Political Viewpoint

By Coun Danielle Belton, Chairman of Rayleigh Town Council and Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group on Rochford District Council.

I am pleased to have another opportunity to report back to you on Local Government issues at both Rayleigh Town and Rochford District Councils Level.

February is budget month where difficult decisions have to be made. I am pleased to report that Rayleigh Town Council have approved no increase to any fees and charges, or the precept – which is still the lowest across the entire District.

Rochford District Council however isn’t such good news. Despite for years the then opposition calling for council tax to be frozen or even reduced, this year – their first year in Administration, not only have they approved the maximum precept increase of 2.99%, but have also increased most fees and charges way above the current level of inflation. In addition to these revenue streams, the Council are benefitting from hundreds of thousands of pounds in additional government support for the next financial year, whilst also spending around £5m from reserves.

As a Conservative Councillor, if I could see substantial benefit for the residents, I may have still supported the budget, as I fully appreciate the need the protect services and to reinvest in our area, but all I could see was £1.4m to relocate the council offices – without any detail on how this will be achieved and when.

Around £1m being spent on The Mill Hall, but still without a business plan as to how to make the venue work, no budget for an events booker for example to go out and find acts to come to the venue to generate ticket sales to start to bridge the enormous £350k gap that residents are continuing to subsidise each year, right across the district.

Although, the leader of the Council later stated that no money (other than essential repairs) will be spent on the venue until meaningful market research has been conducted, which was originally agreed in September, but is yet to start and now won’t be until after the election according to the lead member for Assets.

Coming back to fees and charges, I was surprised and disappointed to see so many increases to car parking.

Our businesses have been calling for cheaper parking to support local businesses, but what we have is an average increase across all Rayleigh carparks for all durations of around 5.6%. If you want to park in one of the lesser used carparks for less than 30 minutes you will save 20p though!

As a huge supporter of grassroots sports right across the District, I was also saddened to see pitch hire increase well above inflation too. Speaking to a number of teams and clubs, these increases often mean more subs for the players or parents, which when times are tough often means some people have to sacrifice their hobbies. We are trying to encourage healthier living, a more active lifestyle and wellbeing in general so I found this increase at odds with my personal belief that we should be trying to bring down the cost of using public open spaces and was yet another reason, that I and my colleagues couldn’t support the budget.

Community Safety was another issue I highlighted, whilst Rayleigh has benefitted from the CCTV that was in the pipeline for some time, and is potentially going to see extra street lighting installed at The Bridle Path with contributions from both District and Town Council, I do have concerns for the rest of District who do not seem to be getting their fair share of investment. Hockley in particular has been victim to a major increase in vehicle theft and racist graffiti but when a resident questioned the possibility of CCTV in that Town, they were told there isn’t enough money to go around.

Given that the District puts into the precept, is it fair that those of us living in Rayleigh appear to be getting the lions share of the budget?

More generally, we hear across the country various councils talking about their very real difficulty in setting a budget without adversely affecting or cutting vital community services. In common with local households, there is significant pressure on rising costs, and local government spending is no exception

In the Rochford district, of which Rayleigh is a key part, under the previous Conservative Administration, a low risk and highly responsible financial strategy has been adopted over a long period of time, which is now proving to be a huge benefit. Unlike many of our neighbouring Authorities, there has been no borrowing, and therefore no interest charges or repayments, and also no risky investments and a close focus on cost control.

Across Essex, we are widely recognised as a council to be in a very fortunate position as a result of that strategy.

Under a new political Administration, it is our hope that will continue.

The full budget along with the breakdown of fees and charges for 2024/25 can be found on the council’s website.

Read more.

Visit: https://leigh-on-sea.news

Contact us. Email: [email protected]

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leighonsea.news

Twitter: @leighonsea_news

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leighonsea.news