Town Council Newsletter – November 2014

The Town Council meetings will move to a Wednesday for the next few months. This month’s will take place at 7pm on Wednesday 26nd November. Members of the Public are welcome. Information about committee meeting dates is available on the notice boards in the Market Place and at The Westwoods Centre.

Event and Fly Posters
The Town Council will shortly be investing in a new notice board at West End, which will be located at the bus stop. Please feel free to use this and other suitable public spaces around town (not trees!) to advertise events. We politely request that posters are removed quickly after events have passed. In addition, businesses are requested not to use these public spaces to advertise their services. Please note that any general business fly posters will be removed.

Neighbourhood Plan
A year in and the Neighbourhood Plan is gathering momentum. The Steering Group has grown slightly due to its workload and October saw some important meetings take place. The State of the Parish Report has been completed and published and can be viewed on the website.

The Steering Group was delighted with the number of surveys returned and the information gathered. Many thanks to Cllr Pauline Rigby and Cllr Chris Hancock, who have played important roles in both the survey and the State of the Parish report.

Local Elections in May 2015 – Finance Update

Last month we gave details of the May 2015 elections and explained how all the current councillors will be up for re-election. To explain some of the functions of the Town Council, this month’s article will focus on the work of the Finance, Funding and Grants Committee. This group meets on a regular basis to review the Council’s financial situation, consider spend requests and agree on grants. Autumn is a key time for the this committee as they plan the budget for the following year and agree the precept, which is the amount the town council receives from taxpayers through the council tax bill. Therefore this committee directly influences how much money you pay on your council tax bills and therefore what the Town Council receives for next year’s finances. The precept is the only guaranteed income the Town Council receives and any increase or decrease is carefully considered. Over the last two years, the Finance Committee has recommended increases to assist with flood alleviation work across town and support for the Neighbourhood Plan.