Council Meeting – More Tough Choices – Mon 19 Nov 7pm

Monday, 19 November at 7 – 8:30 pm, Citygate Church, Rectory Road, Beckenham, BR3 1AA

Public meeting – Have your say

With more than £30 million to be cut from the Council’s budget over the next four years in addition to similar savings in the last two years, there are more tough choices to be made. The Leader of Bromley Council, Stephen Carr is inviting those who live and work in the borough to join him and leading Councillors at one of the meetings to hear as many views as possible about the financial challenges faced and the future of the Council.

In an open letter to the people of Bromley, Councillor Carr said: “We are now at a stage where we cannot keep cutting then cutting again. Given the magnitude of savings and the financial pressures we face, we must be realistic as it is important that residents understand the pressures we are coming under locally as a result of significant change to Government legislation and funding streams.

Each and every Council service is now under the spotlight and we are asking some very fundamental questions about the future. What services would be better delivered through the private sector, through a social enterprise or the voluntary sector? Are there more services we could share with our neighbouring boroughs? Should we keep maintaining our parks and gardens? Should we keep all our libraries open? Should we keep the same level of youth provision? How do we meet the growing demand to support the most vulnerable in our community? And to ask you as taxpayers what tough choices you would make; is there an argument for a modest increase in council tax to pay for services? You have helped us make savings during the last two years. As your elected Councillors it is vital we continue to talk with you and listen to your views about your Council into the future.”