Coun Steven Leigh: Labour to borrow £52m to fund the Local Plan

By Calderdale Council Conservative Group leader Coun Steven Leigh

The Conservative Group in Calderdale, alongside many residents and action groups including the Clifton Village Neighbourhood Forum, oppose Labour’s Local Plan.

The Conservative Group does support house building, but the Local Plan will bulldoze the green belt in Calderdale. Most of the 10,000 planned properties will be built on green belt across Greetland, Northowram, Brighouse and Rastrick.

Unfortunately, Labour’s Plan has not included the necessary and vital infrastructure to support the project, such as new roads and amenities. Neither does the Plan properly address the shortage of accessible and affordable housing in the Borough. And now to make matters worse, the Labour-run Council has announced plans to borrow a staggering £52m to support this project, with £17m of the £52m to be recovered via a roof tariff on the properties.

This comes at a time when the Council is facing serious financial challenges, with a reported £10.8m budget deficit and a plan to use £17.5m of earmarked reserves in 2023/24, while simultaneously planning to cut Council services in its forthcoming Budget.

The long list of Labour’s proposed cuts includes the closure of Elland Tip, and cuts to youth services, which will affect the everyday lives of many residents.

Additionally, the threatened disposal of the Shay stadium would affect the future of the clubs operating within it and the jobs lost will make life very difficult for many families. Yet, Council tax will increase this year and is expected to increase in the following years, like it has done for the past few years under Labour-controlled Calderdale Council.

From the Conservative’s point of view, it is completely irresponsible to borrow £52m for this project in these challenging circumstances because the cost to service this debt will further continue to erode the budget available for Council services, making further cuts inevitable down the line.

But this is typical of Labour. They have already spent £1.2m on consultants for the Local Plan and continue to drive ahead despite the fact they face strong resistance from local residents who have succeeded in obtaining a Judicial Review of the Plan.

Labour also plans to borrow around £20m for the new Leisure Centre Project at North Bridge, but initially they had the option to use a government grant of £11m to fully refurbish the old Swimming Baths in Halifax instead at no cost to the Borough. On top of that, they are £3m overspent on the Town Centre Office Strategy Projects, and it took them over a decade to start work on the Mixenden Hub project.

Residents are being taxed more, and receiving less services, while the Labour-run Council spends recklessly on vanity projects that residents do not want. Labour is being reckless with the public purse and not acting in the best interest of residents and businesses in Calderdale.