A £6,300,000 redevelopment of a “dilapidated” sports pavilion in St Albans has been agreed as part of the district council’s budget – along with a 2.99% council tax rise for residents.
At a meeting on Wednesday (February 25), Liberal Democrat-run St Albans City & District Council agreed to push on with the multi-million-pound redevelopment of the William Bird Pavilion in New Greens.
Giles Fry (LD), vice-chair of the council’s strategy and resources committee, said the project would “breathe life back into” the pavilion by creating a new sports and community hub.
Council documents show that the redevelopment will be funded from property sales, infrastructure payments from developers, external grants, enabling schemes, and borrowing.
A Labour councillor, Mike Hobday, raised concerns that there is a “substantial” funding gap for the project and said: “This is not cautious budgeting, it is speculation.
Other projects funded in this year’s budget include £150,000 on new pay and display machines, £150,000 a year to improve communal areas at council-owned housing blocks, £107,000 to complete seating replacements at the Alban Arena, £75,000 for a feasibility study to consider what to do with the “end of life” Civic Centre car park, and £50,000 a year for planning enforcement action.
A further £300,000 will be added to the council’s reserves after Linda Parker, the authority’s finance chief, told councillors that the authority has a “low level of reserves” and needs to reach a minimum level of £3,300,000.
“The council’s financial position remains challenging, and major unexpected pressure could have a significant impact on reserves,” she said.
Residents, though, will face a 2.99% council tax rise, the highest allowed without a referendum. It means that Band D residents will pay an extra £6.22 this year, on top of the 4.99% increase already agreed by the county council, which receives the bulk of each household’s full council tax bill, and the 5.6% increase agreed by the police and crime commissioner.
Cllr Fry said St Albans City & District Council’s budget was “balanced, robust and fair”, and added that there would be investment in CCTV “to make our streets safer for everyone and better catch those who choose to fly-tip their rubbish in our district”. There are plans to spend £19,000 on new CCTV cameras at council-owned “hotspots” for fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour.
The leader of the council, Paul De Kort (LD), said the budget is “based all around fairness … and support for communities”.
The Liberal Democrats accepted a proposal from Cllr Hobday (Lab) to change the way that garden waste collections are funded.
Households on council tax support will now pay a subsidised fee of £30, down from £54, while those who do not receive council tax support will pay an additional £1 on top of the annual inflationary increase.
A second proposed amendment from Cllr Hobday, to spend up to £15,000 on repairing potholes at Haseldine Road car park in London Colney, was rejected despite support from the Green and Conservative groups.
Cllr Fry said it could lead to an “increased financial risk” and “scupper” the proposed transfer of the car park to London Colney parish Council.
Amendments from the Conservative group that would have reduced council tax by 1%, ended on-street parking charges in Harpenden and St Albans, and increased street cleaning, were deemed unachievable by the council’s finance chief.
The plans would have relied on transforming some council-run services into “shared services” with neighbouring councils, as well as increasing income from hosting events at council buildings and adding advertising at roundabouts.
Matt Cowley, leader of the Conservative group, said he was “profoundly disappointed” that he had been informed “with an hour and a half’s notice” that their amendment could not be brought forward.
He said that “feedback” previously provided on their proposals suggested they would have achieved the legally-required balanced budget.
Cllr De Kort accused Cllr Cowley of an “astonishing attack” on council officers, and said it had been “no surprise” that the Conservative amendment was deemed unachievable.
The leader of the Green group, Simon Grover, used his budget speech to criticise Cllr De Kort’s administration for failing to take a “collaborative” approach to the budget process.
“It’s not good for democracy, it’s not good for the quality of decision-making,” he said.
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