A string of measures that Conservatives say will improve South Gloucestershire residents’ lives have been proposed by the council’s opposition group, including an extra £1.9million to fix potholes. The Tories have submitted a list of amendments to the local authority’s proposed budget, which will be decided at a full council meeting on Wednesday evening (February 19).
They want to inject £270,000 into much-loved family attraction Grimsbury Farm whose future is uncertain amid a funding crisis that could see the animals removed. The party would spend £100,000 investigating the best places for special ‘acoustic cameras’ to crack down on noisy and antisocial drivers.
Another £150,000 would be set aside to fund school bus services at risk of being cut, such as the 918 and routes to Winterbourne Academy. And farmers and rural communities would be supported to the tune of £75,000.
But because by law South Gloucestershire Council has to balance the annual budget, the Conservatives have come up with ways of paying for its investments.
These include cutting the communications team by a third, from 18 to 12, reducing the funding for officers to deliver the Local Plan 15-year housing blueprint, cancelling a proposed new member of staff who would ensure residents could safely access One Stop Shop customer services and attend council meetings, and scrapping plans to introduce area committees.
The Tories not only want a cash boost to fill existing potholes but a new approach to the problem. Instead of relying on the public to report them and then filling them in later, they want council engineers to be more strategic by identifying potholes as they emerge and fixing them before they grow too big.
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The money earmarked for Grimsbury Farm in Kingswood follows recent promises by the Lib Dem/Labour administration to keep the attraction open despite the fact it is losing the council £260,000 a year, with vet bills, feed, skilled staff and welfare totalling £200,000 and rising. A ‘community conversation’ will be launched in the spring to invite expressions of interest from organisations who could take it over.
But a council meeting earlier this month was told that if no way is found to make the community farm break even, the large animals, including pigs, cows and goats, would be sent elsewhere, although the green space would remain open for free to the public. The Tories also want to pay for a district-wide mapping exercise to identify the best places for acoustic cameras, which are triggered when motorists in cars with illegally loud engines pass them.
They say that under their previous administration, the council trialled the cameras in certain spots on the ring road “to great success”. The group says that the £150,000 set aside to support school buses, such as the 918 that goes from Pilning and Severn Beach to The Castle School, and the services that run through Frenchay to Winterbourne Academy, would mean that vital routes do not need to be cut.
And the money earmarked to support local farmers and rural communities will see the full implementation of a raft of recommendations made by the council’s scrutiny commission, which the current administration has partially accepted.
The Conservatives say they will speak out at the meeting against a series of controversial proposals in the Lib Dem/Labour budget, including a maximum 4.99 per cent council tax hike, increasing garden waste collection fees from £60 to £70 just a year after they doubled, introducing charges at council-owned car parks and cutting funding to maintain public toilets and playing fields.
Group leader Cllr Sam Bromiley said: “I am delighted to be able to table a whole raft of budgetary measures that will have a hugely positive impact on residents in South Glos. Almost £2million more to fix potholes, plus money for Grimsbury Farm and noise cameras, shows that we are listening to people’s concerns and acting on the things that are important to them.
“While members of the Liberal Democrat/Labour coalition are bickering among themselves, slashing services and hiking taxes, we are making sound and sensible decisions for our residents. I sincerely hope the Liberal Democrat and Labour groups will accept our amendments while having a rethink about some of their own more damaging proposals.”
The amendment said the £1.9million for potholes would be spread over four years and that the council had spent only £940,000 on average to fix them in the last three years. It said the Grimsbury Farm investment would allow more time to find a solution to ensure its long-term future.