Council Tax to rise in Pendle while environmental issues dominate spending plans

Pendle Council leader Coun. Mohammed Iqbal said Labour and Lib Dem ruling members had kept the increase as low as possible while at the same time "protecting and improving vital frontline services which matter to Pendle people."

Councillors also showed their commitment to putting plans into action to tackle climate change locally, following the Climate Emergency declared at the Full Council meeting in July 2019.

“Pendle Council will be working with local communities, businesses, organisations and schools on climate action schemes, supported by the new budget for this," Coun Iqbal said.

He added: "The Government has made it quite clear that councils will have to fund themselves, which left us with no option but to increase Council Tax. However, there will be no more cuts to frontline services."

Other key decisions made at the meeting included:

• Making no charges for replacing wheelie bins from March 1st;

• A return to free bulky household waste collections from March 1st;

• No cuts in the budget for street sweeping across Pendle;

• A new £100,000 pot to take action in Pendle to tackle global warming and the effects of climate change;

• £15,000 to spend each year for the next two years on tree planting as part of the Ribble Rivers Trust Woodland Connect Campaign and linking to our climate change pledge;

• No increases in cemetery charges at the six cemeteries which Pendle Council manages.

Coun. Iqbal said: "People have been unhappy about paying nearly £25 for a replacement bin, so we will now provide them for free.

“We’ve also decided to re-instate the free bulky household waste collections we had over two years ago. This will help local people dispose of bulky items like old sofas and freezers in a bid to protect the environment and reduce fly tipping in Pendle.

"And we know that keeping the streets clean is one of the top priorities for local people, so there will be no cut-backs to this valued service.

The Council also agreed to sustain funding for the Pendle Leisure Trust provide important fitness, sport and healthy lifestyle facilities and services.

Coun. Iqbal added: "We have agreed a budget which puts local people first. This is an achievement given the financial challenges we still face.

Over the next three years Pendle Council has to make substantial savings. We are on course to make these savings by offering some of our services commercially, such as bespoke food safety advice for food businesses.

"And we are reducing our staffing costs by not filling vacant posts. Our programme of transferring parks and open spaces to local town and parish councils is continuing as we no longer have the funds to manage them all.

"Pendle Council’s aim is to protect these important spaces for local people as future funding from central government to us is uncertain."

Meanwhile, the Conservative group, which has 23 of the 49 councillors on the council, put forward an alternative budget.

Deputy leader of Pendle Conservatives, Coun. Mike Goulthorp, said: “After an adjournment to discuss our budget, the other parties offered to include the removal of Bulky Waste Charges in addition to the removal of charges for replacement bins.

"This gave us half of what our budget laid out, but we felt their concession still delivered an improvement for Pendle residents, so the group decided a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”

May's local election in Pendle will see the number of councillors decrease from 49 to 33 after the Boundary Commission agreed to cut the number.