Story: Douglas Johnson
Cuts to the Council's funds will particularly affect residents of Burngreave when it comes to setting the council’s budget this month.
This year, the council has to reduce its expenditure by another £57m, on top of the £84m cut last year, and also has to find an extra £2m to start paying for the Highways PFI. The council has been upfront about some decisions and has had a series of public consultations about the cuts.
Changing bin collections to fortnightly will have an impact on properties where there is already a lot of rubbish. The aim is to have black bins collected one week and then blue bins the next. Many people still don’t use their blue bins and it is hoped this will encourage people to recycle more. Green sack collections will also stop. How the council will deal with requests for additional help is still to be worked out.
Regular street-sweeping may also reduce, with streets only being swept when specially requested, according to one Councillor at the recent Community Assembly meeting. Burngreave residents will have to put in requests for service to make sure the area doesn’t get overlooked.
Parks and woodlands face further cuts in service levels and the Council is also looking at cutting funding for bowling clubs and for the environment weeks. Allotment-holders face a 7.5% rent rise with the plan to double rents by 2013/14.
However, services like the Police Community Support Officers are to be protected and the Council will limit cuts in grant funding to the voluntary sector to 5%. It is of course the hidden impact of continually reducing services that most affects an area like Burngreave.
You can keep up to date with the Council's budget announcements on the Council website.