Balancing the budget

IMPROVEMENTS to council houses, Kings' Park and Retford Cemetery are among the highlights of this year's district council budget.

Labour's first draft budget since it wrested control of Bassetlaw council back from the Conservatives in May was discussed at a cabinet meeting.

The authority unveiled plans to build public toilets in Retford Cemetery and to revamp the bandstand in Kings' Park, among other initiatives.

"I'm particularly pleased with the number of items in Retford which will benefit the town - we're resurrecting the band stand and the toilets in the cemetery are long overdue," said council leader, Councillor Graham Oxby.

"We're making investments in a number of houses in Retford in doors, windows, heating and insulation as well as a £150,000 contribution towards broadband provision and a new play area for Strawberry Road.

"I think this is a balanced programme at a time of difficult financial constraints and I believe we have put a beneficial budget forward," he added.

Other items included more grants for Tuxford property owners to carry out repairs after English Heritage classed the village centre as 'at risk', and an upgrade of all CCTV cameras in the district.

Ahead of the 2012/13 financial year and with a further £900,000 reduction in government funding, the council has saved over £1.2m, according to its budget literature. Over 35 per cent of the savings have come from voluntary redundancies and retirements.

The Conservative opposition say the council is spending more money than it has

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at its disposal.

"They're going back to their old ways of sticking projects in the capital programme which they haven't got the money for," said Conservative leader, Councillor Mike Quigley.

"We're not talking about a difference of tens of thousands of pounds or even hundreds of thousands - it's more like millions.

"They've reduced spending on parks and open spaces, street cleaning and homelessness, as well as a significant hike in the money for people wanting to park for more than an hour in the council's car parks."

A full debate, including an alternative budget proposal from the Conservatives, is scheduled for March.