COUNCILLORS around the country have to make unpalatable choices thanks to a Tory/Lib-Dem crusade against local government.

In York, we face a 30 per cent reduction in funding and unpopular decisions are being made.

Labour councillors were previously able to overturn a cut to Hull Road park funding, following a campaign in 2011. As the council now considers how to make a further £20 million of cuts over two years, the spectre of cuts to park funding rears its ugly head again. Councillors have little choice but to consider the undesirable.

I won’t need reminding by opposition councillors of our campaign in 2011, but I’m sadly realistic about the choices their government forces us to make.

Therefore, if this cut is one of the outcomes of the council’s forthcoming budget meeting, Hull Road’s Labour councillors will work hard to mitigate its worst impact and help preserve the park. Options are being looked at such as whether volunteers can lock the park or whether time-based exit-only gating can be installed.

So despite the Government’s best attempts to pull the rug out from under our feet, Labour in York continues its fight to reduce the impact of cuts on struggling communities.

Coun Neil Barnes, Hull Road Ward.