Council tax only frozen for a year, who will pay next year??? Options

[Richard Garvie]

So Alan Law says the Conservertive administration should be congratulated for being able to "freeze" council tax for the coming year. Isn't it true that this has nothing to do with the local council, who have actually raised council tax by 2.5%??? It's only a grant from the Government that is freezing council tax for a year, but who will pay the extra 2.5% per tax payer next year?

That means that we face a council tax rise of at least 2.5% next year, so realistically it could be 3, 4 or even 5%??? Hardly the picture perfect image you present via the NWN then Cllr law!!!

[NWNREADER]

Bearing in mind re-development of the area between the railway station and the town has long been on the drawing board at WBC the suggestion of 'something' on the site is hardly headlines. As for the Rail authorities paying to buy/build on one site when they could just as easily do exactly the same on their own.......
Plus, WBC regularly state there is already excess capacity in the car park provision. Plus the modern trend is to discourage cars coming into town centres.
Selling the bus station for redevelopment is also not the earner it might seem. Parkway was not released for £1 as a throw-away, it was the only method of getting a developer to commit up-front money to build a speculative site. The start up costs are phenomenal, and the income is far from guaranteed. Something is only worth what someone will give you for it, and the more a seller wants/needs to sell, and the narrower the permitted use, the price drops.

Richard, you are trying to weave words again. You say you post in here as yourself - a free spirit. I'm starting to get the feeling your socialism is not deep seated, but in an area where the Labour word is all but absent you have spotted the ideal opportunity for your undoubted energy to gain you public status. Coming into the area with no background and instantly becoming a leading light in the public face of a political party would not have happened, I suspect, with LibDems or Conservatives. I remember, after several years of very strong local support, the dropped-in candidate for the Conservatives was dumped at the by-election in favour of the local David Rendel.

Just my feelings. Happy to be proven wrong.