About The CouncilPlease use the dropdowns on the left of your screen to find out more information on Councillors, Staff, Freedom of Information, Policies, Visions and Strategies, Committee Structure and Press Releases.
Committee Choices 2011/12Town Mayor's Awards
The Town Mayor, Cllr Mrs Kelly, has introduced two special awards funded from the Town Mayor's Allowance. The Youth Award has been given to the Chairman of the skate park group for his work in providing the new skate park. The Town Mayor's Vote of Thanks was given to a previous Arts Festival Chairman, who although he does not live in the town, has contributed greatly to the enhancement of the Festival.
The Town Mayor would be happy to receive suggestions from residents for recipients of these awards and they can be forwarded to her at the Town Council office either by letter or email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Precept 2012/2013
The economic climate within the country and the world continues to be challenging. Last year the Council kept it’s budget to a 0% increase over the previous year. With increasing external costs including utilities, fuel and other consumables, the Town Council has had to respond to these with a small increase in budget for the coming year of 3.43%.
The Town Council is responsible for many of the ‘quality of life’ services such as play areas, allotments, parks, burial ground and some street lighting, youth work, activities for families and older people, assisting business and addressing unemployment issues in our community. This budget allows us to continue without cutting our services.
The Town Council has continued to provide more facilities for our community by maximising funding from outside sources. Examples of this include the High Street bus shelter, the skatepark and street snooker play equipment.
To come are improvements to the Manor Park and allotments, a part time Youth Officer, town centre improvements adjacent to the War Memorial and a Youth Hub. These are in line with the Town Council’s vision and objectives for the community.
The Rufus Centre continues to be self financing and the wedding and events business is growing. Rooms leased to small businesses continue to be fully occupied. A new part time post has been created to focus on marketing and increasing the overall business opportunities for the Centre.
The Town Council continues to support a wide diversity of local organisations through it’s annual grants budget.
So far this financial year £10,000 has been saved through staff initiatives under the value for money scheme and we are trying to focus our spending, wherever possible, with local business and suppliers to support the local economy. In addition, and to add to the support for local businesses, we are currently setting up a Business Club.
The Precept for 2012/13 is therefore £630,624 which represents a 3.43% increase over the current year. This represents for a Band D property an increase of approximately £3.75 per household, per year.
Cllr Phillip Thompson
Chairman Business Services Committee
