Peter Marland responds '' I'll take 8 out of 10 from bus user groups as they are rightly hard to please, but I'll take no lectures from the Tories who now think it's their job to fib about everything."
Councillors successfully called for the Council's plan for the future of transport in the city to be reviewed and improved following concerns that it lacked direction and ambition.
Conservative Spokesperson for Transport, Highways and Planning, Cllr John Bint led the charge raising concerns. He said, "The strategy falls way short of being ambitious enough to address the long term challenges Milton Keynes faces.
"There is a commitment to good solid genuine stuff, ignoring everything that is distinctive about MK, and avoiding anything strategic.
"Within all the Council jargon is a glass half full strategy that needs more work and I hope that will happen going forward.
"If there isn't a clear vision, there is no direction, investment will fall away, and we could be in a position where our grid roads, red ways, parking etc will crumble under our growing population."
Labour Council Leader Peter Marland said he was "happy" for the strategy to be a graded at 8 out of 10.
Organisations such as the Milton Keynes Bus Users Group, CMK Town Council, the Fred Roach Foundation and the MK Forum, also raised concerns with the lack of ambition.
Criticism was also placed at the engagement process and the suggestion of a Business and civil advisory group to be set up to engage with the Council going forward.
Peter Marland told MKFM '' I don't think very many people doubt our ambition and vision for the city. The new Mobility Strategy will help pave the way for new transformative technologies like driverless cars, autonomous pods and new public transport systems. But it is also about the here and now. How we improve falling bus usage, get people to walk and cycle more but acknowledging that the car will still be, in the short term, how most people get around MK. It is a shame that the new Conservative leadership seem to have decided their approach to campaigning is to misrepresent comments made by the public and other councillors. It is clear that the Mobility Strategy needs to be continually updated, and we need to always engage with people. So I'll take 8 out of 10 from bus user groups as they are rightly hard to please, but I'll take no lectures from the Tories who now think it's their job to fib about everything."
Following the pressure, the Cabinet agreed to continue the consultation before making a decision.
