Liberal Democrat led council budget invests in Brentwood’s future.

Councillor David Kendall, who chairs Brentwood Borough Council’s Finance and Resources Committee, sets out the facts about our recent Budget.

"As residents will know, we recently passed our budget for the next financial year last month.

There are lots of positives in our Budget – we are investing in services which matter to you, and the buildings you use, from new Council houses to enhanced leisure facilities, and infrastructure, like the Baytree Centre.

In setting a budget and the financial strategy we’ll use for the next two years, we will invest in frontline services, while there will be a major capital programme in council assets – all while maintaining a balanced financial position for the next three years.

The budget includes more than £110million of capital and revenue investment across the borough to build new affordable homes for local people, regeneration schemes and a much-needed leisure centre redevelopment.

Car parking charges are also frozen for the second successive year in council owned car parks, alongside targeted growth investment to strengthen frontline services and prepare for Local Government Reorganisation.

This investment into frontline services that residents will see includes new investment in footpaths, cycleways and car parks – all of which are things you have asked for.

We’re investing in our fleet and improving our depot to strengthen and improve our waste and street cleansing services

CCTV upgrades will help reduce anti-social behaviour, while we’ll be delivering play area improvements, bin replacements and increased maintenance of open spaces

Our capital programme, over the next four years, includes more than £110m to deliver long term improvements to local facilities, infrastructure and housing stock.

Key projects include £25 million for the Brentwood Centre redevelopment, delivering a modern and inclusive leisure facility

We’re also spending £5m to enable the Baytree Centre regeneration, enabling a more vibrant and sustainable town centre, and nearly £70m for new affordable homes, housing upgrades and the Decent Homes Programme

To fund these improvements, we’ve made a 2.99% increase in Council Tax to protect services and for essential investment. This means the charge of a Band D property will increase by 13p a week to £223.49 a year, for Brentwood Council services only.

Councillor Kendall said: “This budget will bring service improvements that our residents will notice – whilst also putting Brentwood in a far stronger financial position for the future.

“We are also delivering one of the most ambitious capital programmes we’ve seen in years, with major investment to redevelop the Brentwood Centre, regeneration of the Baytree Centre and to build new affordable homes for local people.

“We are investing in the services people told us were important to them in our budget survey, such as street cleansing, community safety, our parks and open spaces. And we are managing to do this whilst freezing all car parking charges for the second year running in council owned car parks.

“Crucially we have achieved all this while reducing the Council’s debt and without taking any new borrowing - this is important to secure long term financial stability. Every pound is being used responsibly to strengthen our communities, support local priorities and create a Brentwood that is cleaner, safer and better connected for the years to come”.