Liberal Democrats unveil their budget proposals

Rugby Liberal Democrats have unveiled their proposals for Rugby Borough Council's 2015-16 budget. The Liberal Democrat proposals combine a Council Tax freeze with proposals to revive the town centre and create a cleaner, healthier and more connected borough.

The centre piece of the Liberal Democrat proposals is a plan to spend £100,000 on improving the public spaces in the town centre including making free wi-fi available. The Liberal Democrats are hoping to reverse the sad decline in footfall in the town centre seen under the current conservative administration - see http://rugby.lib.dm/a8SLN .

Outside the town centre the Liberal Democrats are committed to promoting Health Living Walks around the borough with capital grants for better drainage, footbridges and signage for the town's footpaths and cycleways.

Just as they did with their amendments to the conservatives' budget proposals for Warwickshire County Council Rugby Liberal Democrats plan a boost for the borough council's efficiency by investing more in "cloud-based" ICT systems. The Lib Dems are also planning a feasibility study on converting "The Retreat" - which sits behind Rugby Town Hall - into a One Stop Shop Centre that would bring together partner organisations to serve Rugby's growing population.

Additional allocations are also planned for sports and arts development and the "Keep Rugby Clean" campaign.

The Liberal Democrats have carefully studied the conservatives' proposals to pay for the Rugby World Cup celebrations and are making use of the same special accounts to fund their proposals.

Under the Liberal Democrats' proposals for a Council Tax freeze householders in a band D property would pay a basic £127.67 a year which is added to the £1,201.14 Warwickshire County Council charge and the £188.23 police charge. Depending on where they live householders may also pay a parish council charge or the Rugby town area charge. Residents in parishes like Wibtoft which do not have a parish charge will face the lowest bills (with the total charge for a band D householder of £1,517.04) whilst residents of Stretton-on-Dunsmore will have the highest charges as their parish council has decided to levy the highest charge in the district (with a total charge for a band D householder of £1,619.39). See http://rugby.lib.dm/a5T6M .

The Rugby Liberal Democrat group have shared their budget proposals with the other groups on the Council in the hope that giving the other parties several days to consider the proposals will lead to a higher standard of debate when these proposals are discussed at the Council meeting on Tuesday evening - see http://rugby.lib.dm/a7T6M .