Bristol, UK

You do realise that it's possible for Bristol council to be negligent and corrupt in their spending, while also getting significantly reduced funding from the government, right?

I'm sorry but the parent comments both blindly assume it's all central government's fault. And also imply that Bristol council couldn't possibly have done things differently. So yes I do realise that both can be true. But I'm not insisting that Bristol Council be let off the hook for the shitty things they do.

Bristol is only slightly insulated from this by the insanely high council tax - however their income has been reduced, and it's to be expected that they seek ways of covering that shortfall.

They have a shortfall because of the incredibly poor way they've managed their finances and government cuts. People would like to pretend it's only the latter and poor old Bristol Council are an innocent bystander swept up in a tornado not of their making. This is absurd. Have you seen the way the council responds to comments asking for clarity on finances and spending? It's an absolute disgrace.

The point of the petition by the seller in the article is to try and get Bristol Council not to punish traders with punitive chargers to cover shortfalls elsewhere. This particular trader has been chugging along for years up until now growing a customer base and now the council are gouging him for an obscene amount of money. They could have quite easily have asked for an inflationary increase in ground rent. But they haven't. The risk here is that the Council drives people out of business. I don't want to live in a place where everything is either shut or way too expensive because the bulk of the sales go towards paying off the Council fees.