£20 million wind farm blow for taxpayers
VALLEY taxpayers are facing service cuts and possible tax rises to plug a £20 million-plus funding ‘black hole’ over Scout Moor.
The Government’s decision this week to block a huge expansion of the wind farm has dealt a hammer blow to Rossendale council’s finances.
The council - already battling a £700,000 shortfall in its operating budget as a result of the Government funding cuts- had been banking on a forecast £600,000 in annual business rate revenue from 14 new turbines between Edenfield and Rochdale. Financial documents stated that the Scout Moor expansion was expected to be worth more than £20 million to the council’s coffers over the scheme’s 25-year lifetime.
Council leader Alyson Barnes admitted the decision by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid has left them in a ‘very difficult’ position and in need of a ‘Plan B’.
Coun Barnes told the Free Press it was too early to rule out short term cuts to services and council tax rises due to the shortfall.
She said: “There isn’t an immediate Plan B but we are talking about what that will look like. We have worked incredibly hard over the last few years to try and mitigate the worst impacts of the government cuts for residents and I think we’ll struggle to not cut services on the back of this latest blow.
“Services will suffer as a result. It’s difficult to carry on making a difference in the borough when you’re being attacked on all fronts financially and services will suffer as a result. We are talking about a loss of up to £25 million.”
She added: “They said that we needed to demonstrate local support and we did that by getting it planning approval. I’m certain that if a Conservative-controlled council had made the decision to approve, it would not have been challenged by the Government.”
“[A council tax rise] will be one of the options but that doesn’t raise a lot of money. We will be looking at it very closely and forging a plan. “We are operating on a shoe-string budget as it is. We will have to look at very carefully and I am absolutely certain there will be some unpalatable decisions that have to be made.”
Tory group leader Coun Anne Cheetham slammed the council’s financial planning.
She said: “The council should always have a plan to fall back on because you can never guarantee when you ‘wish on a star’ that it’s going to come true. They are going to have to think very hard on the future expenditure within the borough and pull their belts in to focus on the core statutory services and not the wish-list of regeneration projects.
“Everything that was on that future list now has to be put on hold because there is no way we are going to be able to guarantee we can fill that void.”
Tory colleague Coun Peter Steen said the Secretary of State had not ‘overruled’ the council, but had merely supported the inspector’s independent decision. He said: “It would be incorrect to lay the blame at the Government, but it would help the Labour council to deflect attention from the large hole in their budget if they go down this route.
“It is actually a triumph for the democratic appeal system and local people.”
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