At yesterday’s Wiltshire Council Budget Setting meeting, all the Liberal Democrat, Independent and Labour Councillors voted for 3 weekly bin collections, to repair, demolish and then rebuild St Stephens Car Park, to increase parking charges, to borrow £20 million, mostly to repair roads, at a total cost of over £76 million to be repaid over the next 60 years. Despite this – the budget doesn’t balance Wiltshire Council’s books.
This on the back of months of chaos from the Lib Dem administration with vital services cut then reinstated, budget amendments placed and withdrawn, and a confused approach to budget setting with the last-minute inclusion of several Conservative budget ideas. The havoc of the Lib Dem administration is harming Wiltshire Council and the residents of Wiltshire.
There was an alternative budget put forward by the Conservatives that avoided all of that through a strategic approach to savings. That was however voted down, as Independent and Labour councillors decided the Lib Dem approach was better for Wiltshire’s residents, businesses and communities.
Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of Wiltshire Council Conservatives said:
I am very sorry that the Lib Dems, supported by Independent and Labour Councillors, voted to cut services for residents and businesses. This budget simply doesn’t give Wiltshire the stable financial footing it needs. It relies on significant new borrowing and short-sighted increases in car parking charges which will impact the local economy and our high streets. It will leave residents paying the price for years to come.
The last‑minute changes, the uncertainty around key services, and the lack of a long‑term strategic plan all point to a budget that falls short of what our communities deserve. We need a financial approach that is calm, competent, and genuinely future‑focused — and the Lib Dems and their budget does not deliver that.
Wiltshire deserves better than this.
