The following open letter is the lead article in Bromley Council’s Update e-newsletter.

Dear residents,

We live in difficult times it seems.

At the very point of us all tentatively emerging from the grip of the Global pandemic which has shaped and frustrated all of our lives for the past two years, we have now stumbled directly into the raging catastrophe and stark unknown outcomes of Putin’s wicked and illegal War in Ukraine.

I am acutely aware of the depth of feeling and compassion held by so many residents across this amazing Borough of ours, probably best demonstrated by the incredible collective response throughout the course of the Pandemic, which prompted me to write immediately to the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK on the day of the invasion, to express the sadness, sympathy and support of all good thinking Bromley people and I hope that I spoke for you when doing so.

I have since been sighted daily to so many of our generous-hearted residents who have already again come forward with offers of help, including accommodation through the government’s ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme.  You are absolutely awesome and I salute every single one of you.

Closer to home and on a far happier note, albeit of frankly far less importance in the context of what I have just written, I am very pleased to say that thanks to our award-winning financial management and the council’s own income and investment strategy, we have been able to freeze your Council Tax leg of this year’s bill, and raise the Adult Social Care precept by just 1%, which has been unavoidable given the extra service pressures being experienced by the Department.

We very much hope that this will help in some small way given the cost-of-living rises being experienced elsewhere.

You will of course have your own views on the Mayor for London’s 8.8% increase this year, following on from his 9.5% rise last year!

I am incredibly happy with the decision to plant an extra 5000 street trees and the way the planting programme is adding to the street scene across the Borough, but if I could please ask those of you who have requested one to ensure they remain well watered until they establish themselves, future generations will thank us all.

We are also linking in with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations and contributing to the Green Canopy to help mark the incredible achievements of Her Majesty over the past seventy years of her impeccable reign. Please keep an eye out for celebratory events happening across the Borough as they are announced. I know that many of you are planning your own local street parties from the almost 300 neighbourhoods that have taken advantage of the free street closure scheme to do so.

It only remains for me now to wish you a very happy Easter holiday as we look forward to some better weather and hope for some happier times ahead.

Kind regards,

Councillor Colin Smith,

Leader of the Council

London Borough of Bromley

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Ends

For media enquiries, please contact Susie Clark, Communications Executive, on 020 8461 7911 or email susie.clark@bromley.gov.uk

Published: 23rd March 2022