I ATTENDED the last full council meeting, an enlightening experience!
The elections in May got rid of some dead wood but left plenty of bluster behind. The sniping of Labour, the Independents and Conservatives was boring, petty and childish. Are they ever going to grow up? The main issue was whether or not to fund the prestigious tennis centre at Salt Ayre.
The £450,000 was agreed by all but the Greens. The next item was how to fund this centre, what to sell to enable the money to be found or what to cut from already promised spending.
As the Greens had stated the council was in no position to fund this project and this became clearer as acrimony increased in trying to solve the financial problem just voted into existence.
I wasn't privy to a copy of the budget cuts voted through by the Independents and the Conservatives (I'm beginning to wonder if they are one and the same) but I know the Million for the Millennium fund was slashed, a real kick in the teeth for community groups that had been looking to that fund to support local projects.
In summary, it appears to me that the new administration, like the previous one, is primarily interested in prestige projects rather than simple things like providing litter bins and play areas. I've nothing against tennis courts but until projects like Salt Ayre sports centre are paid off, new commitments should not be made.
The council is already falling over itself to sell off every asset to pay its massive debts. And look forward to a rise in next year's council tax.
Chris Hart,
Cavendish St,
Lancaster.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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