Tax rise will be in single figures

10:37am Wednesday 18th February 2004

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Lewisham Mayor Steve Bullock's second budget is due to be rubber-stamped in two weeks. ADRIAN KWINTNER took a look at his plans ...

THE council tax rise in Lewisham is to be kept in single figures this year.

Lewisham Council's element of the tax will rise by 4.99 per cent which, coupled with a proposed 10 per cent increase in the Greater London Authority (GLA) precept, would bring the total rise to 6.03 per cent.

CENTRE PLANS STEVE Bullock's budget gives the green light to give £2.44 million to transform a derelict building into an education facility. A partnership between Deptford Green School, Grinling Gibbons SureStart and IRIE! Dance Theatre has secured the revival of the Moonshot centre, in Pagnell Street, New Cross. The project includes a new entrance foyer and cafe, a dance studio, a single-storey extension to house SureStart, a nursery for 25 children and IT, art, drama and sports facilities for Deptford Green School. Mr Bullock agreed to the funding based on contributions from the consortium of £750,000, bringing the total redevelopment cost to £3.195 million. Several other building projects have also been given the go-ahead. Around £166,000 will go towards building one or two skate parks, £450,000 towards establishing a youth centre in Bellingham and £1.3 million towards creating a centre for children with special health, education and social care needs.

This will push the council tax bill on a Band D property from £1,081.55 to £1,146.77.

Voted through by councillors at a full council meeting last week, the budget will see extra money pumped into social care, community safety, road repairs, graffiti removal, summer programmes for youngsters and accommodation for the homeless.

Mr Bullock told councillors his budget would have required a 7.5 per cent rise in the council's element of the tax had Chancellor Gordon Brown not agreed with him this was too high and given an additional £1.4 million grant to keep the increase down.

He said: "I believe council tax to be a seriously-flawed tax and the persistence of increases which outstrip general inflation and wage rises demonstrates this."

Conservative group leader Councillor Barrie Anderson said the Chancellor's grant is still public money.

He said: "It is funded through stealth taxes at national level.

"This again demonstrates the tax-and-spend approach of the Labour Chancellor in Downing Street and the Labour mayor in Catford."

After last week's council meeting, London Mayor Ken Livingstone said the proposed rise in the GLA precept, the element of the council tax earmarked for police, firefighters and City Hall, would be 7.5 per cent rather than the earlier proposal of 10 per cent.

The council will make its final decision on the budget on March 3 when the actual GLA precept is known.

Lib Dems call for cost-cutting measures

THE Lib Dems want Laurence House's blue lights switched off to save taxpayers' money.

Group leader Councillor Matthew Huntbach proposed several amendments to the mayor's budget to claw back £120,000.

Proposals include turning off the blue lights along Rushey Green and on Laurence House and allowing companies to advertise on bins, flowerbeds and roundabouts.

Savings would then be redirected into other things such as additional street lighting, more disabled bays and a door-to-door collection of bulky waste.

Lib Dem councillor Mark Morris said: "More street lighting reduces the fear of crime. If it has to be done by turning off the blue lights at Laurence House, then so be it."

But Councillor Gavin Moore, deputy leader of the council, said the £23,000 savings from ending the lights was a miserly sum.

He said: "The point of these lights is to cheer people up."

Brockley councillor Darren Johnson, the Green Party's London mayoral candidate, said the sponsorship proposals would take away civic pride.

He added: "I do not want the borough's logos replaced with something from McDonald's."

The amendments were rejected but the mayor said any proposals thought to be suitable could be adopted later in the year.