Accusations fly as council split over decision to increase rates
Rise will mean an extra £9.16 on their bills this year for ratepayers
Derry City and Strabane District Council s headquarters at Strand Road.
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There were heated exchanges today as Derry City and Strabane District Council met to ratify its latest rates increase.
The council have agreed to strike a rates increase of 1.89% which will equate to a yearly rise of £9.16 for each household in the council area.
This was the lowest rates increase made by the council, and its predecessor Derry City Council, since 1973.
However, the council was split on the increase, with some councillors saying that there should have been no rates increase this year as a result of the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ambitious plans to restore Derry to Strabane rail line are now on track
Local council supports motion to look at feasibility of reinstating the transport connection
Some of the tracks of the Great Northern Line remain at Foyle Road in Derry.
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Derry City and Strabane District Council has given its support to the proposal.
At the council s monthly meeting tonight, SDLP councillor Steven Edwards put forward a motion on the issue.
He asked that the council recognise the strategic, social and economic benefit of restoring the former Great Northern Railway line between Strabane and Derry.
The Great Northern Line ran from what is now the Foyle Valley Railway Museum at Foyle Road in Derry.
Angry exchanges at Derry council meeting over policing group audit proposal
One councillor describes handling of meeting as a farce
The local Policing and Community Safety Partnership works in conjunction with the PSNI.
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There were angry exchanges this week during a council discussion on financial audits carried out into the Derry Policing and Community Safety Partnership.
The row broke out during a meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council s Assurance, Audit and Risk committee on Monday.
One of the items which came before the committee was the audits carried out in relation to the work of the local PCSP.