Big plans for the year ahead have been outlined by East Cambridgeshire District Council.

They include rolling out new wheeled bins and food caddies to 40,000 households, opening the Lake View bereavement centre near Mepal and ensuring affordable homes continue to be built in the district, including the new £100k Homes in Kennett and Arbour Square in Ely.

And it has pledged to try and achieve this without having to raise Council Tax – for the 13th year running – or rely on any external borrowing.

To date the council is the only district, county or unitary authority still in operation in the country not to have increased its share of Council Tax for the past 12 years and it is one of only a handful of councils in the UK with no debt.

The actions all form part of the council’s new Corporate Action plan for 2025/26 which was signed off by Full Council on Thursday 18 September.

Cllr Anna Bailey, Leader of the council, said: “The coming year is a busy, exciting and a challenging time for the council.

“Here in East Cambridgeshire we are so proud of what we achieve by adopting a commercial with community approach to funding.

“Whether that’s delivering affordable homes and Ely’s popular market through East Cambs Trading Company, using CIL funding for new infrastructure, or working in collaboration with the ECSS to deliver the new bin service. This approach enables profits to be ploughed back into the council rather than going out to the private sector, helping to keep costs – and Council Tax – lower for residents.

“I am proud to say all this approach was endorsed by residents in a recent county wide survey, in which East Cambs outperformed all the other councils when it came to satisfaction levels, delivering low Council Tax and trust in service delivery.

“Unfortunately, all this has been tinged with the announcement by national government last December that district and county councils are to be abolished to make way for single unitary authorities.

“Despite this we will continue to deliver for our residents at the same time as preparing to transition to a new unitary council because of Local Government Reorganisation. Our goal is to ensure we place the needs and wishes of our residents front and centre; we protect what is so special about East Cambs; and our exceptional way of doing things is reflected in the new council.”

This year, the council is also looking to:

• deliver its annual top 20 environmental commitments, focusing on 3 key themes of bring back nature, reducing carbon emissions and adapting to a changing climate
• working with CPCA and partners to deliver improvements to active travel, road and rail infrastructure; including bus franchising, the BP Witchford Road crossing, A10 Ely to A14 improvements scheme and Soham Railway Station phase 2
• further develop the Sustrans feasibility cycle schemes for the Ely to Soham and Burwell to Fordham routes
• support the development of a new network of agricultural reservoirs to improve water resilience across the district
• continue work on the Inclusive Play Audit, which will be used to inform the Inclusive Play Strategy, to guide and set standards for ensuring play areas are inclusive spaces for all children
• introduce a match funding scheme of up to £5000 for parish councils that wish to create neighbourhood plans, this follows the withdrawal of government funding

Achievements over the past year have included:

• starting work on Lake View Bereavement Centre, near Mepal
• making significant improvements to the efficiency of the planning department, which is now offering pre-application advice services and has reduced the amount of planning applications requiring an extension
• installing solar panels at The Hive leisure centre in Ely, which are forecast to save around £18,500 in electricity running costs and around 19 tonnes of CO2e
• launching a new website at www.eastcambs.gov.uk