Kingsclere hikes up cemetery and allotment fees

Kingsclere Parish Council approves increase in line with borough wide rise

KINGSCLERE Parish Council is to increase cemetery fees and

allotment rents next year, in line with borough-wide proposals.

At a recent parish council meeting at Kingsclere Village Club, councillors voted in favour of an increase in allotment fees from January 1, and cemetery fees from April 1.

In January, rents for the parish council-owned Longcroft Road allotments will rise to £4 per rod (5.5 yards) from £3.15 per rod, the charge for the past two years.

The chairman of the parish council, Peter Goff, said that the rise was being implemented because of water meters being installed at the allotments in July by Southern Water, following which a charge of £15 per annum for water rates had risen sharply to £45 during the first half of

the year 2011/12.

Mr Goff said that the council would be writing to allotment holders, of which there was a waiting list of about 18 people, to inform them of the rise in due course.

After the meeting, Vanessa Martin, who has been an allotment holder for 12 years, said that it was likely that allotment-holders on a pension would feel the increase, rather than wage earners such as herself:

“I'm earning, so I'm lucky, but if I was an OAP, I'd feel it,” she said.

“It will make people think twice about having an allotment.”

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council's cabinet is due to make a decision on December 6 about borough-wide increases in fees and charges, several of which are higher than the consumer price index (4.5 per cent August 2011).

These include car-parking charges (up by between 2.6 and 13.3 per cent); cemeteries (13 per cent average), land charges (7.4 per cent); allotments (7.51 per cent average) and developer contributions (5.65 per cent).