Last chance to have a say on Crawley council budget options

Like all councils across the country, Crawley has been hit hard by the costs and loss of income brought about by the pandemic and is toying with ideas to make ends meet.

Those ideas include:

• Collecting rubbish once a fortnight rather than weekly

• Introducing a food waste collection

• Reviewing the support the council gives to the community and the voluntary sector once the pandemic is over.

• Closing or reducing the operating hours of public toilets

• Reviewing the town’s adventure playgrounds

• Possibly closing a number of cricket squares, bowling greens and croquet lawns

• Increasing fees and charges so that costs are covered

Leader Peter Lamb said: “For the last six years, Crawley Borough Council has bucked the trend.

“Despite huge cuts to local government funding, every year we have managed to generate enough new revenue to make up for the cuts without having to put council tax up above inflation.

“Due to the pandemic, that is no longer possible.

“Throughout the lockdown, the money-making parts of the council were forced to shut, while various new costs arose.

“Unfortunately, the financial consequences will last long beyond this one year, with the economic impact resulting in a significant ongoing cut to the council’s income from business rates and council tax.

“As a result, for the first time since I became council leader, we are having to make real cuts to balance the budget.

“We will do everything we can to make savings humanely and minimise the impact on frontline services, but there will be real consequences for service delivery.”  

The cost of the pandemic in Crawley has been huge.

Even after receiving £1.4m of help from the government and making £500k of internal savings, the council’s budget is still £1.2m short – and that will grow to at least £1.7m in 2021/22.

To have your say on the plans, log on to crawley.gov.uk/council-information/how-council-works/consultation and click on ‘budget consultation’.

The consultation closes at 8pm on Thursday November 5.