Last night's Full Council was characterised by several
underwhelming performances by portfolio holders. This included an unconvincing
effort at defending the extravagance that is "Celebrating 125 years of the
Borough of Southend-on-Sea & the Centenary of Priory Park being gifted to
the Town".
The Conservative Deputy Leader certainly could not
persuade me that spending £580,000 on an arbitrary anniversary when austerity
has seen enormous cuts over the last six years, with the promise of more, is a
good idea.
Whilst I am happy to celebrate, I think we should be
concerned that profligacy has once again returned to Southend-on-Sea's Borough
Council. The next round of Council meetings will see the Budget, and any large-scale cuts will stand in stark contrast to this proposed expenditure.
We have to find savings in so many areas, why cannot we find savings here too?
Money is being found from the Business Transformation
Reserve. And here is a list of what it is being spent on :-
£300,000
|
Poppies exhibition
|
£75,000
|
Flower festival in Priory Park
|
£37,500
|
Planting 125 trees
|
£35,000
|
Priory Park Gates
|
£33,000
|
Concert / musical event during the Village Green weekend
|
£30,000
|
Project Manager
|
£25,000
|
Grants to local organisations
|
£10,000
|
Silk River Project
|
£10,000
|
Publicity
|
£7,000
|
Pageant
|
£5,000
|
Royal visit
|
£5,000
|
Planting of floral displays with the logo
|
£5,000
|
Series of sporting events
|
£1,000
|
Series of Bandstand concerts
|
£500
|
Picnics in the parks across the borough
|
£500
|
Civic Service
|
The portfolio holder, Wakering resident Cllr Ann Holland
(Conservative, Southchurch ward), believes the expenditure will transform
business - I wonder how? I see nothing in this list that even gets close to a
sensible definition of business transformation.
This item followed my questioning about the selling off
two council properties (homes that could have housed families) which raised
£525,000. Aside from the fact that some would consider this a slap in the face
to those who sit on the Council's housing list, selling off Council property to
fund these extravagant celebrations is unwarranted.
The current Conservative administration has wasted little
time in returning to their spend now, pay later ways. Clearly it is austerity
for some, extravagance for others.