Crunch council cuts meeting next month

Storm brewing...over council headquarters

EARLY notice has been given that some of the £20 million in proposed council service cuts, many of them affecting Clydesdale, will face strong opposition at a ‘crunch’ meeting on February 12.

The Gazette reported in November how many of the recommendations in the 2015 Draft Budget for South Lanarkshire Council would affect services in Clydesdale.

Among the most controversial proposals would be the closing of the last few public lavatories, the axing of more school crossing patrols, a cutback in Lanark Registry Office opening times, rises in cemetery charges and library and swimming pool opening times being cut.

The full meeting of the council on February 12 will take the final decisions on what parts of that Draft Budget go ahead and which will be ditched.

However, early notice that this might be a stormy affair was given on Monday at a preliminary meeting of the council’s Executive Committee to discuss the proposals. This saw heated exchanges between the controlling Labour Group councillors and their SNP opposition counterparts.

The Nationalists proposed four changes to the draft budget which Labour dismissed as opposition for opposition’s sake on the orders of SNP headquarters in Edinburgh.

For more on this story pick up a copy of this week’s Carluke and Lanark Gazette, which is in the shops now.