Canterbury is one of the biggest student cities in England, but does its Council consider its largest group of people? And are we paying for the development of the Marlowe?
Canterbury Council released its second budget proposal on 15 January and is set to save £3m over the next two years. It anticipates that after the next elections, the new government will reduce the grants it would normally receive. This is the reason for a two-year proposal: they are planning ahead to compensate for the loss in revenue they would normally receive from the grant. To save this amount of money the council has to propose “money saving schemes” which will be set in stone on 18 February.
Many people in and around the Canterbury area are speculating that the development of the Marlowe has left the council needing to find another £3m. The Marlowe development started in April 2009 and is costing in total £25.5m; this being funded by Canterbury Council among three other organisations.
There are three things in the budget that affect students: parking fee changes, the closure of the Westgate Hall and recycling bag charges.
Firstly there is a huge hype about recycling and the Council even threatened to fine people that don’t recycle enough. In the first budget proposal, Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay residents were going to be charged for the clear sacks. This time the council is proposing to provide one roll per house every quarter for free and any extra clear bags have to be paid for by the residents. That seems fair enough but on each roll there are only 17 bags. The Council proposal states that “most households find 17 clear sacks per quarter sufficient and these are provided free”. Most student houses have six people living in them; this means that there are six independent people who buy and cook their own food, living in the house.This therefore amounts to a lot more recycling than in your average family home. In an average student household four to five recycle bags are used every two weeks, resulting in a consumption of 30 bags. Therefore 17 just aren’t enough, so we are going to either have to buy the clear sacks or not recycle – Which would you choose? The council hopes to save £30,000 with this proposal.
The Council plans to raise £266,000 by raising the price of parking in and around the Canterbury city centre, including the Longport area and North Holmes Road. The price per hour will begin at 90p per hour but could rise throughout the year. Also the main city centre car parks are increasing their prices. Castle Row, Castle Street Multi-Storey, Miller’s Field, North Lane, Queningate, Rosemary Lane and St Radigund’s car parks are all increasing by 10p to £1.00 per hour. Pound Lane will decrease by 10p. That leaves seven car park prices being raised and one being decreased. It may not seem like a huge increase but the cost of a rise of 10p per hour paid five times a week, if you commute to university, does mount up. “Parking in Canterbury district will remain good value for money when compared to similar towns and cities,” said the council.
The council plans to save £400,000 by demolishing the Westgate Hall. It is in need of enhancements so that it meets health and safety requirements. So what’s the big deal? Well, the hall is used by hundreds of people for societies, dance classes and performance space. Once the Marlowe is built that will become the main community performance area, but what’s going to happen in the time between the demolition of the hall and the rebuild? There won’t be a place for people to use, which is going to cause problems for Canterbury’s arts and entertainment industry. Once it has been demolished the area is going to be used as temporary parking, which ties in with the Council’s proposal for parking fees. The new proposal will be set in February, but until then the future looks uncertain for Canterbury residents.
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