LAST week I presented Labour's budget proposals to the council's finance committee and we are now able to plan over a three year period.

During that time we are proposing considerable growth in expenditure on things which will make our district a better place. Improving standards for street cleaning, particularly on estates; to make available more money for playgrounds and play areas; to speed up programmes for back street improvements and traffic calming; to boost the budget for tourism advertising and promotion; to develop a programme of festivals in Lancaster in the hope of attracting more visitors; and to increase support for the Platform in Morecambe. And for the first year at least we will do all this without increasing then city council element of the council tax!

We are also proposing a new five year capital programme which will include major developments in our retail centres; support for community centres across the district; extra provision for rural sports; and a massive housing renewal programme. None of this would be possible without the new close partnership between a Labour government and Labour local councils. The Conservative and Lib Dems said they would hold back their counter-proposals until the full council meets. While this is rather pathetic, I can understand that they have not yet thought of anything. The MBIs went further in saying they would remain silent both at finance committee and at the full council meeting. They hinted that they might make some proposals before the elections. It is widely known that the MBI party are intending to introduce a completely new budget should, by any mischance, they win the forthcoming elections. There can be little doubt that the MBI want to cut back on all the council's commitments - they would certainly close the Dukes and presumably the Platform in Morecambe as well and we can take it for granted that the Million for the Millennium programme would disappear. Our major new capital programme would be decimated and there would be no further investment in our retail centres of in the Bubbles Leisure complex. Above all there would be a clear threat to the many voluntary organisations who rely on the council for financial support. Our district will face major decisions at the elections in May. The current silence of, and future threats being made by, the MBI are highly sinister and they need to be taken very seriously indeed.

Stanley Henig,

Council leader.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.