Council Tax Meeting

The Residents Association group’s budget was voted down by the Conservative Administration, last Wednesday, which is a shame as we aimed to reduce the Council Tax rise and implement improved services for North Romford.

The proposal, would have seen a reduction in the increase from the Conservative Administration’s 3.5% to only 3.3%, however the main themes of our budget would have seen;

= Reinstate free car parking in our out of town shopping centres.
= Scrap Sunday charging across Romford.
= Bring back free parking for the disabled.
= Increase road sweeping and staffing in our Parks.
= Re-Instate the School Uniform Grant.
= A second Park Ranger in Havering Country Park

These would have been funded by the reduction in the frequency of the Council’s Living Magazine, efficiency gains on furniture and equipment, cutting the Council publicity budget and a reduction in Councillors special responsibility allowances.

Cllr Andrew Mann said “Our proposals to scrap the parking charges in out of town car parks is in direct response to the many thousands of local people who have expressed their objections to it. Whilst the Administration has not listened to residents, we have. We would also have scrapped the charge for disabled drivers”.

Our proposal to increase funding in our parks is also in response to residents wishes, in particular in Havering Country Park, where we only have one park ranger and desperately need another.