Council taxes are set to be frozen for a sixth year in a row.
It comes as town hall bosses unveiled their budget plans for the next 12 months which includes rubber stamping £9m of investment across the borough.
But council leader Miles Parkinson has warned the budget could be ‘revisited’ later this year if harsher budget cuts are forced upon local government after the general election.
Proposals put forward in the £11.4m budget include investing more than £2m on improved housing across Hyndburn, continuing to provide free parking for residents and visitors and signing off on the £3m heritage revamp of Accrington town centre.
The council will also invest £340,000 on five-a-side football cages and ‘health and toning’ facilities at Mercer Hall Leisure Centre in Great Harwood as well as £280,000 developing Norden Playing Fields in Rishton.
Council departments will face cuts totalling nearly £600,000 but no compulsory redundancies are set to be made.
Coun Parkinson said the budget was ‘sound, stable and with vision’
He said: “Only 40 per cent of cuts have been implemented with 60 per cent more to come down. That’s a dramatic figure.
“We are awaiting what happens after the general election in May and if one party wants deeper cuts that is something we will have to look at.
“We are now getting to the limit to how far cuts can go in public services.”
Coun Parkinson praised the ‘major achievement’ of freezing council tax and hailed council staff for ‘levering in’ £8m in outside funding to boost the capital programme.
He said: “This shows what we have been able to do by bidding to outside bodies to bring investment and change parts of our borough.”
Despite Hyndburn’s freeze, council tax bills across the borough are still set to rise slightly due to precept rises announced by Lancashire County Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner and Combined Fire and Rescue Service.
Conservative council leader Peter Britcliffe said it was a ‘rather sterile budget’ and a ‘missed opportunity to invest in the borough’. He said: “I’m delighted they are going to continue the council tax freeze we introduced.
“To look at maybe revisiting the budget is a very unstable way of working. You set your budget for 12 months as you know how much funding you have for the year.”
Residents are now invited to have their say on the budget. Coun Chris Fisher, chairman of the resources overview and scrutiny committee, will hold a budget consultation meeting.
Coun Parkinson will attend the meeting at Scaitcliffe House on Tuesday, February 17 at 2pm to answer questions.
He said: “Your comments and views are important to the council and we take them into account.”
To speak at the meeting call the scrutiny officer on 01254 388111 or email scrutiny@hyndburnbc.gov.uk by 4pm on Wednesday.
