The Basildon Labour Group has condemned the Basildon Conservative Party’s decision to remove £22 million of infrastructure money from the new draft local plan which will be approved at full council on 18th October. (more…)
On Wednesday evening the Conservative Party released details of their new policy for gypsy and traveller pitches in the local plan. Deputy Council Leader Kevin Blake proposed the policy which will see all illegal pitches, wherever they are in the borough, legalised subject to meeting a loose criteria which has yet to be drafted. It means the plans which included specific sites that could be managed and allow for collection of council tax, will be scrapped. Instead there will be a free for all across the whole borough. (more…)
The Basildon Council Labour Group has been forced to place councillors on the Conservative Administration’s two new Scrutiny Committees. The Committee System of governance that Basildon Borough Council operates under gives all councillors a say in how the council is run and allows opposition councillors the opportunity to scrutinise all decisions made at each meeting as they happen. Under the previous cabinet system many decisions were made by a handful of councillors and the only way to challenge them by opposition councillors was to refer them to a scrutiny committee. (more…)
The Basildon Labour Party have consistently warned the Conservative Administration and residents of the dangers of delaying our local plan and the potential that further delays could lead to additional homes. Unfortunately that warning became a reality. (more…)
Basildon Labour have submitted an emergency motion to be discussed at tonight’s Full Council Meeting at Basildon Council. The motion refers to government plans to release a new version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) on 24 July 2018 and highlights the potential consequences for Basildon Borough and our Local Plan. (more…)
Labours attempt to increase the war on Fly Tipping in the Basildon Borough has been voted down by the Basildon Conservatives. Labours Deputy Leader in Basildon and Spokesperson for Corporate Resources, Cllr David Burton-Sampson, tabled an amendment to a recommendation to increase resource in this area at a recent meeting of the councils Corporate Resources Committee.
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Concern has been raised that the Basildon Conservatives are about to break a key election promise and raise Council Tax for the next 10 years. A report presented to the councils Corporate Resources committee which set out the financial forecast and the budget setting process outlined an assumption that Council Tax will increase by 2.99% for 2019/20 and 1.99% per annum thereafter. Introducing the agenda item, the Chair, Cllr Stuart Sullivan said of the assumptions “I consider these assumptions to be prudent.” This is despite the Conservatives making claims in their recent literature during the May Borough Council Elections that they would not have raised council tax and will keep tax low. (more…)
The Basildon Labour Party have called for a meeting with the Government's Chief Planning Officer after it emerged that following a meeting with the new Conservative Administration, inspectors are being sent into the Council to assess why delays are taking so long. (more…)
The Basildon Labour Group will call on the Conservative Administration to drastically reduce the amount of money being paid to Councillors in Special Responsibility Allowances when the Council meets on July 19th. (more…)
The Conservative Party take back control of Basildon Council and in their first act vote to give themselves one of the biggest pay rises in Basildon history. With the creation of 6 new committees they have managed to give themselves a pay rise that comes in at just over £70,000 and rejected LABOURS calls to put a cap on councillor pay. (more…)