• £500,000 investment to tackle climate emergency
  • £500,000 investment to protect parks & open spaces
  • Quarterly deep cleans of residential streets
  • £300,000 to tackle fly-tipping
  • £132,000 for Welsh Harp enforcement, clean up and maintenance
  • Funding for ecology & bio-diversity officer
  • Scrap Tory plan for solar farms on parks & open spaces

Barnet’s Labour councillors have proposed a budget for the environment at last night’s Full Council meeting (2 March).

Our budget included a package of investment totalling nearly £1.8 million to fight enviro-crime and clean up our streets, to protect parks and open spaces, and to mitigate climate change and protect biodiversity, including on the Welsh Harp.

To fund our budget, we proposed rationalising senior management, reducing spend on temporary agency staff, reducing councillor special responsibility allowances by merging several committees, and bringing forward fees and charges already proposed by a few months.

We also scrapped the Barnet Conservatives plan for solar farms and battery storage substations on parks and open spaces. The solar farms plan is STILL in the Council’s budget and it STILL refers to low value/low quality parks and open spaces. The Conservatives voted against removing it again last night.

The Barnet Conservative and Lib Dem councillors voted against our budget for the environment.

Speaking at the Council meeting, Leader of the Barnet Labour Group, Cllr Barry Rawlings said: “It is time to re-think and re-set our role and priorities, and our budget amendment provides that opportunity, and it is up to councillors to either rise to this challenge or continue to manage decline.

“We propose a necessary re-set of the council to focus on the environment, especially on the effects of the climate emergency. I know the local Tories don’t believe there is an emergency. Twice they have voted against declaring a climate emergency while the surrounding authorities have recognised it is a reality.

“There is a climate emergency, and we have a duty to future generations of Barnet residents to deal with it and to keep our public realm and local environment clean.”

Barnet Labour Environment Spokesperson, Cllr Alan Schneiderman said: “Low quality low value was a definition the Barnet Tories invented a few years ago in order – as their own report from 2018 says – ‘to reduce maintenance pending the identification of alternative uses’.

“The proposal to restrict access to these parks and open spaces has created a bit of a stir and proved rather unpopular. So, when it came to policy and resources committee last month, in a bit of a u-turn, the reference to ‘low quality low value parks’ was dropped and replaced by ‘under-utilised open spaces’ – but with no word on which open spaces were under threat.  Now at the budget setting meeting, the report again refers to ‘low quality low value parks and open spaces’.

“I’m not sure what you call a u-turn on a u-turn – but it probably makes you feel a bit dizzy.

“Isn’t it just time to scrap the whole proposal, which is what the Labour budget does? Let’s concentrate on putting solar panels on council buildings – and protect and invest in our parks and open spaces.”

 

Ends.

 

Notes:

  1. A link to the Labour budget amendment can be found here: https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/b37328/Labour%20Group%20Alternative%20Budget%202021-22%2002nd-Mar-2021%2019.00%20Council.pdf?T=9
  2. A copy of the budget line ENV12 on solar farms referencing ‘low value/low quality parks and open spaces’ can be found on p7 of the following Council budget schedule: https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s63861/Appendix%20E%20Summary%20of%20Savings%20Proposals.pdf
  3. A link to all the budget papers for last night’s Council meeting: https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=162&MId=10237
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