CentralBristolGreens

Ani Stafford-Townsend (@AniST) & Sibusiso Tshabalala are your @bristolgreen Cllrs in Central Ward.

[CentralBristolGreens @CentralBGP]

Promoted by Ed Fraser on behalf of Ani Stafford-Townsend & Sibusiso Tshabalala (Bristol Green Party) both at 17 Great George St, Bristol BS1 5QT

[CentralBristolGreens @CentralBGP]

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[CentralBristolGreens @CentralBGP]

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[CentralBristolGreens @CentralBGP]

‘I urge existing residents’ associations in central Bristol to contact me, particularly those in apartment blocks, so we can coordinate efforts and have a bigger impact on shared issues.’

#community

[CentralBristolGreens @CentralBGP]

Ani is urging city centre residents to get in touch so that residents can work together to make their voices heard on vital planning applications, licensing applications, and major consultations like the local plan.

[CentralBristolGreens @CentralBGP]

This follows the council’s recent decision to allow an annual 15,000-capacity music event in Queens Square for five years. Ani said, ‘Residents’ individual objections weren't given much weight because they weren't speaking as a residents' association.

[Cllr Ani Townsend @AniST]

We’re not playing characters in a pantomime, planning decisions have long lasting and wide reaching impacts.

Me on taking our role as councillors seriously.

https://t.co/J4bxKaefSk

[Carla Denyer @carla_denyer]

@bristolgreen @ACORN_Bristol @BristolLibDems @TheBristolCable @BristolCouncil I wonder how many more times Bristol will have to loop through this cycle of:
🔴 Labour proposes to cut the Council Tax Reduction Scheme
🔴 Labour is talked out of it
🔴 Labour claiming credit for saving it

🟢 Hint: the next local elections in Bristol are in May 2024

/🧵

[Carla Denyer @carla_denyer]

@bristolgreen @ACORN_Bristol @BristolLibDems @TheBristolCable @BristolCouncil I know all too well that Council budgets have been brutally cut by 13 years of Tory government austerity and there is no fat left to trim

But of all the cuts, this must be one of the cruellest. It affects the very poorest households the most, and will likely make people homeless

[Carla Denyer @carla_denyer]

@bristolgreen @ACORN_Bristol @BristolLibDems @TheBristolCable @BristolCouncil Throughout 2019-2023:
Marvin Rees and the Bristol Labour group frequently gave speeches and published articles claiming credit for "saving" the council tax reduction scheme (from themselves?)

Not screenshotting them all or we'll be here all week, but e.g.
https://t.co/ZzML4jOWt1

[Carla Denyer @carla_denyer]

@bristolgreen @ACORN_Bristol @BristolLibDems @TheBristolCable @BristolCouncil 4th July 2023 (next Tuesday) a paper goes to @BristolCouncil's (Labour) Cabinet meeting to agree options for the public consultation on cutting funding for the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

Council press release: https://t.co/PKc9pLyZj2

Cabinet papers: https://t.co/XyzdL8fqkb

[Carla Denyer @carla_denyer]

@bristolgreen @ACORN_Bristol @BristolLibDems @TheBristolCable @BristolCouncil Feb 2023 at @BristolCouncil Budget meeting it is agreed that the Council Tax Reduction Scheme will be reviewed to achieve a 'minimum £3million saving'.

Due to the deep and unsustainable cuts @bristolgreen councillors did not vote for the Mayor's budget.
https://t.co/Q7baWhc68K

[Carla Denyer @carla_denyer]

@bristolgreen @ACORN_Bristol @BristolLibDems @TheBristolCable @BristolCouncil Winter 2022, @bristolgreen party councillors challenge the administration's plans to cut the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (again), and also lobby the national Conservative government (again) for better local government funding.
https://t.co/KaDgKUuy1B

[Carla Denyer @carla_denyer]

@bristolgreen @ACORN_Bristol @BristolLibDems @TheBristolCable @BristolCouncil Autumn 2022, news breaks that Bristol's Labour mayor is again considering cutting the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, which would mean tens of thousands of households living in poverty would have to start paying council tax when they were previously exempt.
https://t.co/VXbL86yNgM

[Carla Denyer @carla_denyer]

@bristolgreen @ACORN_Bristol @BristolLibDems @TheBristolCable 20th Feb 2018 at @BristolCouncil budget meeting, Labour mayor responds to Conservative proposal to cut the Council Tax Reduction Scheme by saying it "wasn't the right time" to do so.

Screenshot is of my live tweet from the meeting.
Video recording here: https://t.co/bgf9TuXFSh

[Carla Denyer @carla_denyer]

@bristolgreen @ACORN_Bristol @BristolLibDems @TheBristolCable 9th Feb 2018, a Bristol Labour tweet boasts that its administration's 2018-19 budget maintains the Council Tax Reduction Scheme...

[Carla Denyer @carla_denyer]

@bristolgreen @ACORN_Bristol @BristolLibDems Autumn 2017, Mayor U-turns after pressure from @bristolgreen @ACORN_Bristol @BristolLibDems & others. Council Tax Reduction Scheme to remain at current level, supporting the poorest households for another year at least.

@TheBristolCable writes it up:
https://t.co/VoiUD15YxO

[Carla Denyer @carla_denyer]

Summer 2017, @bristolgreen @ACORN_Bristol @BristolLibDems challenge Labour's CTRS cut on basis it's immoral and probably illegal. ACORN starts a petition and energetic campaign. I get legal advice from Greens that successfully challenged similar elsewhere
https://t.co/Bdt3yTkfUJ

[Carla Denyer @carla_denyer]

Timeline:

Summer 2017 Bristol's Labour Mayor Marvin Rees proposes cut to Council Tax Reduction Scheme, and launches almost-certainly-illegal consultation (because it fails to offer a no-change option, misleading the public about what the options are).

https://t.co/xe8eJQzWMs

[Carla Denyer @carla_denyer]

Incredible that the Mayor of Bristol has the chutzpah to *again* claim credit for protecting the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

He tried to cut it once in 2017 (we forced a u-turn), hinted at cutting it again in 2018, and his own budget includes a £3m cut to it this year.
🧵