Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Cleaner streets and beaches but expensive parking and festival cuts
Councillors rubber-stamp divisive budget for cash-strapped authority
An extra £1.3 million has been pledged over the next year to improve bin collections and clean up the district’s streets and parks.
The funding has been set aside by the cash-strapped city council in its newest budget, which was rubber-stamped last week.
But with the Covid pandemic leaving the authority with £3 million less to spend in 2022/23, it has also chosen to cut services and increase charges to make up the shortfall. This includes hiking parking rates, upping council tax and axing its subsidy for muchloved festivals across Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay.
It instead wants to channel its funds into services “that matter most to our residents”. As such, £250,000 has been earmarked for the grounds maintenance contract, which covers litter-picking, grass-cutting and the emptying of bins in the council’s parks and on the district’s beaches.
The service will be provided by Canenco, which has been allocated £1 million to replace the vehicles which are currently used by Serco, and reaching the end of their useful life. The firm - which was launched by the council last year - will also receive £88,000 to improve bin collections, which will fund extra staff on food and garden waste rounds. Elsewhere, £190,000 has been found to ramp up planning enforcement, and £32,000 for street cleaning.
Leisure centres across the dis
trict - chiefly Kingsmead - will also benefit from £8.1 million of investment over the next two years for refurbishment work. But a £5 million gap in the council’s finances over that period needs to be plugged, and motorists will bear the brunt. From April 1, drivers parking in the city centre will see hourly charges at the most popular locations - Watling Street and Queningate - increase to £3.20 as part of a ‘premium’ tariff, and then to £3.50 next year. Many other car parks across the district will see 10p or 20p-an-hour increases, and off-street parking permits will increase by 9% in Canterbury and 7% in Whitstable and Herne Bay.
The hike in parking charges has been met with dismay by residents and shop owners, the latter fearing it will deter customers from coming into the city.
Council bosses have defended the decision, however, saying the increases are estimated to bring in an extra £1.7 million, and they still expect most car parks to be full.
They also point to the 1,000 city centre spaces where
charges have been frozen for two years, including at Holmans Meadow, and the multi-storeys in Station Road West and Castle Street.
More money will be raised by increasing council tax by 2.24% - a rise of £4.95 a year for an average Band D property. Elsewhere, £39,000 will be saved by axing funding to the Whitstable Oyster Festival, the Canterbury Food and Drink Festival and Bayfest, and another £9,000 by closing down tourism websites. Other charges covering services such as sports pitch hire have also been raised.
On the extra funding for some services, council leader Ben Fitter-harding said: “I’m confident that making these investments in all aspects of our waste, street cleaning and grounds maintenance service, particularly now that we wholly own it, will drive up recycling rates, result in a cleaner district and, most importantly, provide our residents with the excellent level of service that they deserve.
“As ever there’s more to be done, but I’m really proud to be investing in the council’s core services in year one of our new Corporate Plan under my leadership, especially with the council’s finances being so badly impacted by the lockdowns. “Focusing our council on the things that matter most to our residents is my top priority.” The budget was signed off by councillors at a special meeting last Monday.
At the same meeting it was also confirmed that the council’s current deputy chief executive, Tricia Marshall, would be made its head of paid services when chief executive Colin Carmichael leaves next month, with his role being axed. The position will give her final authority on many decisions.