Latest news with #KayMasonBillig
Telegraph
14-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Council spends £30k removing ‘noisy' speed bump amid £45m deficit
A cash-strapped council has spent £30,000 to remove a 'noisy' speed bump that cost £4,000 to install last year. Norfolk County Council built the speed bump and a zebra crossing in the town of Dereham to make the area safer for pedestrians, including pupils at nearby Northgate High School. But residents complained that heavy lorries would make a loud rattling noise when they drove over the raised portion of road, prompting the council to remove it less than a year later. The Tory-controlled town hall was forced to make sweeping cuts and tax rises to plug a £44.7m budget shortfall for the 2025-26 financial year. Kay Mason Billig, leader of Norfolk County Council, has previously warned that the authority could go bust unless the Government helps with its growing financial pressures. She said the authority was experiencing 'the toughest financial challenges the council has ever faced'. The council has confirmed council tax will rise by 4.99pc in the April 2025-26 tax year – the maximum amount local authorities can raise the levy without a referendum.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Council spends £30k removing ‘noisy' speed bump amid £45m deficit
A cash-strapped council has spent £30,000 to remove a 'noisy' speed bump that cost £4,000 to install last year. Norfolk County Council built the speed bump and a zebra crossing in the town of Dereham to make the area safer for pedestrians, including pupils at nearby Northgate High School. But residents complained that heavy lorries would make a loud rattling noise when they drove over the raised portion of road, prompting the council to remove it less than a year later. The Tory-controlled town hall was forced to make sweeping cuts and tax rises to plug a £44.7m budget shortfall for the 2025-26 financial year. Kay Mason Billig, leader of Norfolk County Council, has previously warned that the authority could go bust unless the Government helps with its growing financial pressures. She said the authority was experiencing 'the toughest financial challenges the council has ever faced'. The council has confirmed council tax will rise by 4.99pc in the April 2025-26 tax year – the maximum amount local authorities can raise the levy without a referendum. The project to install the speed bump and zebra crossing on Quebec Road in Dereham cost the authority £216,343, with the speed bump itself costing £4,400 to build. The council has not removed the zebra crossing. Harry Clarke, a Dereham town councillor, said the project had been a 'farce', and pointed out that £30,000 is the same amount the local council is considering taking away from Dereham Meeting Point, a charity that offers day-care for disabled people and over-55s. He added: 'It's a mixture of waste and incompetence and lack of communication. It's not rocket science to install a speed bump. 'There's an unfortunate parallel with the charity which is under threat from having £30,000 withdrawn. Residents will draw their own conclusions.' Norfolk County Council is struggling to balance the books due to rising demand for adult social care and children's services. In December, the local authority said it would switch off 1,000 street lights in a bid to save cash. Powering street lights costs the council around £4m per year, and the proposal would save an estimated £200,000 per year. In February, the Government agreed to provide Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) to 30 councils in England for the 2025-26 financial year. Norfolk County Council was not among them. A spokesman for Norfolk County Council said: 'The new zebra crossing and wider improvements carried out as part of this project have improved road safety in the area and we will continue to monitor the performance of the new crossing facility and traffic speeds at this location. 'It was necessary to remove the raised element of the zebra crossing due to the increased noise disturbance caused to neighbouring properties. 'We fully understand local feelings on wider council decisions but must stress that government funding for highway improvements cannot be used to support other frontline services.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Nine collisions in one year at accident blackspot
There have been nine accidents in one year at a new roundabout on the outskirts of a Norfolk town, figures obtained by the BBC have shown. The roundabout on the A146 near Loddon was installed in the spring of 2022, replacing a staggered crossroads. Statistics from Norfolk Police showed a total of 14 accidents since January 2022, with the vast majority taking place during 2024. The leader of Norfolk County Council, Kay Mason Billig, said larger road signs would be installed in the near future, but she had been left surprised by the recent increase. "I have also spoken with the police to try to ascertain whether there is a common denominator for these incidents," she said. "And it appears there are a multitude of reasons, so it is hard to understand why this is happening. "Nearly all the accidents occur on the Beccles side of the roundabout. There doesn't seem to be any issue with the other approaches." The figures from Norfolk Police showed that one of the 2024 accidents resulted in a serious injury, another involved slight injuries as well as seven where no-one was hurt. In 2023 there were two collisions - one between a car and a bicycle, the other a single car; while in 2022 there were two non-injury car collisions and another between a car and a cyclist. Ms Mason Billig, Conservative, said the council was also looking at the lighting on the approach signs, as well as at the roundabout itself. "If rumble strips on the road surface, which are being trialled in Chedgrave, are successful, we could look at installing them here as well. "In the meantime, we just have to appeal to drivers to please slow down." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. New signs and lights for accident blackspot Norfolk County Council
BBC News
10-03-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Nine collisions in one year at Loddon A146 accident blackspot
There have been nine accidents in one year at a new roundabout on the outskirts of a Norfolk town, figures obtained by the BBC have roundabout on the A146 near Loddon was installed in the spring of 2022, replacing a staggered from Norfolk Police showed a total of 14 accidents since January 2022, with the vast majority taking place during 2024. The leader of Norfolk County Council, Kay Mason Billig, said larger road signs would be installed in the near future, but she had been left surprised by the recent increase. "I have also spoken with the police to try to ascertain whether there is a common denominator for these incidents," she said."And it appears there are a multitude of reasons, so it is hard to understand why this is happening."Nearly all the accidents occur on the Beccles side of the roundabout. There doesn't seem to be any issue with the other approaches." The figures from Norfolk Police showed that one of the 2024 accidents resulted in a serious injury, another involved slight injuries as well as seven where no-one was 2023 there were two collisions - one between a car and a bicycle, the other a single car; while in 2022 there were two non-injury car collisions and another between a car and a cyclist. Ms Mason Billig, Conservative, said the council was also looking at the lighting on the approach signs, as well as at the roundabout itself."If rumble strips on the road surface, which are being trialled in Chedgrave, are successful, we could look at installing them here as well."In the meantime, we just have to appeal to drivers to please slow down." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
05-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Report says single-council option for Norfolk could save millions
Scrapping Norfolk's district, borough and city councils and replacing them with one large authority could save £29m a year, a report was prepared for Norfolk County Council, with local authorities given until later this month to submit their initial proposals for how local government reorganisation might report suggests that reducing staff numbers and combining services would save money and improve an alternative report prepared for the seven smaller councils argues that three authorities covering the county would offer better engagement with local people. All the local authorities have been invited to put forward their proposals as part of a planned devolution deal announced by the will see existing councils abolished and replaced by new authorities, with a mayor overseeing Norfolk and Suffolk. The report prepared for Norfolk County Council offers three options but appears to favour the council effectively continuing as one authority responsible for the entire with up to £29m in annual savings, it suggests efficiencies could be made in areas such as planning and waste collection, which are currently covered by more than one suggests that reorganising to have two councils would save less money, be less efficient and see duplications of expensive jobs, such as directors of adult social it argues that having three authorities in Norfolk would be "sub-optimal", costing more with a less joined-up county council leader Kay Mason Billig insisted "there are lots of other pieces of work to be done" before a decision was made on which option to pursue."There are a number of issues to explore and it's too early to draw lines on any maps," she said. The report commissioned by Norfolk's seven smaller local authorities argues in favour of having three authorities, the Local Democracy Reporting Service suggests Norwich, King's Lynn and Great Yarmouth could be the focus of the new says the approach would provide "better local engagement" with residents, but it concedes it would be least likely to achieve report gives its lowest ranking to a single unitary authority but admits it would have the most financial Chapman-Allen, the Conservative leader of Breckland District Council, said he believed smaller, more localised councils would serve people better."Residents expect a service delivered from their local council and don't mind paying for that as long as it's a good level of service," he said."If something is too big, it's too distant and remote to be effective."The councils have until 21 March to submit their interim proposals to the government, with final proposals due in September. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
