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Press ReleasePRESS RELEASE FROM:
PROTECT OUR WOODLAND (POW!)
For Immediate Release.
COLOURFUL RALLY TO HIGHLIGHT THREATENED COUNCIL TAX INCREASE AS COUNCILS COSTS SOAR FIGHTING DOWNS PARK
With strong rumours that Council Tax is likely to increase again next year in Sussex by over 10%, Protect Our Woodland! (POW!) is holding a rally, followed by a walk, to highlight the fact that local authorities are likely to spend £300,000 - one of which has allocated £200,000 - of taxpayer's money in an attempt to kill off the setting up of a South Downs National Park.
The event will start from Arundel High Street, opposite the Norfolk Hotel, at 1pm, Sunday November 2nd 2003 and proceed through the town, then along the River Arun towpath and into the Ancient Woodland complex of Tortington common and Binstead Wood.
John Clark of POW! Said: "It really is outrageous for councils to waste OUR money like this. From the support our and other campaign groups have received, it's clear there's massive public support for the Downs to be protected by National Park status. All the time these councils complain of having to cut services or blame the Government for diverting money to the north of England, when in truth it's their stubborn refusal to bow to their own taxpayers demand to spend wisely, not spend vast sums employing wealthy legal counsel in objecting to the Park".
John Clark added: "Arundel has been chosen for this rally, because at present much of the area we shall be walking, has been left out of the Parks boundary. It is our intention that this rally gets national coverage so that every one is aware that the magnificent landscape of the Arun valley, together with the ecological and cultural importance of the water meadows and ancient woodland that is under threat unless it's included in the Park".
ENDS
Notes for Editors.
Historic Arundel High Street will make an excellent backdrop for the colourful banners and placards carried by the walkers who come from a broad range of Environmental groups. We also expect to be joined by a group of pensioners concerned over Council Tax increases.
The Public Inquiry into the creation of a South Downs National Park opens at 2pm on Monday, 10 November 2003 at the Assembly Hall, Stoke Abbot Road, Worthing.
Also we are asking everyone to respond to West Sussex County Councils request contained in its latest 'Connections' - the newsletter available in Library's - for ways the councils can reduce the increase in next year's council tax!