Derry's 'biggest rates rise in decades'

Ratepayers in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area are facing the prospect of a 12% increase in their rates bills in the incoming financial year. The rate will be struck in the first week of February.

A Special Council meeting to discuss the situation took place on Friday (January 13). It was attended by council staff, councillors, MPs Gregory Campbell and Colum Eastwood, and MLAs Gary Middleton, Ciara Ferguson, Pádraig Delargy, Mark H Durkan and Sinéad McLaughlin. 

Derry Now understands Council is also considering a wide range of cuts to its services in an effort to reduce its annual expenditure. 

A number of these cuts have already been agreed, others require a decision and the remainder have not yet been agreed.

The proposed more controversial cuts which have yet to be agreed include banning weekend cemetery burials; introducing a charge for Council’s bulky waste service; increasing cemetery charges; reducing bin collections to six out of the 13 currently designated Bank Holiday collections; and a 15% reduction in Council’s subvention to the City Centre Initiative 

Councillors are currently examining the possibility of no burials being undertaken on Saturdays or Sundays, in an effort to save an estimated £40,000. 

Council’s bulky waste service is  presently provided free of charge. Approximately 5,400 of collections take place annually at a cost of £225k to council. Council does not consider cessation of the bulky waste service to be a feasible option and has projected it could generate £75,000 if charging was introduced. 

Council is also considering removing the waiver on cemetery charges for those registered as dying with covid noted as the cause of death and increasing cemetery charges by 10%.

City Centre Initiative currently receives a £55k subvention from Council and a similar 15% percentage reduction would result in an £7,750 saving.

Following a review of the opening arrangements of recycling centres across the district, it has been agreed the three larger sites: Pennyburn, Strathfoyle and Strathans Road will operate as at present with no changes to opening hours. 

It has also been agreed, eight smaller sites: Claudy, Park, Donemana, Plumbridge, Newtownstewart, Spamount, Glendermott Road and Eglinton, will have their opening hours reduced.

The proposal not to open these eight sites on Bank Holidays is also being examined but has not yet been agreed. 
Councillors were cautioned that these changes might result in increased incidents and volumes of indiscriminate dumping across the city and district, offsetting some of the cost savings and a review of the impact of these changes in 12 months was also suggested. 

Cuts have also been agreed in terms of parks and green infrastructure. 

Derry City and Strabane District Council will not enter into the Sustrans SLA third party agreement to provide cycling training from the Multi-Modal Hub, which means people here will not be able to access cycling training skills in the city.

Council’s summer / spring bedding planting programme will be reduced by 50% on key sites throughout the district, which Council acknowledged would have a visual impact on these sites. 

In addition, the lights will be turned off at greenways and parks in a bid to save £19,000. 

Speaking to Derry News, Derry City and Strabane District councillor, Shaun Harkin (People Before Profit) said the MPs and MLAs attending Friday’s meeting were told “in no uncertain terms, a rates hike of almost 12% was unacceptable and unsupportable, during a cost of living crisis which has caused extreme hardship in Derry and across the district.”

Cllr Harkin added: “We have some of the highest rates of any Council across the North. Inflicting further hardship on households and struggling organisations that have been ground down over the last two years is unjustifiable.

“Our November motion opposing a burdensome rates hike, price increases and service cuts was supported unanimously but they are being rammed through anyway. 

“Our motion commits the Council to an all-out plan of action to avoid austerity and a massive rates hike. We are demanding a financial intervention by Westminster and Stormont.

“At Friday’s Special Council meeting, the scale of hardship across the district was made clear and the MPs and MLAs were challenged to act now to avoid the disastrous impact of Council cuts combined with a massive rates hike.”

Cllr Harkin demanded all five Executive parties “get off their hands and fight for the Council area”.

He said: “Going through the motions will not cut it when it comes to striking rates in the first week of February.

“The reckless DUP boycott of Stormont is compounding the cost of living crisis but this can’t be used by the rest of the parties as an excuse for doing nothing, and voting in cuts, price rises and the biggest Council  rate increase in decades.

“People Before Profit will do all we can to resist Council austerity. Derry and District should not pay for a crisis caused by the Tories, Stormont and corporate profiteers.”