I am currently preparing for the Council’s annual budget meeting on the 24th February. This year, due to the “No Overall Control” situation, we will discuss not just a Liberal Democrat budget but also an alternative Conservative one. With a revenue budget of over £500m, it is essential we agree on an approach that works for Wiltshire residents.
You will have read about numerous U-turns in the press over the last month; HRC closures and cuts to Link community transport being two which the Cabinet hastily retracted after huge public outrage. The administration also proposes to completely ignore Full Council’s January ruling NOT to give a Yorkshire businessman £2.5m and a multistorey car park, by adding it back into their budget! Even more worrying is the plan to use our reserves (emergency savings) to cover overspend across the council rather than addressing the reasons for the overspend. This would leave us in a position where spend continues to spiral out of control whilst our financial safety net rapidly disappears.
The roads across the country are in a shocking state due to decades of underinvestment by central government (predominantly Conservative but Labour too). In 2024/25 Wiltshire Council added tens of millions of pounds to its highways budget to boost works. I am sure you will agree with me that in the last year the roads have noticeably and significantly deteriorated. Getting to Devizes on the A360 now risks serious vehicle damage. The reason is simple; the administration which took over in May 2025 has failed to invest ANY additional money in road maintenance. Realising their mistake, in their new budget they want to invest £15m into roads to catch-up, however, unlike in previous years, they are planning to borrow the money. Over the course of the loan, they claim the £15m they want to spend will cost you and me (and our children) £58m to repay!
I cannot, in good conscience, support a proposal which ignores overspending and burdens future generations with compounding debt to fix roads. I will not be supporting the proposed budget when it comes to Full Council this month. Instead, I will be supporting the alternative budget which promises to get a grip on the overspending, introduces new innovative revenue streams such as renting road space to utilities companies who need to dig them up, therefore generating income from the disruption whilst incentivizing them to finish works swiftly. The current way, where they simply pay an admin fee to close the road does not encourage them to work quickly and does not value the disruption you and I have to put up with.
By the time you read this in print I hope Wiltshire will have a sustainable and responsible budget. Even if we don’t, we should have the works at Black Dog finished and working! Repairs to the A360 between us and Potterne should also have been made AND we will be just over a fortnight from a resurfaced B3098 between West Lavington crossroads and Lavington School.
As always, I will keep you updated.
You may contact me about this or any other matter by email to dominic.muns@wiltshire.gov.uk or by phone on 07585 394 178.
