Conservative-run New Forest District Council approves ‘prudent’ budget after alternative by Liberal Democrats thrown out

SETTING at budget for New Forest District Council was compared with making decisions about deckchairs on the Titanic before being hit by the “iceberg” of local government reorganisation.

The Conservative majority on the council approved the administration’s proposals, having voted down a Liberal Democrat alternative which featured more spending.

Members acknowledged at the meeting on Monday that it was one of the last budgets the authority would set before the major shake-up of local government in England resulted in its abolition.

Residents have until 13th April to comment on the fast-track devolution plans, which will see Hampshire and the Solent region become a new regional authority headed by a mayor, with elections for the role expected to take place in May.

Speaking at the meeting, NFDC leader Cllr Jill Cleary said a “prudent and sensible” approach had ensured a balanced budget could be set despite financial support from government being lower than expected.

She said her three main priorities to deliver in 2025/26 were: transformation, the new waste service, and investment in community-based assets.

The budget includes £8m in the capital programme for modernising the waste service, which will see wheelie bins introduced across the district from June, as well as £13.5m on maintaining existing council housing, improving energy efficiency and upgrading kitchens, bathrooms, doors, windows and boilers.

The council has £45m set aside for building new homes over the next three years, and the budget allows for enhanced community grant programmes, including increased individual councillor grants, supporting local initiatives and projects.

The budget also includes funds allocated to community assets and infrastructure improvements, benefiting town centres, coastal destinations, open spaces, community halls, sports halls, footpaths and highways across the district.

Leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition, Cllr Malcolm Wade, proposed an alternative budget on behalf of the Liberal Democrat group.

This included a £5m capital increase in the housing acquisition budget and an additional £954,600 in the general fund revenue budget for 2025/26, falling to an additional £799,600 and £549,600 in subsequent years.

The extra investment would include £50,000 towards youth hubs, a £500,000 grant contribution over two years to reduce child poverty and £25,000 for the introduction of an arts bus to serve the whole district.

Other proposals included working in partnership to deliver a health bus, a feasibility study on putting solar panels to cover council car parks and placing community skips in communities to deal with side waste produced by the introduction of wheelie bins.

The Liberal Democrats were not proposing to remove any elements from the Conservative administration’s budget, and the council tax precept of an increase of 2.99% was not opposed.

Cllr Wade said: “This is not about party politics. It is about leadership. It is about vision. It is about responsibility and accountability to the people we serve.

“The decisions we make now will echo into the future and cannot afford for their sakes to let this moment pass without action.”

Fellow Lib Dem Cllr Mark Clark said he was focused on residents’ priorities, with big decisions on local government reorganisation to come in the year ahead.

He said: “Some may know, I work in shipping and tonight feels a bit like the deck officers on board the Titanic deciding where the croquet sets and the deckchairs will go before the iceberg of the local government reorganisation hits us.

“In 12 months’ time things will look very different. Our 51st year of this council will be spent discussing how we dissolve ourselves.”

Cllr John Haywood, a Labour member, said the budget presented an opportunity to set a line in the sand for residents’ futures, and backed the alternative budget.

Conservative deputy leader Cllr Steve Davies said the administration had put forward a “prudent budget that cares for people, provides for our housing and looks to the future”.

Summing up, Cllr Cleary said: “Councillors, please do not unpick our hard work by supporting an alternative budget that is overcommitting us and our available funding.

“There is a reason other councils around us are suffering financially and we are not.

“The administration budget is ambitious, prioritised and balanced, and I wholeheartedly support it and not the alternative.”

She added: “Our proposed investment in community assets and in a large CIL (community infrastructure levy) programme will leave a lasting legacy that I hope all members will be proud of.”

The Liberal Democrat alternative budget received 25 votes against, 16 for and one abstention.

The Conservative budget was carried with 25 votes for, 14 against and three abstentions.