying to find a record of the promise of a public meeting following the Mead Way works, and have located the email below.  It shows that we were in talks about it after a Scrutiny meeting in late 2018.

“Maureen Penny, as the then Cabinet Member responsible, made the offer and after discussions with her, and officers, it was agreed that we would defer the meeting until after the Mead Way works were complete and then engage properly with the residents to ensure that the works had dealt with the problem. I don't think any of us at that point thought that the works would take so long.”

The email referred to was sent in late October 2018 about the works at Mannington and Bridgemead Roundabouts, but Coun Robbins said it was agreed to defer the meeting until after the completion of the Mead way project.

Coun Sumner, however was not convinced. His response said: “Well tried.

“An email from Coun Penny about works at Bridgemead in 2018 is not a lifetime offer to do a post-Mead Way public meeting.

“Once the final road safety audits are completed as well as addressing any contractor compensation events we will monitor the road to assess the effect on traffic flows. Officers as you know are under intense pressure delivering a range of projects and this is not a suitable use of their time.”

That didn’t go down well With Coun Robbins: “I’m really disappointed by your reply. The offer from Coun Penny was for a review meeting at the end of Mead Way project. It came from 2018 as that was when the Mead Way project was started.

“I’m not sure if you have noticed but it was initially a 12-week project that has somehow ended up taking well over 2 and half years.

“It’s fine if you want to break yet another promise to the people of Swindon, I’m sure that they are totally used to you and your party doing it to them on a range of issues across the town.

“As local councillors, we’ll go ahead with the meeting and are quite happy to empty-chair you. Plenty of the residents remember the promise as well.

“If you are looking for things to take up highways officer time, can I suggest the regular meetings with councillors that are also promised but never delivered.”

But that response was not favoured by Coun Sumner. The last email in the sequence, thus far, said: “Mead Way started 1st March 2020 so you are definitely confused.

“If you want to do as you suggest we will remind any commenting of the context and clearly this is politically motivated (which is why the press are copied) and officers will not be used in that way.

“Ward Member meeting invitations with highways should be sent next week.”