Lowest council tax rise in the county (From Stroud News and Journal)

Lowest council tax rise in the county

TAX-payers in Stroud are set to feel a slight pinch rather than a thump this year as councillors voted for a council tax rise of just 2.5 per cent.

The rise, expected to be the lowest in the county, was voted through by the ruling Tory group at Stroud District Council's yearly budget meeting on Thursday night.

With the budget promising almost £14 million of services and £8.7 million of new projects for the district and opposition spokesmen in a largely quiet mood, the meeting was a long way from the late-night debating marathon it has been in past years.

Delivering the budget, finance cabinet member Stephen Glanfield (Con, Amberley) gave a triumphant speech in which he claimed the district was "on the up".

"We have shown that Conservatives can do better," he said. "I present a solid budget from sound administration, visibly delivering on all our key priorities at low cost."

And the pugnacious councillor could not resist a dig at the Labour government when mentioning council aims to save £4 million for affordable housing over the next two years.

"The result is £4 million for affordable housing for people to get on the ladder in an area of extremely high house prices, not sent by senior Labour politicians to bolster their support elsewhere."

But Labour leader Hilary Fowles (Dursley) responded by saying the decision to spend the cash on affordable housing came from central government, not Ebley Mill.

"The council has had no choice on that," she said. "Every single member here has had more and more people come to them with housing needs that cannot be met by this council."

Opposition councillors also decried the expected £17,000 for councillors' perks and expenses, labelling it a waste of tax-payers' cash.

The rise in tax is still a low one, as is the expected hike in the county council share of the council tax. But rumblings from the police could mean a sharp rise to pay for more officers and crime-fighting kit and there is still the unknown quantity of the parish precepts, set to be decided in coming weeks.