COUNCIL Tax for residents in South Lakeland will be frozen for the fifth year running, after councillors voted in favour of new budget plans for 2015/16.

A meeting of South Lakeland District Council’s Full Council approved the budget, which includes a zero per cent increase in the district council’s part of next year’s Council Tax bill.

The budget also protects front-line services and ongoing projects like the plastics and cardboard kerbside recycling roll-out.

The majority of car parking fees will be frozen and an ‘early bird’ parking offer will be trialled for six months from April 1 in the Westmorland Shopping Centre car park in Kendal, that will offer all-day parking for £2.20 to drivers arriving between 7am and 9am.

The budget report to Full Council also identified where savings will be made to ensure a balanced budget for 2015/16 and looks at ways to reduce projected deficits in 2016/17 and 2018/19.

The council achieved savings of £1.2m in 2014 and further savings totalling £800,000 have been identified for 2015/16.

The biggest savings for next year are from the council’s own back office efficiencies and improvements, including a new digital innovation project to make it easier for customers to access council services, as well as green energy savings and increasing the life-span of the council’s recycling vehicles from seven to 10 years.

The Tory opposition proposed a number of amendments to the budget to achieve further savings of £155,600 to fund a Council Tax reduction of two per cent in 2015/16. The proposed amendments were defeated when they were put to the vote.