Wiltshire Council to keep parking charges for disabled drivers

Council leader Richard Clewer said local government is "on the edge of financial catastrophe"

Wiltshire Council will keep parking charges for disabled drivers, and is putting up tax by nearly 5%, as part of a £26m savings plan.

Wiltshire's Conservative-run council set its £465m annual budget at a meeting in Trowbridge.

Liberal Democrats had tried and failed to overturn recently-introduced parking charges for blue badge holders.

Climate campaigners also staged a protest outside as the meeting was getting under way.

Wiltshire's Conservative leader Richard Clewer opened the budget debate and said "local government as a sector is, to put it bluntly, on the edge of financial catastrophe."

Margaret Philips said it was "a bit unfair" on people who cannot pay

But thanks, he said, to sound financial management, Wiltshire is able to avoid the worst of the spending cuts facing many other councils across the region - libraries, leisure centres, and other vital services have had funding protected.

Budget debates are a chance for opposition parties to put forward their alternative ideas.

Wiltshire's main opposition, the Liberal Democrats, proposed overturning cuts agreed a year ago to funding for elderly lunch clubs, as well as wanting to scrap new charges for disabled drivers in council car parks.

"Some of the most vulnerable people in the county will be hit, that's wrong," said Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Ian Thorn, who described the new charges as "pretty mean".

Climate campaigners held a protest outside the meeting

"It's a bit unfair on the elderly that can't possibly afford to pay," said Margaret Philips, a blue badge holder and wheelchair user in Chippenham.

Another, Louise Johnston who has MS and takes her young child into town, said: "It just adds to the every inconvenience you have anyway when you're disabled, and the cost."

Until recently, drivers who qualify for a blue badge due to a disability have been able to park free of charge.

The Conservatives argue the majority of blue badge holders are able to afford to pay for parking, and say finding small budget savings like this will help Wiltshire Council avoid the scale of funding problems most councils face.

Council tax in Wiltshire will rise by almost 5%

Meanwhile, Labour tried to lower the increase in rent facing council house tenants - but its sticking at 7%.

Council tax will rise by 4.99% in April - the maximum allowed - around an extra £80 per year for a Band D household.

Outside the meeting, climate campaigners held a protest calling for Wiltshire to do more to tackle carbon emissions.

One of them, Adam Walton from the Wiltshire Climate Alliance, said they wanted to keep reminding councillors "they could go a lot further and a lot faster" on Wiltshire's commitment to become carbon neutral by 2030.

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