Fed up of seeing the council tax increases

2002-2003 - 10.3 per cent

2003-2004 - 5.5 per cent

2004-2005 - 5.0 per cent

2006-2007 - 4.9 per cent

As a life long resident I am frankly dismayed the district council feels justified in rewarding itself an increase that is twice the cost of living. Clearly I misjudged council leaders, believing that decision-makers would barely have the nerve to force another over inflationary rise on local residents.

One only has to track the last three years to see that Bromsgrove residents have paid disproportionate levels of council tax, both in relation to service offering and in relation to the rest of the national population.

Clearly a resident of another local authority would assume the high rates paid by Bromsgrove residents reflect excellent service provision. After all, having checked the www/direct.gov.uk I am now well versed on what council tax actually pays for.

Services include the provision of schools and nursery facilities for children, health and social care, refuse collection, street cleaning, planning control, leisure facilities and libraries and developing and contributing to regional transport planning and policy.

I'm sure you'll agree this is quite an impressive mix of services paid for and managed by the council on our behalf? However, how many residents would agree the services are worthy of the extortionate rates we pay?

I can't be the only resident who watched in dismay as the council agreed planning to build on 22 per cent of Bromsgrove's greenbelt land over the course of the last seven years? Once the dust had settled on this decision it was naturally assumed that the vast development of housing in the area would go hand in hand with investment in infrastructure and in school and health facilities

In fact four years after major development of The Oakalls there are still no additional schools and dentists and doctors' surgeries are scarce as well as full to capacity to the point that it is almost impossible to get an appointment.

As a commuter I travel by train. People who get on at Barnt Green pay less to travel as Birmingham City Council subsidises public transport, something Bromsgrove has never considered a priority. Clearly civil servants prefer to sit nose to tail in their cars on the A38 with all the other Bromsgrove residents not prepared to pay for public transport that is neither regular or good value for money.

I will try and redress the balance and say that I am happy with refuse collection. On the whole it is well managed and changes to service are well communicated. However, when I wanted to use the county council's complimentary 'shredder man' service I find our council does not subscribe to it. Redditch, Worcester and even Droitwich, with Hanbury parish in tow, offer this complimentary service to their own residents. Instead, Bromsgrove council decision-makers are debating whether to continue picking up residents garden waste or whether to ask home owners to pay for the service.

Quite why I would be so surprised about this lack of foresight from our council is anybody's guess. After all, residents are becoming used to the trappings of being under a council which places great emphasis on issues such as health, transport and leisure facilities but consistently fail to deliver.

Still, at least we have a thriving High Street that is burgeoning with national retailer brands combined with local traders. Presumably this is why the cost the car parking in the town is set to increase, a clear strategy to entice shoppers away from poor competitors such as the Kingfisher Centre in Redditch.

Bromsgrove is escalating in cost as a place to live, visit and shop and offers little in the way of health and leisure facilities with little or no reward to long standing residents. Frankly as someone who was born here, I can't wait to move and find a council which values its residents. I don't want to pay for the gap in civil servants pension funds.

Rebecca Southwell

Finstall Road

Bromsgrove