Leader's column

Wednesday 14 March 2007

Dear Resident,

Over the past few weeks we have been taking important decisions on how much we need to spend on council services for residents, and how much your council tax bills will be for the coming 12 months.

I’m pleased to say that we have been able to honour our commitment to keep the increase in our part of the council tax bill to just three per cent, or 63 pence a week for the average taxpayer.

At the same time we’re making sure that you continue to receive high quality services – including cleaner and greener streets, better schools and help to vulnerable people such as the elderly and those with disabilities.

We don’t forget that it’s your money that we’re spending. I’m pleased to say that we’ve been able to save £8 million through efficiency savings and smarter ways of working. That frees up resources to spend on key areas such as social services.

In our feature Turning down the gas, you can read about our plans for new environmentally focused parking charges.

Many people consider climate change to be a global issue and think they can do little to help combat its effect. However, we believe that everyone can play a part in cutting down on pollution and harmful carbon emissions.

That’s why we want different tariffs for residential parking permits. We think that there should be a higher cost for those vehicles creating more pollution. Global warming is something we should all do something about.

Cllr George Meehan,
Leader, Haringey Council