Green councillor Duncan Kerr commented on the decision by Oswestry Town Council to raise the precept by 40% and car parking charges by 20%.

Commenting on the decision of the Lib Dem controlled Oswestry Town Council to raise the precept by 40%, and car parking charges by 20%, Cllr Kerr on behalf of the Green Councillors who along with the Independent Councillors all opposed this said:

“The people of Oswestry are being compelled to pay for the failure not of Oswestry Town Council but of Shropshire Unitary Council. That is unfair and will inflict serious damage on the economy of our town during a cost of living crisis. When the Council tax bill lands on the doorstep in a few week’s time it will be an unpleasant shock for some and a real worry for many. It will take over £400,000 from the disposable spending of Oswestry residents – money that could otherwise have been spent supporting local shops and businesses. The Councillors who voted for this know that the poorest have to pay a much larger share of their income in Council tax than the wealthiest so it hits them hardest.

It’s a bad enough to have a large bill, worse still when the projects proposed are half-baked ideas without any business case or assurance from the Clerk that the projections are robust. From £30K to pay for a transport strategy we don't need to £210K to maintain Shropshire's parks. Many of them are simply unworkable, but they won’t be giving your money back indeed further steep rises are planned next year. For no good reason the Lib Dems rejected two of the very sensible and cost-effective proposals from the Independent and Green Councillors to revitalise the outdoor market by cutting stall prices and to improve sports facilities in Cae Glas park including the re-surfacing of the tennis courts.

It’s a very sad day for democracy and it’s not surprising that over 300 people have already signed a petition against this. Over the last couple of months the Liberal Democrat group has consistently put Shropshire rather than Oswestry first and their members on the Town Council has reduced from 17 to 12. They seem to think that the business and people of Oswestry will simply accept both this and 20% increase on car parking as well. When other towns like Ellesmere and Whitchurch are increasing the precept by 5 rather than 40% they might find residents telling them that they didn't vote for this in May.