Chris Lucas

Liberal Democrat Campaigner, living and working in Weston Ward in the beautiful city of Bath. Learn more

Tonight’s Council Meeting…

by chrislucas on 22 February, 2011

May 6th 2010 is a date I shall never forget as it was the date that the residents of Maple Cross and Mill End chose me to be their representative on Three Rivers District Council. I remember how honoured I was to have been elected and the sense of pride when I was called ‘Councillor’ for the first time. Little did I know that just a few months later, my ideals and convictions would be tested to the maximum. The government is reducing the budget TRDC  receive by 23% over 2 years which has meant we’ve had to take a good hard look at our spending across the board, including the amount going to fund “front line” services.

Having sat through a few of the committee meetings I now know how incredibly difficult this process is. My hat goes off to my colleague Matthew Bedford (Deputy Leader of TRDC). He’s been through the entire budget line by line and appears to know where every penny is being spent and where every cost saving and efficiency can be made.

One thing I’m particularly impressed about is although we as a Lib Dem group might have differing opinions and priorities, we always look at cost savings and service reductions through the eyes of our residents and what impact it will have on them – particularly the elderly, the infirm and the vulnerable.

Later on tonight at full Council we will discuss and hopefully set the budget for FY 2011/12. I’m sure at times tempers will flare but I do hope my fellow Councillors on the Conservative opposition bench will be constructive and not band stand for political purposes just to get a mention in the local press. Most of the proposed budgets have been through panels and committees to get to this stage which have all been attended by Conservative councillors, so there should not be any surprises. In fact I hope that unlike previous years they will present an alternative budget that we can discuss and debate accordingly. Anyway, time will tell how they will respond and I shall report back on these pages accordingly.

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