Jon Rogers has only been a councillor for three years but is now faced with one of Bristol's hardest tasks – sorting out the city's transport problems.

The 54-year-old GP from St Andrew's is city councillor for Ashley and takes over the brief from Labour's Mark Bradshaw.

Mr Rogers, who has been shadowing Mr Bradshaw for the past seven months, told theBristol Post that he thought his predecessor had done a "reasonable job".

But, citing schemes such as the proposed 20mph zones in Easton and Southville, the residents' parking zones in Clifton and Kingsdown, and the closure of one lane on Prince Street Bridge to traffic, he criticised what he sees as a lack of public consultation.

A culture of openness and welcoming constructive criticism would be the hallmark of his time in charge, he said.

And it could result in a cabinet veto of schemes which he feels were not properly debated before they were made public.

Mr Rogers said: "The main priority for me is to actually develop a more inclusive and open decision-making process.

"I was personally excluded from one of the Cycling City meetings a few weeks ago and I have made it quite clear that we would very much welcome cross-party debate in these areas.

"Things like residents' parking, the 20 mile per hour zones and other schemes associated with the Cycling City bid have been done without properly consulting the public. It's the approach, rather than the content of the schemes, but I think that it's important that we take people with us rather than impose things on them."

Much of what is planned for transport in the greater Bristol area is a matter for the West of England Partnership's (WEP) transport committee, made up of executive members and transport chiefs from the four councils in the former Avon area.

Mr Rogers will be an important member of the committee, which has already bid for Government funding for an array of schemes.

The ball is already rolling on things like the city's first bus rapid transit route, the Metro network of cross-city rail services, Showcase bus routes and the south Bristol link route. But Mr Rogers hopes that a new set-up at the WEP, preferably the creation of an official integrated transport authority, could help deliver real improvements to the city.

And, calling for an end to the bickering between the city's cycling and motoring groups, he said: "Transport in Bristol is a problem that's going to take many years to solve but I think we should look carefully at what can be done and come up with the best solutions, with lots of advice and suggestions to make that happen.

"We need to get to a situation where we all mutually respect one another. We all take different modes of transport at different times and I don't think there's room for arrogance or anger at any time, between one group and another."