Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) strongly opposes proposals to abolish councils across Essex and replace them with 2-4 new larger authorities.
R4U’s Cllr John Lodge, who is Leader of Uttlesford District Council, said “We were elected to give residents a stronger say. That means we firmly oppose ANY local government changes that prevent residents deciding local matters for themselves.”
John Lodge (R4U)“We agree that reform of ECC is well overdue – it just isn’t working for us. Uttlesford residents pay more than £40million a year to them – 75% of our council taxes – but we get much less back. County councillors are invisible and unaccountable, and ECC service delivery is poor. All they seem to want to do is cut our libraries, slash our public transport, and avoid investing in our roads and schools. Their recent laughable ‘nominate your favourite pothole’ campaign and more serious school bus safety debacles just highlight this fact for residents.”
“But closing down Uttlesford District Council and moving it to Harlow or Chelmsford doesn’t fix ECC. It is a sleight of hand. What residents need are better services, a fairer financial settlement, and a county council that works for us all. Instead they are trying to shift decision-making and power towards Westminster, reduce local democracy, accountability and services, and it will cost Uttlesford residents more.”
“We will be bringing forward our own plan to create real devolution that restructures ECC and brings local decision-making home. We have already signed up with 8 other councils in Essex, all with different political leadership and make-up, to oppose the proposals.”