Leaders have been told its "assisted in its own downfall" amid a fierce debate to approve a savings package worth £16 million. 

The extent of financial pressure on Ipswich Borough Council was revealed last week with the borough's budget gap rising from £17.5million to £23m.

Some of the proposals within the package included introducing fees for brown bin collection and increasing parking charges on car parks near Portman Road on Ipswich Town FC matchdays, along with price hikes on leisure activities.

Other changes also included closing down Crown Pools and Fore Street baths once a week, closing Christchurch Mansion on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and cutting some of the events the council organised while seeking sponsorships for others.

Speaking at Wednesday's meeting, leader of the council Neil McDonald said every effort had been made to identify saving opportunities but the scale of the challenge means it has been "impossible" to completely avoid making cuts.

Cllr Neil MacDonald said unfortunately there is no money tree.Cllr Neil MacDonald said unfortunately there is no money tree. (Image: Newsquest)

Cllr MacDonald said: “Unfortunately, there is no magic money tree.”

Although Cllr MacDonald stopped short of it this time around, during last week’s executive he also stressed the savings were needed to ‘stop the council going bust’.

He added: “I am not expecting people to like everything in these proposals, but I do hope that people understand the current financial position and will bear with us while we work through the significant financial challenges ahead.”

Martin Cook came under fire from Conservative group leader Ian Fisher.Martin Cook came under fire from Conservative group leader Ian Fisher. (Image: Cllr Martin Cook)

Councillor Ian Fisher said the council's lead for resources Cllr Martin Cook had been too scared, too timid and had been ‘putting off the inevitable’.

Cllr Fisher added: “You have put off what you call really tough decisions and left on the table some really easy decisions that other councils took years ago.

“Each year you present a budget with an ever-increasing gap, each year you outline how you propose to fill that gap, each year you then explain how that gap hasn’t been filled but it’s got worse.”

Ian Fisher, the group leader for the Conservatives, said decisions had been put off. Ian Fisher, the group leader for the Conservatives, said decisions had been put off. (Image: Archant)

He added that additional pressures from the first financial quarter were already known and these had been hidden until after the General Election — these claims were denied by Labour members.

Cllr Fisher told the meeting: “We have assisted in our own downfall by a failure to act quickly enough, a failure to understand that we cannot afford to run so many services at a loss if we have a budget deficit – this is basic economics."

He said apart from the charges to brown bins and sports fees, the income generation ideas were "plain and simple good business".

Crown Pools will see its hours reduced as part of the saving measures.Crown Pools will see its hours reduced as part of the saving measures. (Image: Lucy Taylor)

Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Oliver Holmes sided with many of the points raised by the Conservatives.

He said more needed to be done to identify issues annually or the council risked the loss of confidence in its budget.

Cllr Holmes added: “The more things change, the more things stay the same.”

The savings ended up being approved as proposed with 34 votes in favour from Labour, seven against from the Conservatives, and three abstentions from the Lib Dems.