Wiltshire Liberal Democrats' alternative Council Budget.

The Lib Dem budget proposals were focused on rebuilding local communities in Wiltshire. The Conservative Administration on Wiltshire Council has taken decisions since 2009 which are divorced from the needs and wants of local communities. Wiltshire Lib Dems want to reverse that, putting jobs back onto the High Streets.

Their headline proposal was the introduction of one hour's free parking in every council car park across Wiltshire, but they were also calling for roads funding to be devolved outwards to local communities, and extra schools funding.

They also identified areas where the Council is still wasting money, along with new ideas for making savings, including a switch to new energy-efficient LED street lights. All the proposals had been signed off as financially viable by WC finance officers.

The amendments were debated at the council meeting on February 28th. Proposals to allow one hours free parking at town centre car parks, to re-introduce free swimming for over 60s and under 16s, and to re-open leisure centres on bank holidays, were thrown out by the Conservative majority, as was the idea of devolving a higher proportion of the highways budget to local communities to decide how to spend it. Amendments to increase income by providing more services to Academies and to save money by using efficient LED street lights were withdrawn after the administration agreed to investigate their feasibility.

Following the meeting Cllr Jon Hubbard said "This year, central government has given Wiltshire approximately £8.5million that we weren't expecting, many times more than would be needed to pay for one hour's free parking, but it seems the Conservative councillors have squandered it all.

"If it weren't for the financial mismanagement of the Conservative administration, Wiltshire would have all sorts of options, but the Conservatives insist we need to use this money just to plug the gaps in their budget. For now, the people of Wiltshire are stuck with the Conservatives' car park price hikes."

In a curious episode within the budget meeting, Conservative councillors voted to stop their votes being recorded, preventing the public from knowing how individual councillors voted. Paradoxically however the vote on this was itself recorded, so those not wanting you to know how they voted can be identified in the records.

Jon Hubbard said "This unprecedented action to suspend the Council's Standing Orders, and stop recorded votes, removes any responsibility for the actions of individual councillors. We are public servants who must be responsible to the public who elected us. The Conservatives have chosen today to hide how they vote, and so hide from all responsibility for their actions."

For details of the Lib Dem proposals see www.workingforwiltshire.co.uk

To see how the Wiltshire Times saw the debate: http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/inyourtown/wiltshire/9557595.Budget_live__Head_to_head_debate_on_council_s_plans_for_2012/&ct=ga&cad=CAEQARgAIAAoATAAOABA0NWz-gRIAVAAWABiBWVuLUdC&cd=-EMvyt6Ww_8&usg=AFQjCNE7PWpS36mUXNqBg_UdnbLrBGCccw

And for the leader's budget speech and other papers: Jane Scott's full budget speech

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Your Say: "I have studied all the proposals made and support them all. In National politics I am a staunch Conservative supporter and have been for many years, however it is difficult for me to understand why these proposals cannot be enacted and I am a little surprised that the Conservatives have not implemented something similar already.
My comments in detail follow:-
1. The cessation of any free parking time in Chippenham centre has certainly discouraged me from parking there. The thought of paying £1.10 for a few minutes parking leaves me totally cold; if possible, I use out of town centre businesses for my needs. I understand that the revenue raised subsidises the school buses in between school hours but, if anyone thinks that it justifies an exhorbitant parking fee, they are wrong. It must be damaging to twon centre businesses.
2 and 3. The closing of the leisure centres on bank holidays clearly saves cash, but at what expense? In addition, free swimming for OAPs and youngsters will not break the bank and will promote healthy living. This is, of course, particularly important to parents with several children who do not earn vast amounts of cash.
4. This is clearly in line with Conservative beliefs that government should be devolved downward. People who live their lives in a particular environment have an intimate knowledge of what needs repair and maintenance. Apart from trunk routes I believe that the responsibility and funds for road repair and maintenance in towns and villages must be devolved to the most appropriate local levels possible.
Finally I have to say that this is the most acceptable and appropriate list of proposals that I have seen; not just because it benefits many people (which is always politically smart) but because it helps to move society in the right direction."
JB. Chippenham

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