Budget draws near – join the Fair Deal for Bury

Vital decisions about services and taxes will be discussed when Bury Council holds its annual budget meeting on Wednesday 20 February.

Council leaders are urging residents to join the Fair Deal for Bury campaign which is demanding better financial settlements from the Government.

Next Wednesday’s meeting, which start at 7pm at Bury Town Hall, will be streamed live on the internet so that residents can tune in and watch the crucial debate as it happens – log in at http://new.livestream.com/digitaltreeuk/burycouncil

Councillor Mike Connolly, leader of the council, said: “This is the most important council meeting of the year, when we have to set the budget, council tax and council house rents. “We are facing unprecedented budget pressures, which mean we have to find £26 million of savings by 2015 with further cuts looming after that. This will have major impacts on what services the council can provide, not just in the coming months but for years to come.

“These pressures are also fundamentally unfair on Bury – we have had our budget cut by 5.1%, compared to just 3% for London councils and 3.9% across the country as a whole. It’s not right, and it’s not fair. This is why we are urging residents to sign up to the Fair Deal for Bury campaign, because this inequality is set to continue for a long time unless we can do something about it.”

The Fair Deal for Bury campaign can be found at www.bury.gov.uk/fairdeal

Cllr Connolly added: “I want to thank the many people who took the time to take part in the council’s consultation exercises over the past month, and I can assure them that their views will be taken into account when the council decides on its budget.

“I know how important these matters are to fellow Bury people, and I would urge residents to watch the debate live online.”