Bexley residents will see their council tax rise by 4.99 per cent this year, despite saying they feel “neglected” by the authority according to a local councillor.

The increase was agreed upon at a full council meeting for Bexley Council on March 8.

The 4.99 per cent tax hike includes a 2.99 per cent increase in main council tax as well as a 2 per cent rise in adult social care.

This comes after the government increased the amount local councils could legally raise taxes without needing a referendum last November.

The Labour Group put forward an amendment at the meeting to increase funding to resurfacing highways across the borough by £500,000, as well as adding one hour of free parking to shopping areas.

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Labour Councillor Baljeet Gill said that adding free parking would help support struggling local businesses in the borough.

The councillor said that residents in Northumberland Heath told him they felt the area had been “neglected” by Bexley Council for many years.

Cllr Gill also said shop owners in the borough had told him many young girls and elderly people fall on the pavement outside due to the uneven footpath.

He said: “[I was] speaking with our residents that have been living in this area for over 35 years, and they said that the roads are worn and never been repaired.”

Conservative Councillor Teresa O’Neill OBE, leader of the council, said at the meeting that the council would be spending £15.5million on resurfacing roads and footpaths across the borough in the next four years.

Regarding struggling local businesses in the borough, the council leader said the council understood residents’ pressures from the cost of living crisis.

Cllr O’Neill said: “Our town centres have suffered due to the pandemic and the shift to online shopping.

"So we’ve been working with the business improvement districts to attract footfall back, as well as trying to attract new retailers, including a bank hub in Welling, to our high streets.”

Labour Councillor Larry Ferguson said residents in Thamesmead East will view the council tax hike as “highway robbery” given the litter on the area’s roads, saying one resident had said the council was becoming a “failed local authority”.

Cllr Ferguson said: “In Thamesmead East, litter is often strewn around the streets because of a miserly street cleaning service, and there is an epidemic level of fly-tipping.”

At the meeting, Cllr O’Neill said the budget set by the council had been done to deal with current issues, including those set by the pandemic.

She said: “We never lose sight of the fact it’s our residents’ money we are spending. As I said in another place last week, we have to make sure every penny counts in Bexley. We look to support residents to live the best lives possible and to reach their potential.”

At the meeting, the Labour Group amendment was not passed.

Bexley Council voted to increase council tax by 4.99 per cent.