Council approves new mid-year budget
New investment announced to help Southampton bounce back from the impact of COVID-19
This week Southampton City Council met for its first full in-person sitting since the start of lockdown in March 2020.
Members of the council approved a new mid-year budget by majority vote.
The budget includes a range of investments which are designed to help the city bounce back from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The overall package of additional capital investment is £26.4 million over the next two years, with an additional £3 million approximately per year for revenue projects.
These investments, over this year and next, will be used for a range of new initiatives that will be implemented immediately, and for some longer-term policies and projects. This includes:
- £10m for improvements to local roads and pavements
- £830k on new dedicated pothole repair crews
- £7m in a restoration programme for our cities many treasured heritage assets and parks
- £840k on increased fly-tipping enforcement and street cleaning
- £6.5m on the creation of over 1000 new parking spaces on and around council estates
- £500k for road safety measures including work to introduce 20mph zones
- £500k seed funding which will be made available to community groups to provide activities and services for children and young people
- Funding for feasibility studies into world class waterfront at Mayflower Park and to explore enhanced city-wide travel such as trams, or enhanced rail.
Councillor Daniel Fitzhenry, Leader of the Council, said:
“I’m delighted we’ve approved these exciting investment plans for the city. This budget is all about investing in areas which we know are a high priority for our residents, making sure Southampton bounces back from the impact of the pandemic. I’m excited to start delivering on this work to Get Southampton Moving and will be getting out and listening to people across the city to make sure we deliver for them.”
We’ll be announcing more detail on all of these schemes over the coming weeks and months. In the meantime you can read the detailed breakdown on our website.
