The hidden costs of Lib Dem councils

Hedge End Lib Dems are very good at telling us (repeatedly) that they have kept council tax below inflation for several years. But how good are they at keeping other council charges down now that we have high inflation and a Conservative cost of living crisis?

Hedge End Town Council is run entirely by Lib Dems. They have recently agreed a budget of over £ONE MILLION for the first time. That means the council tax payers of Hedge End will have to fork out a total of £836,000. (The rest comes from charges for sports fields, community halls, allotments etc.)

In 2013 the equivalent figure was £646,000. That is a massive increase of 30% in the council tax precept in just ten years. And well above inflation.

The Lib Dems have also hiked other borough council charges.

In 2013 if you forgot to put your wheely-bin out, the council would come back (for a first offence only) and empty it for no extra charge.

In 2023 they will charge you £20 each time.

In 2013 there was no charge if you wanted to close your road for a charity event.

In 2023 the Lib Dems will charge you £200.

In 2013 you could have 8 bulky items (furniture, kitchen appliances etc) collected for £42.

In 2023 the Lib Dems will charge you £175. An increase of more than 300%.

Other notable charges that have increased in ten years under the Lib Dems include charges for pest control. The cost of general advice about pest control has risen from £21 to £45 (increase 114%). A callout for a wasp nest has gone from £35 to £68 (up 94%). If you had a rat problem in 2013 the council would charge £65 for 4 visits. In 2023 you get 3 visits for £160. A stonking increase per visit of 212%.

Need to have the dog warden attend to a stray dog? The charge has gone up 62% from £58 to £94.

For those with an artistic or dramatic bent, the cost of renting Hedge End’s Berry Theatre for one day (11 hours) has gone up from £735 to £900. Plus, there are now separate charges for employing the theatre’s technician (up to £550), using a projector and screen (£97), PA system (up to £250), conference mics (up to £250).

Something to think about when the Lib Dems claim to have saved us money.

See also my blog post from 2017:
Hedge End Blogger: The true cost of a Lib Dem council

(Sources: Cabinet papers “Corporate Fees and Charges” 2013 and 2023 – available to view at eastleigh.gov.uk)

Town Council honours long serving members

 May’s elections to Hedge End Town Council resulted in a clean sweep for the Lib Dems who took all 18 seats available.

There did not seem to be much business for the council at its first meeting after the elections which was combined with the AGM.

Cllr Jane Welsh celebrated 40 years as a parish and town councillor. And there were long service awards for ex-councillors Sheila Baynes and Shankerlal Sthanakiya who had reached the milestone of 12 years’ service.

The Town Clerk announced that ex-councillor Ray Worley had recently passed away, but he had received his long service award via his daughter before he died.

The AGM agreed membership of the main committees – Recreation and Amenities, Highways and Planning, and Policy and Resources. The Lib Dems limited membership of these committees to nine members which means only three need to turn up for meetings to go ahead. We elected 18 councillors, but as few as three could be making decisions on our behalf as committee decisions are normally just rubber-stamped by full council.

Only 15 of the newly elected councillors were there at the beginning of the meeting. Two arrived during the very last agenda item, having been at a more important meeting. One did not turn up at all.

I took the opportunity to raise a question about the safety of parking at the Upper Northam Road end of Turnpike Way. There seems to have been an increase in parking there during office hours. It is legal because the double yellow lines stop just east of the Clover Way junction. But it has the effect of forcing traffic heading towards Upper Northam Road onto the wrong side of the road, just where vehicles, including buses, are coming round the bend into Turnpike Way.

The chair of the council referred my question to the Highways and Planning committee. We will have to wait and see what happens.

Some ideas about how to develop Hedge End centre from Hedge End Labour Party

 

Hedge End Labour Party consultation on local development: ConsultHedgeEnd@gmail.com

Now the Lib Dems have bought out these properties in the centre of Hedge End as part of their master plan to redevelop the area, the LabourParty has kicked off a consultation to see what local people think should replace them:

Hedge End Labour Party has some ideas. Our vision for Hedge End Centre is based on our local election manifesto:

Our councils should be there to serve local people and strengthen our communities. This will make Hedge End better.

Our vision is a community where we look after each other. Where you can find an affordable home, and where our village centre thrives and creates local wealth, not profits for big business.

We call on the Lib Dem Council to respect these principles for the new Hedge End Centre.

·         Build back local – use local firms employing local people to develop the site.
·         Maximise use of new green technologies.
·         The development should remain in public ownership and be used to promote local wealth creation.
·         Fair treatment of existing businesses.
·         Businesses should be local.
·         Businesses should follow employment good practice (TU rights, real living wage, proper contracts).
·         Low rent for retail and other start-ups eg café.
·         Keep space for local market.
·        Include community and charity space.
·         Replace Hedge End’s aging public toilets with modern, genuinely accessible loos with hygienic baby changing.
·         Roofline no higher than existing buildings – no high rise and lower to the boundaries so it does not overshadow neighbours, Greta Park, or the road / pavements.
·         Sensitive to the Greta Park green space and small wooded area to the north west of the site.
·         Wildlife friendly: bird and bat nesting, green roofs and living walls, urban planting with trees to provide natural shade, improved air quality and natural cooling.
·         Housing and flats must be council owned and managed, and fully accessible.
·         Encourage cycling with secure cycle parking.

Hedge End Labour believes the council should convene a community committee to oversee and guide the planning and development – diverse and representative, including all local stakeholders, not just existing councillors.

But most importantly we want to know what you think. Tell us at ConsultHedgeEnd@gmail.com

Let’s avoid something like the oppressive, looming building previously proposed for this site:

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Hedge End Labour Party consults local people on Lib Dem supermarket plans

 

Have your say on how Hedge End Centre is developed - ConsultHedgeEnd@gmail.com

Eastleigh Lib Dems have bought the shops and businesses between Greta Park and the old Budgens site in Hedge End. This means they have a much larger slice of Hedge End land which will be more profitable to sell off to their chosen developer.

The Lib Dems' lack of vision for Hedge End means they can only think in terms of building another supermarket in the centre of Hedge End because that is what was there before.

Hedge End Labour Party believes local people should have a say in what is built here in the middle of our community. We have some ideas based on our manifesto for the Eastleigh local elections, but we really want to know what you think.

Together we can Make Hedge End Better.

Do you want another supermarket, or are there enough supermarkets in and around Hedge End already?

Do you want a building that fits in with more recent buildings like the St John’s Centre, or another ugly oversized monstrosity like the previous proposal?

Artist's interpretation of the previous "vision" for Hedge End

Do you want the council to use the space to support small, local and start-up businesses? 

Do you want this space to enhance community facilities in Hedge End?

Do you want the space to be carbon neutral and friendly to wildlife and biodiversity?

Tell us what you think by email: ConsultHedgeEnd@gmail.com

New Council Fails Gender Balance Test

Following the local elections on 3 May, Eastleigh Borough Council now has five fewer women members. By reducing the total number of councillors from 44 to 39, the Lib Dems have effectively kicked five women off the council.

The outgoing council had 25 men, and 19 women (43%).

The new council still has 25 men, but only 14 women (36%).

The minority Tories and Independents are more balanced with three men and four women between them. So the blame for this backward step in women's representation lies firmly with the Lib Dems.

With so many safe seats for the Lib Dems they could have selected a gender balanced slate of candidates. Instead we end up with 22 Lib Dem men and 10 women (31%). This is an embarrassing state of affairs for a party which claims to want to "increase the representation of women in every aspect of life".

Things are slightly better at the Hedge End West End and Botley Local Area Committee with five women out of 12 councillors (42%).

Perhaps there just aren't enough women who want to put themselves forward. In the five HEWEB wards, Labour and Tories could only muster six women candidates between them.

However, the make up of the Lib Dem cabinet is revealing. This is the decision making committee for the borough council. Even before the comprehensive defeat of Cllr Anne Winstanley last Thursday there were only two women cabinet members out of eight (25%). There has to be a change in the make-up of cabinet. Why not a full reshuffle? It remains to be seen if Cllr Keith House and his Eastleigh Lib Dem aristocracy can take this opportunity to achieve true gender balance on this vital committee.

The true cost of a Lib Dem council

Do Eastleigh Lib Dems really save you money?

The pro-austerity Lib Dems claim in Eastleigh that they save council tax payers money by restricting increases in council tax to rises at or below inflation. But does that really mean residents of Eastleigh Borough Council are better off?

One way Eastleigh Borough Council has saved money in recent years is by transferring services and maintenance of public amenities to compliant parish and town councils. The Borough can take those costs off their books, but what impact has it had on the parish and town council component of council tax?

In West End, the parish council charged a band D property £67.74 in 2007/2008. In 2017/2018 that has risen to £85.26 - an increase of 26%.

In the same period the Botley Parish Council precept rose from £88.19 to £106.42 - an increase of 21%.

Even Lib Dem dominated Hedge End Town Council increased its charge by 7% in the last ten years.

Secondly, there have been  massive increases in other charges and fees under the Lib Dems.

In 2007 you could park all day at Itchen Valley Country Park for  £1.50. In 2017 the Lib Dems charge you £4.00 - an increase of 167%. If you just want to park for an hour to walk your dog, the parking charge has gone up 120% from 50p to £1.10. Even a year's season ticket for parking has gone up 79% to £42.50.

Parking charges at Hedge End Railway Station were introduced in 2007 at £2.00. In ten years Lib Dems have increased all day parking at the station to £3.50 - up 75%.

The charge for collection of bulky waste items such as mattresses and furniture started at £26 in 2007. In 2017 you have to pay at least £54 - an increase of  108%.

In the same period the minimum charge for garden waste collection rose from £19 to £36 - up 90%.

Pest control charges have gone up by 23% for wasps, 90% for rats and 140% for mice.

A third consequence of Lib Dem policy is continued dependence on so-called section 106 agreements with developers to increase their funds. These agreements are described as follows:
"Planning obligations, also known as Section 106 agreements (based on that section of The 1990 Town & Country Planning Act) are private agreements made between local authorities and developers and can be attached to a planning permission to make acceptable development which would otherwise be unacceptable in planning terms."

By agreeing to allow developments that "would otherwise be unacceptable", the Lib Dems have raised funds in recent months for infrastructure and other projects in our local area:
£10,000 from various developers to pay for a footpath in Moorgreen Road, West End
£10,000 from various developers for a pedestrian / cycle way in Barbe Baker Avenue, West End
£10,000 from Barratts for improvements to tennis courts in West End
£55,000 from Bovis Homes to design a new roof for the Wildern swimming pool in Hedge End
£105,000 from Linden Homes for new children's playgrounds in West End.

This hardly seems a sustainable policy as the council tax freeze is partly paid for by endless housing development.

(Sources: www.planningportal.co.uk, www.eastleigh.gov.uk, Eastleigh Borough Council budget books for 2007/2008 and 2017/2018, Eastleigh Borough Council "corporate fees and charges" reports for 2007/2008 and 2017/2018,  minutes of HEWEB LAC meetings for March 2016, September 2016 and May 2017.)

Time for Honesty and Openness

Local Lib Dems have cut the number of council meetings held in public and cut the number of democratic scrutiny panels. This means more decisions are made behind closed doors. The council must put more information in the public domain so that voters can scrutinise decisions with all the facts.


I have submitted a freedom of information request calling on the council to make public whether the debt they have incurred buying assets like the Ageas Bowl hotel is really offset by rental income. It asks for information about all council assets in Hedge End, West End and Botley.

At the moment the council have acknowledged, but not replied to my request. You can follow its progress online here: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/assets_owned_by_eastleigh_boroug#incoming-992867

Did you know that in 2014 the Lib Dems diverted 360 thousand pounds of public money from the Moorgreen Meadows public nature reserve in Tollbar Way to the private boxing club at the Ageas Bowl?

Please use the comments facility of this blog or email me at hedgeendblogger@gmail.com if you have any questions about this post.


(This blog post is published and promoted on behalf of Keith Day, Eastleigh Labour Party, 69 Leigh Road, Eastleigh)