 At the Lymington & Pennington Town Council meeting held on Wednesday 5 Jan 2011, the Liberal Democrat group proposed no increase in the Town Council Tax for the coming year.
The Liberal Democrat proposal was accepted by 8 votes to 5, with "independent" councillors Ben Baker, Peter Cheetham, Jane Clarke, Mike Thorpe and Jenny Welker all voting against, preferring a proposal to raise the Town Council Tax.
Cllr Vincent, Liberal Democrat vice chair of the Policy and Resources committee who proposed the amendment said, "at a time when everyone is under financial pressure, the Council must share that pain.
It is completely unacceptable to propose increasing local taxes. The good thing is that thanks to prudent management over the past four years, we can now safely set a very tight budget. We will be able to achieve these savings without cutting staff or front-line services".
The Liberal Democrats have identified a number of potential areas for savings.
- Not creating the new project officer post.
- Not filling one of the long term vacancies (which has been empty for more than two years).
- Using Council staff, rather than contractors for maintenance jobs
- Scrapping special budgets for Jubilee and Olympic events, instead offering free facilities to local voluntary groups as the Council has in the past.
- Using the Council's own employees rather than hiring in agency staff.
- Ditching plans for a quarterly newsletter for all residents.
The Liberal Democrat members of Lymington and Pennington Town Council, all of whom supported the freeze on tax are Councillors Freda Angelou, Paul Hickman, Martina Humber, Ted Jearrad, Nick McGeorge, Brenda Vincent and Jean Vernon-Jackson.
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