Newbury's taxpayers' will have to cough up £1m next year

Town council approves 2016/17 budget which includes a 4.6 per cent increase to the precept

NEWBURY Town Council will ask the town’s taxpayers to cough up almost £1m next year after raising its precept by 4.6 per cent to pay for additional services.

Its budget for 2016/17 shows the Conservative-controlled council is predicting to spend £1.8m next year, almost £700,000 more than in the current financial year.

This is largely due to the £600,000 out-of-court settlement from Parkway developer Costain regarding the subsidence damage caused to Victoria Park and the surrounding areas.

The town council is planning to spend £430,000 of that settlement on a “significant programme of works” to repair the damage to the bowls green, tennis courts and pathways, while the remaining £170,000 will pay off the legal fees generated by the five-year dispute.

The council has also earmarked £720,000 to build a new café in Victoria Park.

A significant portion of this is likely to be paid for by the Greenham Common Trust, with the remainder coming from the council’s section 106 funds and public works loans.

The town council’s precept will increase by £55,000 – from £929,815 in the current financial year to £984,706 in 2016/17.

This 4.6-per-cent rise is to pay for the additional services it is having to take on from its fellow Conservative counterparts at West Berkshire Council.

The proposed precept increase would add approximately £3.50 per year to the average Band D property’s council tax bill.

The district council is looking to transfer the responsibility of three services – CCTV cameras, public toilets and the Visitor Information Centre – to the town council as part of its own plan to save £14.8m next year.

Budget papers show the town council has set aside £15,000 to ensure the public toilets at The Wharf remain open for at least another year.

It is also planning to pay £12,000 to retain 13 of the 24 CCTV cameras in Newbury, while another £10,000 has been put by to see if some form of visitor information centre can continue to be provided.

Another £16,000 has been set aside to help Newbury BID pay for the town’s Christmas lights, in addition to £15,000 for the refurbishment of the town hall and £1,500 for repairs and maintenance to the Clock Tower.

Staff salaries come in at £385,000 – more than a third of the total precept.

It has put by £2,500 for the mayor’s allowance, £1,000 for a ‘civic robe replacement’, £2,000 for the mayor making ceremony, £500 for ‘regalia and uniforms’ and £700 for ‘civic events’.

The council says it is looking to save money on newsletters, postage and photocopying costs.

It is also looking at reducing the amount of grant aid – the money it gives out to local organisations – by £2,500.

In addition to cost savings, the council is looking to increase income from chamber hire, suite leases and cemetery fees.

Newbury Town Council leader Dave Goff described it as a “fair budget for the people of Newbury” and described the proposed precept increase as “the price of a pint of beer per year”.

However, the opposing Liberal Democrat members voted against the budget and instead put forward a series of proposed amendments which they claimed would only increase the precept by three per cent rather than 4.6 per cent.

The group said they would scrap plans to pay £15,000 to keep the public toilets at The Wharf open because “it is mainly used by people who are dropped off at the adjacent coach stop rather than Newbury residents”.

It also identified further savings by looking at a “complete overhaul” of the grounds maintenance budget and proposed to increase the grant aid to £17,000 rather than reducing it to £7,500.

It said it would find the money by scrapping the £10,000 proposed for the Visitor Information Centre.

Lib Dem councillor Julian Swift-Hook said it was “unfair” for Newbury residents to pick up the cost of the information centre which he said was a “West Berkshire service”.

However, the party’s amendments were shot down by the Conservatives, who all voted against them.