Am i being ripped of by the council?

[Yorkieandy]

My council tax to Chesterfield Borough / Derbyshire County has gone up from 91 quid a month to £115.

In the leaflet they sent me to explain where the money is to be spent i came across one thing which i can't fathom and if anybody can understand the council's viewpoint then please do let me know.

They are to spend £34 million pounds on replacing 90,000 streetlights with LED energy saving ones which will save the council £1.2 million pounds a year in electricity costs.

Now the way i see this is at least 28 years until the council break even on the 34 mill spent.

Will the bulbs last 28 years?

Just find that weird really. Am i being thick or rightly suspicious?

Also is the 4.9% increase comparable to your area?

[Orange Gull]

Can't speak for Chesterfield but the rise in council tax here (Stockport) is also 4.99%. I imagine it's pretty similar in a lot of places.

[Yorkieandy]

Well in that case i don't expect to be putting my life and car at risk everytime i venture out come next year due to potholes all over most roads. Some the size of the Sudan. It really is a disgrace round here. If you want to drive down any road in a straight line you can forget it.

[Southampton Gull]

The local council here have just re-opened the main route into Southampton from the M3 after road and drainage repairs. I've just driven up there this morning and yet there has been no resurfacing just new drains put in every 50 yards but now every single one is like a BLOODY RAMP. I started to get sea sick on the half mile stretch so well done Southampton City Council for actually closing the road into the city for 3 weeks causing chaos on all other routes and actually managing to make the road worse. All this on top of raising the council tax similarly to the two areas already mentioned.

[Yorkieandy]

It's the same round here with sunken drain / grate covers in the roads. Not only do you have to compromise road safety by keeping one eye on potholes but now there seems to be a new danger in town.............overly sunken drain covers! They are all over the place and have the same effect as potholes many of them if you drive over them.

I need more eyes!!!