It was my pleasure to welcome Cllr Louise McKinlay (Leader of Brentwood BC) and Cllr Nigel Clark to talk about that day’s big announcement that Cllr Clarke had decided to leave the Lib Dem Group on Brentwood BC and move across to the Tories. A big decision for Nigel, not without his reasons. I wish him well and good success in his service for Brentwood West. Louise stayed on to talk about how the council are faring in these tough economic times. Pleased to see that Brentwood Council, despite the climate, will have managed to deliver a 0% Counncil Tax increase whilst investing front line services when the budget is set in February. The £42.5K community fund is also open for bids up to a max of £5k per applicant. Visit www.brentwood.gov.uk for details.