Oswestry town council demands consultation from county hall on multi-million pound cuts
Town councillors in Oswestry will demand their counterparts at Shirehall consult them on proposed cuts to services in the town.
Earlier this month, Shropshire Council rubber-stamped plans to cut £62m from its revenue budget as part of cost-saving measures designed to ensure it balances the books.
And in a motion passed at a meeting of Oswestry Town Council this week the authority says it wants to be consulted on any changes to services in the town, telling the county council “we are closer to the ground than you".
The motion proposed by Green councillor Duncan Kerr also affirmed that the town council was “completely opposed” to any potential threat to the town’s recycling centre at Mile Oak.
“Speak to us, as the people on the ground, before implementing any cuts that affect the people of Oswestry, so they come with proper consultation to this authority before reducing services so we can have a proper say,” he said.
“We are closer to the ground and it may be that if savings are to be made we’re better able to identify them than people in Shirehall.
“I don’t know that anyone will doubt that this is a very, very grave situation. It’s been said that 300 full-time jobs will be lost – that’s probably 500 jobs because of people working part-time. The way these things work out, probably some of those will be people living in and around Oswestry who will be directly affected.”
Councillor Kerr, who is also county councillor for Oswestry South, also urged the unitary authority to conclude the asset transfer of the town’s youth services building on Oak Street to the town council, along with a parcel of land beside Oswestry Leisure Centre which is earmarked for a skateboard park.
“You would think it would be in their interest to divest themselves of these sites tomorrow and I cannot understand why it’s taking so long,” he added.
“We need urgent negotiations on these sites so we can bring forward plans using funding we have available to actually improve services to Oswestry from a well-run town council.”
Shropshire Council says nationwide demand pressures on services, particularly social care services, have led to a squeeze on local authority finances. It says it will make the majority of cuts by reducing the amount of money it spends with suppliers, along with increasing the amount of money it brings in.
One of the proposed budget cuts is to reduce the amount of household recycling centres in the county from five to three, estimated to save around £300,000. No specific centres have been identified for closure.
Earlier in the day, Councillor Ian Nellins, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Climate Change, Environment and Transport told Shropshire Council’s cabinet that it was exploring all options to avoid closures, and that the plans would be subject to a public consultation later this year.
