Parish Council tax reviewed for 2011/12

DSCN3453

Alderley Edge Parish Council agreed at this month's meeting to reduce this year's precept by 25% from £120,000 to £90,000. The precept is the part of your council tax which is charged by the Parish Council.

Last year the Parish Council tax was increased by 71% from £70,000 to £120,000, 74% of which (£89,195) was allocated to the Festival Hall. However, because the Parish Council didn't redevelop the hall as they had intended a lot of the money wasn't spent so they are predicting to carry forward £104,892.41 from previous years.

In addition to the £90,000 they will raise in tax next financial year the Parish Council expect to carry over £78,355.47 from this year and £26,500 from previous years giving them a total of £230,567.41 for 2011/12.

Attached is the summary of the Parish Council's proposed budget which shows that a large part of the predicted £205,156 expenditure is allocated to the Festival Hall. Operational costs for the hall are budgeted at £70,000, as they were last year, included in which is £15,000 should they decide to appoint a marketing manager at the hall on a part time basis.

In addition there are legal costs of £5000 and a contingency of £40,000 incase the Festival Hall roof needs repairing, bringing the total budget for the Festival Hall to £130,615, which represents 63.6% of the Parish Council's budgeted expenditure for 2011/12.

According to the proposed budget, income from the Festival Hall will be £33,000 for the coming financial year, £15,000 of which will come from a Cheshire East, so in fact from taxpayers, because when the Parish Council took over the Festival Hall the council agreed to provide the sum of £15,000 per year for 10 years to help them cover the costs of running the hall. In addition £4,500 will be paid in rent to the Parish Council for the two phone masts, leaving £13,500 income from Festival Hall bookings.

If the Parish Council's plans go ahead work will commence in May to redevelop the Festival Hall which presumably means that events will not be held there for a large of part of the financial year. Plans include creating a new medical centre at the front of the building which will occupy the first two floors, with the third floor being rented commercially, redeveloping the middle of the hall to create a multifunctional space aimed at local, corporate and social users, and refurbishing the rear of the building to house Parish Council facilities.

Councillor Paul Tomlinson advised at this month's meeting though that the financial plan discussed in October no longer works because the GPs' budget has been capped and funding from Cheshire East remains uncertain so he is now working on an alternative financial plan.

He said that before the next Parish Council meeting, on February 7th, the councillors will be invited to attend a meeting, which will not be open to the press or public, where the new plan for the Festival Hall will be presented. The new plan includes both the PCT's current budget and aspirations but will be funded in a different way to the current proposal.

Councillor Tomlinson explained that he is looking to spend more money as he needs the services of a Quantity Surveyor for two days and they will also need to obtain a "Best Value" report in due course.

Councillor Mike Williamson thanked Councillor Tomlinson for his continued efforts to secure a viable proposal to redevelop the Hall saying "It would have been very easy to give up."

Alderley Edge Parish Council took over management of the Festival Hall in 2009 following a review, carried out by consultants on behalf of Macclesfield Borough Council in 2005, concluded that the hall was underused, losing money and out of touch with the modern community.

With the Festival Hall under threat from being demolished and sold to developers for affordable housing, the Parish Councillors fought to save the hall, which was built for the annual Alderley Edge Festival in the 1930's, as a community facility.

Plans to relocate the George Street surgery have been in the pipeline since at least 2006 but discussions reached a stalemate in 2009 because the Parish Council refused to commit to building the new centre until the PCT committed to renting the building, whilst the PCT wouldn't commit until they knew how much it would cost to build the centre and the rent they would be expected to pay.

Cheshire East have confirmed that the council tax for 2011/12 will be frozen at the current level.

Click here to view the minutes from the January Parish Council meeting.

Tags:
Council Tax, Festival Hall, Medical Centre, Parish Council, Parish Council Minutes, Precept
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

David Clark
Thursday 27th January 2011 at 12:16 pm
In times of austerity why is the Parish Council planning to spend £21000 on xmas lights in 2011/2012. It does not seem long ago that the old lights were replaced at a cost of £40000+.