Wealden News  January/February  2012

 Council Tax

Wealden Council is consulting on Council Tax levels for 2012/13. We are proposing to freeze Council Tax for the second year running, taking advantage of extra Government support for councils who limit expenditure increases to 2.5%.  This applies only of course to the Wealden element of the tax which is a small proportion of the total, but County are also looking to keep spending under control.  The Wealden element of tax will remain at £174.06 for an average Band D property for the third year in a row.

Waste Collection

A major element of Wealden services is of course waste collection.  Talks are now well advanced in   agreeing a joint contract with Eastbourne, Hastings and Rother Councils for a contracted out service. The intention is to maintain the quality of service but make substantial savings through economies of scale. We will also be seeking to improve our recycling rate which is currently a very commendable 47% of all household waste collected.

Housing

Despite the economy being very sluggish we are this year as last building more houses in Wealden than for many years.  We expect about 560 houses to be completed before the year end in March and of these 195 will be ‘affordable’ ,that is for rent or shared purchase.

Planning

We will in early February complete the examination in public of our Core Strategy, the 20 year vision for development in Wealden.  We will then await the Planning Inspector’s views.  In the meantime we will be launching a consultation document on the next level of detail.  This sets out the 12 sites where we are proposing housing development with a number of related industrial and commercial opportunities.  The 12 sites include one to the west of Uckfield,3 in Crowborough with the others mainly in Hailsham, Polegate and Stone Cross.  Exhibitions showing the proposals are planned for Crowborough on 4^th February and Uckfield on the 11^th February.

If you would like any more detail in any of these topics please contact your local councillors.

They are Roy Galley on 01825 713018 cllr.roy.galley @wealden.gov.uk and Peter Roundell on 01825 724166 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it