News from Chudleigh Town Council: January 2023 - CTC Precept for 2023/24

After lengthy discussions Chudleigh Town Councillors have taken the decision to increase the precept for 2023/24 to £170,883 from its current level of £164,311. A Band D household in Chudleigh currently pays £2,169.90 in Council tax, of which £89.92 comes to the Town Council. This increase will mean that the Band D property contribution to the Town Council will rise to £93.52 per annum. This equates to an increase of £3.60 per annum or 30 pence per month.

Cllr Victoria Hadley, the Chair of the Town Council and Mayor, said “In the current economic climate we do realise that any increase in Council Tax bills will be unwelcome. We have not increased the council tax that comes to the Town Council since 2019/20 and have absorbed all the price increases over those four years. However, that could not continue indefinitely. This winter we have provided a “warm places” initiative. That, though, costs us over £200 per week. We are also finding that we are needing to pay for things that the higher level authorities used to provide. For example, this year the Town Council has organised and paid for the cutting of roadside verges and the spraying of weeds in urban areas. The cost to the Council was close to £2,200.

This increase in the precept will enable us to continue supporting local community groups. This year we have provided £5,200 in grants to these community groups which allows them to carry on their good works. We will be  increasing our room hire charges by 50p per hour across the board from 1 April 2023. We will not be increasing our cemetery charges”.

She went on to speak about the range of projects that the Town Council was pursuing. “This year we have installed a new pump track at Millstream Meadow and improved the perimeter of the skate park. We are very aware of how much residents are concerned about speeding and are pursuing the provision of vehicle activated speed signs at either end of the town. These used to be provided and paid for by the Highways authority. However, they can no longer fund such things so the Town Council will need to fund it at a cost of £5,000 per sign”.

John Carlton

Town Clerk

01626 853140