Write a comment
Last nights announced rates increase by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council has met with mixed reaction with Sinn Féin justifying the increase because it is "imperative that Council continues to move forward with plans to regenerate our towns and city and improve our tourism offerings."
Meanwhile the SDLP said they tried everything at the meeting to get the rate lowered but "efforts fell on deaf ears and this increase was voted through regardless".
Alliance's decision in the rate setting process is "due to our concerns regarding viability of capital budgets such as Newry Civic Centre and the Mourne Gateway Project"
The Northern Ireland Retail Consortium also joined in saying the increase was extremely disappointing and added "Councillors claim to be interested in economic regeneration and in the vitality of our shopping hubs but this inflation busting rise is not what we need"
Council struck a rate of 6.41% last night at the February full council meeting. Sinn Féin and the DUP supported the new rate, SDLP voted against and Alliance abstained. The rate was 5.99% in 2023/2024.
Councillor Oonagh Hanlon, Group Leader for Sinn Féin on Newry Mourne and Down Council proposed the adoption of the rates’ proposal. Cllr Hanlon said “Our Council team have been working closely with Finance officers over the past year.
“This has concluded with agreement to a District Rate which reflects this balance and the reality of the challenging times many are facing.
“This equates to approximately .78p per week for the average rate payer."
Cllr Hanlon said it wa the job of elected representatives to oversee and scrutinise the financial management of the Council something her party takes very seriously.
She continued “We want to secure a stable financial budget for this district. One which will secure funding for capital projects, and continue to deliver for our communities. It is imperative that Council continues to move forward with plans to regenerate our towns and city and improve our tourism offerings.
“If we look across the district there are exciting plans for development and we are leading this progress. Fiscal stability is critical to these plans.
“It would be impossible to go down any further without cutting services, service level agreements and supporting community events and ensuring jobs are safe for our staff."
SDLP councillor Pete Byrne said the local rates increase will hurt families who are already struggling financially.
Councillor Byrne said “We could not in good conscience support the rates increase brought before council on Monday evening. The SDLP council team worked painstakingly to lower this rate, while ensuring that services would be protected and staff would have their well-deserved payrise, however our efforts fell on deaf ears and this increase was voted through regardless.
“SDLP councillors called for a thorough audit of the recommendations of council officers to identify ways we could avoid passing on a significant increase to ratepayers. Council had previously indicated they would be willing to use their capital reserves to keep the rate low, but this was also not forthcoming. I don’t believe that the proper scrutiny was carried out when it came to setting the rate, with some parties seemingly happy to wave through this increase without a thought for those impacted."
“The SDLP tried everything to be constructive when it came to this process, but were thwarted at every turn. Given the huge financial pressure that families are under when it comes to paying their bills, councils should be doing everything they can to keep the rate as low as possible. The SDLP cannot stand by while those who are struggling face further misery and it’s disappointing that other parties did not show the same commitment when setting the rate.”
Cllr Truesdale, Alliance said "Alliance's decision in the rate setting process is due to our concerns regarding viability of capital budgets such as Newry Civic Centre and the Mourne Gateway Project. Council Management has also not disclosed updated project costs which the Department of the Economy informed Council Management in November. This comes as the Council plans to spend £2m next year on a consultancy team for the project. As a party grouping we are not comfortable with embarking on such a huge capital project with speculative costs that may hit ratepayers in the pocket for years to come."
DUP Cllr Jonathan Jackson said "There are those of course who will vote against tonights rate, blaming everyone else, misleading the public, spinning falsehoods and creating division. The message is clear - You are part of this Council, you have a voice on the committees and working groups. With increased seats comes responsibility and this DUP group has met that challenge."
He added "We're not prepared to kick the can down the road. Difficult decisions need to be made, responsible and realistic proposals which reflect the current climate."
UUP Cllr David Taylor "We're sitting in the third term of the reform of local government At the time when the reform took place it was supposed to create a far more efficient service for people. Better services at reduced cost, and that's never been realised"
Also commenting on the increase, Neil Johnston, Director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium said “This increase of 6.4% in the council part of on the non domestic rate is extremely disappointing. Retailing is encountering extremely challenging times and NIRC would have liked to have seen rates frozen this year.”
“NIRC has members in Newry offering a very diverse range of retail experiences from supermarkets to convenience food. We are in the Damolly Retail Park, the Quays, the Buttercrane and Hill Street and Monaghan Street offering a broad range of choice and value and employing hundreds of people.”
“Councillors claim to be interested in economic regeneration and in the vitality of our shopping hubs but this inflation busting rise is not what we need. I sincerely hope that the other councils across Northern Ireland do not follow suit.”
Johnston said the NIRC have written to the new Finance Minister, Caoimhe Archibald appealing to her to freeze the regional rate and help give retailers and ultimately consumers some relief from rising costs.
He concluded "The regional rate is one of the first decisions the new Executive will have to make and given that businesses in NI already face higher rates than England, Scotland and Wales we hope that they will continue the freeze in the regional rate.”
