Retention of quality services was the message at Monday’s Finance and General Purposes Committee meeting at which Shrewsbury Town Councillors met to consider budget requirements for next year. The Town Council is scheduled to set its budget when Full Council meets on Monday 22nd January 2018.
Shrewsbury Town Council has traditionally managed parks & open spaces, play areas and sport & recreation grounds providing good local facilities for use by all. In recent years, the Town Council has risen to funding challenges imposed by Shropshire Council and has taken over locally provided services, including Youth Services.
Many Councillors had reported reductions in services locally, both due to funding cuts but also changes to climatic conditions, which has seen staff cutting grass into December. From discussions with residents, there was a clear indication that people wanted to see services continued and in a number of cases, improved.
The meeting also gave Councillors an opportunity to review the kind of services they wished to prioritise on – these included changing traditional lights to more energy efficient LED lights, improving sporting facilities so that more people could become active and creating pathways so that people could enjoy their recreational time. Of key importance to members was continuation of a Youth Service; which, following the recent consultation by Shropshire Council, if approved, would see investment in young people halved in Shropshire. Councillors also wished to see greater investment in grounds maintenance so that valuable open space could be maintained better.
In preparing a budget for Full Council’s consideration, Leader of Shrewsbury Town Council, Councillor Alan Mosley, said: “In making these recommendations for 2018/19, we aim to provide continuing security for essential services for residents and visitors alike. This will result in an 8p a week increase for an average Band D resident. Given that over 75% of our residents live in Band C or below properties their increase will be less.
“We have already established ourselves as the key provider of youth services in the town and despite plans for Shropshire Council to cut support it is essential that we continue to invest in our young people.
“We already have some of the best recreation areas, open spaces and countryside parks in the county but we can never be complacent. Last year we stopped cutting grass in September, this year we haven’t stopped and people want to use our facilities all year round and not just in the summer. We also want to invest in better lighting, footpaths and sports facilities so that our residents can enjoy where they live.
“We also believe that the services we provide in the town centre for our residents, visitors and shoppers are important, and so continued investment in our public toilets, signage and our overall Big Town Plan vision is really important.
“I must place on record the support for our staff who have worked in challenging conditions and in continued support of them they in turn will support our residents in helping us to provide valuable services.”
The Finance & General Purpose Committee has recommended a £3,421,127 budget, which will be funded through existing contracts, and fees and charges and a precept levy of £1,097,906 on the Shrewsbury Council Tax payer. This equates to a Band D rate of £45.63 and a Band B rate of £35.49; the lowest Band D rate of any Shropshire Town Council and well below the county average.
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