Councillor Tony Dixon

Councillor Tony Dixon

Previously served from 1997 to 2010 and elected again in 2019.

Local Conservative Councillor representing Tanworth in Arden ward (which includes Earlswood, Danzey and the whole of Tanworth in Arden Parish) on the Stratford on Avon District Council.

South Warwickshire Local Plan 01/02/2023

Hi Folks, now that there is some attention being paid, albeit that some comments coming through today relate back to posts missed last week, it is perhaps time to repeat the link to the consultation web site. Go to www.southwarwickshire.org.uk/swlp/issuesandoptions
where you will be able to read all about the consultation and the various reports and documents which no doubt all the developers and land owners are already scrutinizing. The consultation period ends on the 6th March so lots of time for you to forward your comments to the planning team. While posting this I would comment that in none of my posts to date have I indicated support or the alternative in any of my posts, contrary to what some comments being made seem to suggest. One even referring to 'MY' plan.
If you are interested please take the time to click on that web site and get involved in more than just commenting on my posts. Thank you. Tony Dixon.

South Warwickshire Local Plan  We are now consulting on the Issues and Options Document and running a second Call for Sites until the 6th March 2023. Head to the Issues and Options page to find out more and tell us what you think on our online consultation portal.

31/01/2023

After a few days of absence a return to the topic of where development over the next 25 years should take place. The question has been asked "Am I in favour?" The answer is that until the data is collected, the opinions received, and the information assessed I would be making my mind up before having the fullest of pictures from which to make a judgement. My reason for bringing the topic to my page as indicated on an earlier post is to inform, question and pose ideas/options. A new town could be a model for 21st century living, a zero carbon town with heat pumps and no gas or other fossil fuels. Letchworth Garden City was an initiative a century ago, a new town creates opportunities for perhaps 'thinking out of the box'.
Why might Wood End be selected? In selecting the seven locations the planning teams have focused mainly on train line connections with the aim of reducing car miles to employment. To promote one station over another I suspect they have considered the existing connections and in our local area have possibly concluded that having the B4101 go past WoodEnd station makes that an easier location than either Danzey or The Lakes. Earlswood station of course is not in Warwickshire so that would not be an option for Stratford. Is there land close by to WoodEnd akin to the need for a park and ride equivalent or greater than Whitlock's End? The answer yes, and before anyone tells me that the lane is too narrow I will point out that any lane could be widened or another access created. The whole concept of a new town is that you start with an almost blank page and shape it to the requirements identified perhaps in the early consultations, part of which is possibly taking place right now. The consultation ends on March 6th. Apart from creating a zero carbon town, how about a direct link from any new town to the NEC, to the airport, to HS2 station? If such is what is deemed necessary best to build the concept which includes such ideas/concepts.
Turning now to a local conservation area, the Village. One of the delights I experience is when I drive home from the village down what I regard as a superb view down Vicarage Hill with Glebe farm on the left and the north part of the hill climbing up to Broad Lane. The 'S' bend shapes the view, it is a delight. So the question I asked myself was "Could a new town of 6000 dwellings, perhaps 12000 adults with perhaps 3000 children fit into the area and not have an impact upon 'The Village'? Talking to the planners the suggestion was that a new town with all the necessary infrastructure of schools, leisure centres, parks green spaces etc would need 4 square kilometers, that is 400 hectares, about 1000 acres. I know that houses can be built at 20+ to the acre but a town also needs to have land for shops, supermarkets, schools, offices, leisure centers etc. equally I would hate to see high density housing such as we see in parts of our neighbour, Solihull, I would rather use more land and ensure we have lots of green space. And when it comes to hedgehogs and our small mammals our gardens are perhaps the best option, equally true for birds. The answer I concluded as to whether such an area could be centered on Wood End station and put the industrial employment units close to the M42 and not impact upon the Village was YES there is sufficient land between Broad Lane and the M42 but it would be somewhat elongated but IF a development was to be selected then there are fields, in the area. I am not a farmer but when it comes to development of agricultural land the quality of the land should be taken into account. I do not see many quality crops grown in our area, what I do see and experience is often wet poorly drained fields which can cause lanes to flood. Animal life seems to be a few beasts, and sheep, not many crops but several paddocks of horses. If this land is poor quality and I have no knowledge on that matter, then if development must take up fields I would rather see it located on poor quality land rather than high quality land elsewhere within the county.

South Warwickshire Local Plan 26/01/2023

Day Three of my posts re the consultation on the next local plan.
Neil asked why I had started these posts? An easy answer, there is a consultation in progress which started on January 9th and will finish on March 6th. It includes a second call to land owners to consider identifying land which they might make available for development, and the aim of the consultation is to seek opinions from a broad range of respondents and to then conclude from the responses received which of several growth strategies, or which mix of growth strategies, should be adopted for planning development for the next 25 years, up to 2050. One of the growth strategies is to investigate whether or not to develop one or more new towns and the consultation documents list seven locations which are to be considered, Wood End is named as one of these. That Neil is why I started my posts.
To avoid too much repitation I would suggest any new reader of this post might start back at my first post on 24th Jan.
Those wishing to view the local plan web site may wish to start by going to
www.southwarwickshire.org.uk/swlp/issuesandoptions
there you might scroll down below the couple of You Tube videos to 'Consultation Events' at the top of that table click on 'Presentation used during the online consultation events and on page 16 you will see it mentions 'identified locations for POSSIBLE new settlements. Within the various documents but not in this section Wood End is listed along with six others. The consultation started on Jan 9th and ends on March 6th. I do not know who will respond to the consultation but anticipate that land owners, house builders, planning consultants, developers will all respond. The consultation is providing an opportunity for anyone to respond especially I would suggest those who care for the biodiversity and those with knowledge and consideration for SSSI sites.
When the consultation ends the responses will be considered and the growth strategy will move on to the next phase which may conclude that none of the 7 locations identified as POSSIBLE new towns are not to proceed or it may be that one or more will be subject to further assessment if such is deemed necessary, or perhaps one of the seven will be selected for a new town. Neil says I have no crystal ball, that is true and not only that I will have no vote in those decisions but 41 councillors will have to decide, after receiving the advice of professional bodies and respondents and residents. It will only take 21 to be in favour and the decision could be made within 18 months. If such it will still take years before development may take place by when schools places may not be so rare, medical centres may have improved phone systems. The plan is looking to the next 25 plus years not tomorrow, albeit that what happens in 10/15/20 years time will be determined by what decisions are made in the next 2 years. That's enough for this post. Sorry if it is a bit a ramble Neil, but better than to just say nothing and see what happens after March!

South Warwickshire Local Plan  We are now consulting on the Issues and Options Document and running a second Call for Sites until the 6th March 2023. Head to the Issues and Options page to find out more and tell us what you think on our online consultation portal.

25/01/2023

Growing population by how many?
Sixty plus years ago when I was growing up I had 3 grandparents but all but one had died before I was 12, today there are many families where the eldest generation are great grandparents in simple terms we are now housing an extra generation and in SDC the over 65's account for 25% of all adults, many residing as they would wish in their own homes, but the need for sheltered housing, care homes and nursing homes is growing. It has been established that there will be a need for 35000 more dwellings in our area by 2050 a minimum of 1400 new homes every year for the next 25 years. Towns such as Stratford, Southam, Shipston, Wellesbourne, Warwick, Leamington Spa, Alcester have been growing over several decades now, with only limited growth elsewhere. One of the problems associated with adding to existing towns is trying to get the necessary infrastructure to cope with such expansion, too much reliance is placed on the existing which then fails. It is considered in some quarters that with a blank page (New Town) it would be easier to ensure that the schools are built, the parks provided, the jobs created, the transport links improved. One or two new towns would ease the pressure on the existing towns, they would still need to grow but could not absorb the growth which is being projected. Our area also includes a sizable area of the Cotswolds area of outstanding natural beauty and in such locations large developments are very difficult to justify.

25/01/2023

What's on my mind? The need for my next post the third of this series.
I thought it only proper to provide some context to why SDC & WDC are consulting on the options for the creation of one or more new towns. The population of SDC and WDC is expanding at a faster rate than the English average, no doubt because it is a pleasant, mostly rural area, with good road connections and some reasonable rail connections. However the aim of the economic strategy is to attempt to address the climate change impacts and to have a zero carbon future by the year 2050.
At present the majority of residents who work, either for themselves or for others, commute out of the area every day be it to Birmingham, Coventry, Warwick, Cheltenham, etc while the majority of the work force working in our two districts in catering, hospitality etc. commute into the area from outside, Redditch, Evesham, Coventry etc. as their incomes are too low to enable them to live in our area with the high costs of housing. Most of these journeys are by car and they mostly burn fossil fuels. The aim of planning and of both councils is to address this issue head on by creating jobs within the districts to counter balance the over reliance on tourism and the motor sectors and provide what is sometimes referred to as the 20 minute journey. That might be by foot to a railway station, or by bicycle to the factory or perhaps electric bicycle. In seeking to reduce car commuting the planning teams are considering existing rail and major bus routes hence the consideration of Wood End. There are in total 7 locations being consulted upon during this phase of developing the next local plan, another close by is Kingswood which I often regard as Lapworth, that rail line connects into Solihull and Birmingham whereas ours goes in via Shirley. Both locations are within the current green belt which, whilst it has been nibbled into a little by the expansion of Solihull has not had any significant review since it was created around Birmingham 50 years ago.

24/01/2023

What's on my mind, Facebook asks. The answer is very simple. "How the hell can I see what I'm typing on this page"?. Boxes offer me the opportunity to 'Add to my post' or even to 'boost my post' but all I would wish for is to be able to see what I'm typing.

24/01/2023

Talking to the planners the first question I asked was how large an area might a new town require? The answer would depend upon the density of housing etc. but any new town must provide not only housing but employment, schools, parks, roads, medical services, access to all of the daily needs of the residents and how many people would be needed to reside in such a town to facilitate the expenditure to achieve all the necessary infrastructure, the answer 6000 dwellings about 12000 adults. How big I wondered is Alcester? less than 10,000, Bidford on Avon? less than 6000. So a population of 12000 needs somewhere twice as large as Bidford on Avon and a little bit bigger than Alcester.

24/01/2023

Hi Folks, this is the first post in a series on what might be the biggest change for Wood End this century. Stratford District Council and Warwick District Council are working together to create the next local plan which will determine where, when and how planning will occur up to the year 2050. The plan will cover employment locations, transport options, housing options and infrastructure requirements. The plan is at an early stage but it is currently consulting on a number of options including the creation of new towns. There are seven locations being considered for one or more such new towns and the one nearest Tanworth and Earlswood is centered on Wood End railway station. Over the next week or so I will be posting comments on my Councillor page to both inform and pose questions to ensure that residents have some information and have an opportunity to learn about this possible development of a new town, perhaps larger than Alcester on our doorstep.

29/04/2022

My starting point, The Globe Theatre on the South bank.

Tony 29/04/2022

Back in late 2019 when I was the Vice Chairman at Stratford on Avon D.C. the Shakespeare Hospice planned a sponsored walk of 21 miles to celebrate 21 years of serving the residents of south Warwickshire. The walk was to take place in May 2020 by when I would be the Chairman of the Council. In that capacity I accepted the challenge to join the 21 mile walk. Then the pandemic arrived and life was put on hold for two years. The sponsored walk will now occur on May 8th but instead of starting at Long Compton I have decided to start my walk in late April at The Globe theatre on the south bank and follow the Shakespeare Way back to Stratford upon Avon. After 122 miles I should reach Long Compton for the 21 mile finale. I have today reached Farnham Common 39 miles from The Globe and although cold for the time of year, it has been dry which is all that I hope for.
As Chairman of the Council I had hoped to raise funds for this excellent hospice but the pandemic prevented much fund raising.
I now wish to raise funds by doing this 146 mile challenge. If you would care to support me please follow the link below
Many thanks
Tony

Tony Many of our supporters requested that we organised a walk or trek of some kind and in response to this we organised a 21 mile challenge walk back in 2020 to coincide with our 21st Anniversary. Unfortu

05/02/2022

Facebook is asking:
"What's on mind?"
The answer is that Facebook has hidden my pages and only left me with access to what they describe as a "Business Page" no where on the site is there are clue how to access my 'Personal page'
If Facebook get to read this I just hope they can set up a help facility that actually helps or better still reverses the page changes which have been imposed without consent.
FACEBOOK YOU ARE TERRIBLE!

01/01/2022

May I wish all residents of our wonderful Parish a happy, healthy and safe New Year

01/01/2022

Happy New Year to all residents of this wonderful Parish.

25/08/2021

Are you a business in my ward with a Covid recovery plan? If so read below and contact me if appropriate :-

I am pleased to tell you that we have now had confirmation of an additional £1.2million Business Grant funding detailed in the Cabinet report approved in June 2021.
The report also came to Overview and Scrutiny Committee prior to approval.
The Report confirmed that the Council wished to work closely with the Growth Hub to help businesses who have a COVID recovery strategy in line with Government guidance recommending using the funding to ‘support the wider business community’.
This is not a scheme that just funds everyone in a particular group with a set amount as other previous grant spending has done.
The Growth Hub are keen to prioritise SME businesses and at this stage would not be looking to help ‘one man bands’ / taxi drivers / hairdressers / market traders etc
This funding cannot be used to breach a shortfall in wages or just to ‘prop up’ businesses who are not ‘looking to the future’.
The Cabinet Item did confirm that we would alert members once the funding was confirmed so that all Councillors would have the opportunity to put forward Businesses in their own wards who may be considered for this funding.
We will be holding member briefings in September where the Growth Hub will discuss the criteria for businesses qualifying for some help.
The Cabinet Item also confirmed that the Council wishes to utilise the business expertise of Growth Hub to determine the most effective allocation for this funding and they will make contact / assess / validate undertake due diligence on each case referred.

There will be no fixed amount of grant – each case will be based on the COVID recovery plan submitted by each business supporting their application.
The Growth Hub will decide who is recommended for a grant and the amount of each award.
Based on their expertise and existing relationships with business groups the Growth Hub expect that 50-70 businesses could be helped from this additional pot of £1.2 million which must be spent by March 2022.

They have been working with Businesses across the district throughout the pandemic and are already aware of some companies who will be submitting applications.

This means it is certain that we won’t be able to help every case that is referred.

21/04/2021

Hi folks, a brief up date re Cank Farm. An amendment has been submitted to the SDC planning department in respect of the existing permissions to construct 18 houses on the Cank Farm site. The documents submitted to the planning department were validated for public consultation on 12 April and can be viewed on the SDC web site, consultation ends on the 5th May. There is no increase in the number of houses proposed which stays at 18, but the designs and configuration of the various plots has some changes. The development depicted indicates 12 houses or either 4 or 5 bed accommodation with 4 3-bed homes and 2 2-bed homes. Given that there is a requirement for 6 or the 18 houses to be made available at discounted prices in perpetuity to local residents it is my assumption that the smaller properties will be those available at discount.

22/03/2021

NATIONAL DAY OF REFLECTION

Momentum is building for an initiative next Tuesday, 23 March 2021, which should involve civic heads throughout the UK in some way.
Time to devise a response and carry it through is very limited, but councils may have been looking for an appropriate memorial response for some time and may want to adopt this.

A minute's silence, at 12 midday and a national doorstep vigil, at 8.00pm, will form part of a day of reflection to mark the ANNIVERSARY OF THE UK'S FIRST COVID LOCKDOWN, when those who have died in the pandemic will be remembered.

Your First Citizen may choose to do little more than mark the moment privately, but they can still use social media to increase awareness and emphasise any additional response that the council may adopt.

Here is a link to one already announced response – from King’s Lynn :

Minster's tribute



The information below is drawn from the BBC website


The initiative - proposed and developed by Marie Curie Cancer Care – has the backing of the Prime Minister. The minute of silence will be at 12 midday and, later that day, people are encouraged to light up their doorsteps.

Prominent buildings and landmarks will also be illuminated. Yellow seems to be a colour of choice as it ties in well with the Marie Curie daffodil symbol.

Other senior politicians have given their support to the event, with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford all saying they would take part.

Mr Johnson announced the first national stay-at-home order on 23 March 2020, days after warning many families would ‘lose loved ones before their time’

The total number of recorded deaths linked to coronavirus in the UK was 335 on that date. There have now been over 143,000 deaths.

Since then there have been three periods of national restrictions, as well as the introduction of levels and tiers of measures in all four nations.

The past 12 months have also seen coronavirus vaccines developed from scratch, with 23.3m people in the UK having now received a first dose.

Alongside the minute's silence and doorstep vigil, the day will also see community-led activities take place, such as virtual assemblies, choirs, services and yellow ribbons being wrapped around trees.

A series of free online talks organised by the Good Grief Festival will also take place, featuring experts, bereaved families and celebrities.

It is hoped people will help create a nationwide ‘beacon of remembrance’ on their doorsteps by beaming phones, candles and torches into the night sky at 8.00pm.

Marie Curie chief executive Matthew Reed said it was ‘important that we all come together to reflect on our collective loss, celebrate the lives of the special people no longer here, support those who've been bereaved and look towards a much brighter future.’

04/02/2021

Hi Folks, Back in July last year our district council (SDC) agreed to work in partnership with Warwick District Council with the potential to combine the two authorities into a larger District Council covering over half of Warwickshire with a population circa 273,000. Since then several senior managerial posts have been filled on a joint basis and plans are progressing towards the next planning policy (Local Plan) which will cover planning matters across the whole of the two district without any border between the two. Both Councils operate with a leader and cabinet (executive) which has the strategic role and in the case of SDC comprises 25% of the councillors. A report coming to the cabinet on Tuesday next week includes a report produced by Deloitte's with a recommendation that the two District councils merge into a single authority by 1st April 2024. The report to cabinet is a public document and can be found on the council web site by those residents interested in how local government may develop over the next few years. The report goes into great depths and is over 60 pages long, so if you want something to get your teeth into during lockdown ......

02/02/2021

The Conservative Party

I’m delighted to tell you that we have hit our target of offering the Covid vaccine to residents in every eligible care home in England.

We have always said that we will do everything we can to protect the most vulnerable from this disease.

So I want to thank every single person who has helped us to reach this crucial milestone and all those who are working so hard on our vaccine rollout across the whole UK.

In total we have now vaccinated 9.2 million people including 931,204 people just this weekend alone – that’s 1 in 60 UK adults in just two days.

This achievement was possible because we got to work right from the very start of this pandemic with an unprecedented national effort:

On development: we ensured clinical trials could start as early as possible by providing vital funding on top of our long-term investment in new vaccines.

On supply: we invested early and at-risk with a no regrets policy, which allowed us to secure access to over 400 million doses for the UK.

On production: we didn’t start this pandemic with a large vaccine manufacturing capability, so we’re building one right across the UK - with vaccine production taking place in Oxford, Staffordshire, Teesside, Wrexham and Livingstone.

On distribution: we rapidly set up over 1,400 vaccination sites and deployed an 80,000 strong vaccination workforce, with invaluable support from our armed forces to roll out the vaccine as quickly as possible.

So Anthony, every day we are protecting more people and getting ourselves one step closer to normal life.

But this is no time to let things slip, so please continue to help us get this virus under control by:

Staying Home, Protecting the NHS and Saving Lives

Yours sincerely,

Matt Hancock
Health Secretary

29/01/2021

The return of some stats, as we all await the announcements scheduled for the week commencing 22nd February, and look forward to schools re-opening before Easter, which if it happens is better than I was anticipating. I give below the number of confirmed cases over the last ten weeks which illustrates the rise through December into early January and the fall we are now seeing. Long may the fall continue.
Here are the last ten weeks for Stratford District starting with week ending Friday 27th November up to and including today's.
130, 64, 92, 164, 239, 310, 494, 421, 263, 193
and the following are for
Solihull MBC
451, 344, 322, 370, 585, 694, 1236, 1169, 1054, 729.
It's good to see the fall in our numbers a drop of 60% from the peak in early January, the fall in Solihull's numbers is not as great being only a fall of 40% from their peak, but as the national stats show the numbers are thankfully coming down, let's all hope it continues.

25/01/2021

Here I have posted the full article written by the leader of the District Council, not easy reading but it has to be said. Tony Dixon.

Update from the Leader of Stratford on Avon District Council Tony Jefferson

Leader’s Column; January 2021

A belated Happy New Year, such as it is. 2021 has started with a mixture of trepidation with another lockdown, rocketing infections and much hope as the vaccines are rolled out. We have the added complication of the trade deal with the EC which has increased the pressure on exporting businesses. Both Stratford District and Stratford Town in particular have been very hard hit by the impact on tourism.

So, against a background of uncertainty we are in the midst of the budget process. I have to stress that we do not have complete freedom in setting our budget. We can only increase our council tax by £5 on a Band D house. Stratford District Council only receives 7.5% of Council Tax paid by residents, as Warwickshire County Council receives 77%, the Police 12.3% and Towns/Parishes 3.2%. We have to keep a minimum £2.5 million in the general reserve over the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) period up to 2025/26.
We have to set our budget and MTFS against the backcloth of tremendous uncertainty. We have estimated that the Covid-19 pandemic will cost us £7.5 million over the MTPS period, but that was before taking account of the latest lockdown. So it could end up costing the District more. Central Government has again provided a one year financial settlement which means that we do not know what financial support we will receive beyond 2021/22. This is really important because we receive New Homes Bonus based on the number of houses built in the District. In 2021/22 we will receive £5.3 million. As things stand, by 2023/24 we will receive zero. In other words, a very big hole in our budget will be appearing in 2 years. The Government has also said it will review business rates; we have budgeted for an income of £3 million in 2021/22. The figures beyond that are our best estimates.

We have also lost income. We lost net £2.6 million in 2020/21 and we have forecast to lose a further £5 million (approx.) over the MTFPs period.

So, we have had to set a 2021/22 budget and an MTFS in extremely challenging circumstances.
Two items have saved us from having to make deeper cuts in costs;

We have reviewed earmarked reserves and have released £2.35 million to the General Reserve. This enables us to balance the budget in 2021/22.
Working with Warwick District Council will, we estimate, result in savings of £1.25 million over the MTFS period.
It should be unsurprising then that we have had to take some difficult decisions that might need to be implemented in the future. Most will not need to be actioned until 2022/23 and beyond, but they demonstrate the impact of the savings we need to make. We hope the funding settlement in 2021 for the four years beyond 2021/22 means that we will not have to implement all the projected savings. There is no guarantee; however, this will be the case.

We are prepared to take difficult decisions and not to “kick the can down the road” in hope that something turns up. The Cabinet feels this is responsible community leadership.

Even with all the actions that we have taken, the MTFS shows a deficit of over £1 million in 2025/26. There may be yet more difficult decisions ahead.

Perhaps the most contentious decision we have taken so far is to withdraw the parking pass for pensioners. We are one of very few councils to provide this facility and there is a cost to providing this service. Where councils do provide the service, there is a substantial charge, £100 and more. It may not be popular to say it but many pensioners in our District are affluent and do not need a subsidy from Council Tax payers generally.

Covid-19 has had a massive impact on us all. The world has changed. We have to adapt to that changed world. There is no point pretending that we can keep supporting everything. This simply denies reality and stores up even more difficult decisions for the future.

Far too many people appear to believe that there is a magic money forest and we therefore do not have to take difficult decisions. There is a belief that somehow we can provide support for everyone on everything. This is naïve. GDP has probably fallen by 11% in 2020. We have borrowed £400 billion to support the economy and society through the pandemic. That was before the latest lockdown. The Debt/GDP ratio will be over 110% by 2022/23. The UK is in a very vulnerable position, especially as many commentators are now saying that interest rates will begin to increase much sooner than anticipated.

So, the government will no longer be able to borrow at rock bottom prices. Since 2007/08 it is ultra-low interest rates that have prevented deep austerity. I know people will say that we have had austerity but compared to what would have been required without ultra-low interest rates it was mild.

We are entering a period of massive uncertainty and greatly increased risk, I think that we will need to be very cautious on spending and borrowing at the national level so we do not exacerbate that risk.

It is too easy, and often politically expedient, to commit resources to every good cause there is. Because we have been able to borrow at ultra-low rates then taxes have not needed to be increased. This era is coming to a close and the choice of tax vs spend will become very real, and the tax increases may need to be very substantial. When it comes to spending, the real political issue comes when the money runs out and support has to be withdrawn.

The Council’s next challenge will be to support the regeneration of our local economy. In all honesty, that is where I would commit any spare resources, effort and energy that the Council can spare. That will benefit all of us.

Once again there are far too many people, Lib-Dems again, who appear to believe that economic growth just happens and does not need to be nurtured and encouraged. Their focus is on spending money not on ensuring it is made in the first place. However, we have not yet seen the full impact of the pandemic on our local economy. The latest lockdown prolongs the pain. It may now be 2023 before we see any real recovery in international tourism.

I have reported before that we are estimated to be the 4th hardest hit local government area in the country, the worst affected in the West Midlands. We need economic growth that creates jobs and incomes to replace those lost. This is why it is a priority.

We are entering very uncertain and challenging times, and, at the risk of repeating myself, we cannot afford to duck difficult decisions nor kick the can down the road. We are trying very hard not to do that.

Remember, councils that failed to face reality have, in effect, gone bust. Northants and Croydon come instantly to mind.

I should end on a piece of good news, over 10000 people have signed up for the green bin. I think it demonstrates that many people with common sense understand the current situation and know tough choices have to be made. It is far too easy to overreact to the noise on social media.

Yours sincerely

Tony

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