TORIES BIASED AGAINST HUDDERSFIELD

5.06.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 10th Oct 2007

Tories biased against Huddersfield

Charges for hiring the rooms in our Town Halls are to be increased at the Cabinet Meeting on Wednesday 10th October 2007. However, those in all the North Kirklees Town Halls (i.e. Batley, Cleckheaton & Dewsbury) are to be frozen until the Town Hall review is completed.

Cllr Smithson says: "It would make a lot more sense to postpone consideration of all Town Hall charges until this review was completed." Because of this Cllr Smithson believes that: "Huddersfield Town Hall is being singled out, for definite (these above inflation rises), shows contempt for the people of Huddersfield and a clear bias against the town from the Conservatives."

The cost of hiring the Old Court Room for a coffee day is to rise by 6.9% (double the rate of inflation) from £145 to £155. Cllr Smithson believes this will be counter productive since, arguing this room is already empty at times and to increase these charges will inevitably reduce the number of coffee days yet further."

"This will damage the charitable and other voluntary organisations seeking to raise money for their causes and also reduces the income that Kirklees is gaining through lettings; said Cllr Smithson "this is the economics of the madhouse and must be opposed."

However, Cllr Smithson believes that the worst element of these swingeing rises is the rise in charges is the schools wishing to use our museums for educational purposes. The cost of a school visit to a museum in Kirklees is to rise by almost 20% - with most sessions going up from £50 to £60. "This is plain daft and makes a mockery of the Conservative claim to want to support and promote the best education for our children.

"The Liberal Democrats believe these rises are very damaging, and we are demanding a rethink on the whole issue so that sensible, effective and acceptable rises can be introduced."