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More council tax support needed for low-income households

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Next month Herefordshire Council will decide whether to raise council tax by a proposed 4.99%, as it tries and plug a potential budget gap of up to £16 million caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The raise is broken down as a 1.99% rise in core council tax and a precept 3% rise to support vulnerable people. For the average band D property this means an extra £6.54 a month. The raise would create a budget of £320 million for the coming year, including spending of £80 million on council-maintained schools. But the proposed rise comes at a time when many households are also struggling because of the coronavirus pandemic. People on furlough have had their wages cut and many others have been made redundant. The little increases we see here and there can add up to a lot and council leaders have to think carefully about the proposed increase in tax. THEY NEED TO DO THREE THINGS: 👉 Broaden the scope of eligibility for council tax reductions, to include those people who have been furloughed fo...
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Big win for group opposing poultry farms

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Powys County Council has admitted it should not have granted planning permission for a vast broiler unit after local campaigners crowdfunded a judicial review. The council initially opposed the legal challenge, brought by grassroots environmental group Sustainable Food Knighton. But the authority has now admitted that permission for the planned 110,000-chicken farm should not have been granted after a high court judge gave the go-ahead for a full judicial review hearing. This is a significant decision. In Powys an explosion in the numbers of intensive poultry units is linked to the deterioration of rivers in mid-Wales, most significantly the River Wye. Last summer saw algal blooms turn the Wye into a 'pea soup', a phenomenon damaging to biodiversity caused locally by phosphates from livestock manure running into waterways. Sustainable Food Knighton spokesperson Camilla Saunders said that cheap food demanded by supermarkets is having a damaging effect on local environments. “The...
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Act like your house is submerged

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Of all the images from last week's floods, it was the photo of Hereford's Eign Road that hit me most. It's a road I know well. The lower part between the Brewer's Arms pub and Hampton Park Road floods very occasionally but this is the second time in less than 12 months that it's happened. It's worrying because we know that if Eign Road is being flooded more often then there are hundreds of other places around the county that are now suffering where they haven't done previously. England has experienced a major flood almost every year since 2007, leaving about 100,000 properties damaged. And we know that one of the major threats of climate change is flooding. Dr Michael Byrne is a lecturer in climate science at the University of St Andrews has warned that future storms will bring more rain due to climate change. “Storms are nothing new. But, because we are now more than 1C warmer as a whole versus pre-industrial times, every degree means 7 per cent more water ...
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