I still haven’t recovered from the slap in the face from The Mayor of London’s decision to cancel the Metropolitan Line Extension after leading us to believe that finally if we bridged the funding gap of £73 million work could commence.

It was personally disappointing for all of us who have been working on this for years, including members of Transport for London’s officer team who have put the scheme together. But more importantly it is devastating for our town. We need decent public transport connections if we are to keep growing, particularly in light of the Government doubling our housing targets.

Fortunately, my Deputy Mayor Cllr Peter Taylor has already decided that if the scheme is currently “shelved” we need to start fighting for better public transport and infrastructure to stop our town grinding to a halt and feeling the strains of being overcrowded.

He is rightly adamant we need to get out of our cars and start to explore other options. He will fight for Meriden residents and young people who struggle due to inadequate bus services, frustrated cyclists who feel our routes aren’t joined up and those for whom car ownership just isn’t possible with high costs of housing. So yes, let’s start to work on new plans and promote exciting schemes, such as car pools, hopper buses, integrated cycle routes and more. We can do that while keeping the Met Line Extension track free and able to be resurrected when the financial situation of TfL is eventually solved. I am ever the optimist but am glad I also have a realist in my deputy.

- Dorothy Thornhill is Liberal Democrat elected mayor of Watford