Manor Park loses out in ward funding allocations

Greg, Doreen and Deborah were angry and appalled after it was revealed Manor Park ward has received the lowest amount of council capital funding of any of the city’s 26 council wards over the past five years. This shows just how unfair a deal this area gets from the Labour council administration.

In four years out of the last five, Manor Park has received ZERO council spending on capital projects.

A Freedom of Information request has shown that Manor Park’s share of the total capital budget since 2018 stands at only 0.02%. The ward received only £98,000 out of a citywide spend of £607 million*

This means that Manor Park is paying out many times more in council tax than it has received from the council, and residents are set to be hit with a 5% increase again this April.

DOREEN says "Your Lib Dem councillors share the frustration of residents that the NE7 area is continually overlooked by the Labour-led council. The previous Lib Dem council delivered a new library and children's centre, but Labour have taken away local litter bins and play areas in the ward and have stopped almost all road and pavement maintenance. We continue to lobby for investment in local quality of life much needed maintenance of roads, pavements, and council housing.

There is a particular need for purpose-built housing and care facilities for older people, and we also want the council to progress long delayed cycling upgrades for routes to Jesmond Park Academy, the Freeman, and along the Coast Road corridor.

Your Lib Dem councillors will continue to work hard for our area and keep on fighting for a fairer deal. Unfortunately, the Labour led council is more interested in what it can take in council tax from NE7 than spending money here”.

*£1.5m investment into a solar energy roof scheme at Cragside Primary School was counted in the citywide total.