Liberal Democrat Budget Amendment Defeated

A budget amendment from the Liberal Democrats on East Cambridgeshire District Council was voted down by Conservative councillors yesterday (20 February).

The amendment would have removed funding from the Conservatives’ unpopular and unwanted crematorium at Mepal, set the council on the road to proper parking enforcement, doubled funding for environmental projects, and set £100,000 aside to support parish councils and community groups in sourcing grant funding.

The amendment, which also proposed a council tax freeze for the coming year, was defeated.

Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Lorna Dupré said:

“Scrapping the Conservatives’ crematorium would have released £9 million to enhance our villages, towns and the city of Ely, and removed the legal and financial risks associated with the project.

“East Cambridgeshire is the only council in England apart from Wealden and The Isles of Scilly which has neither implemented civil parking enforcement nor has any plans to do so. Meanwhile, vehicles are illegally parked all over the district, while years of council and police time are wasted by the Conservatives in not solving the problem of illegal parking.

“There is a huge need for clean energy generation, domestic retrofit, increased biodiversity, and more. Doubling the Tories’ £100,000 budget would create more opportunities for match funding, shared projects, cross-council initiatives, promotional activities, and work with partners.

“And help for local communities to find and win grant funding would boost local projects and facilities.”

The Liberal Democrats proposed to fund this through setting a prudent expectation of savings in vacant council posts.