Residents in Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge will see an increase in their council tax bills from April after Sedgemoor District Council this week voted to raise its council tax charges.
Sedgemoor has raised its proportion of council tax by 1.99%, while Burnham and Highbridge Town Council approved a 1.89% rise earlier this month. It means that for people living in a Band D property, council tax will rise by £4.15 per year.
Cllr Duncan McGinty, leader of Sedgemoor District Council, outlined the council’s budget during a meeting in Bridgwater on Monday.
Among the key decisions are a two-year voluntary redundancy exercise to reduce staff numbers by 38, earmarking £330,000 for retraining and back filling within the council, and expanding its apprenticeship with an investment of £100,000 over two years.
There will also be a one-off investment of £90,000 for attracting businesses to Sedgemoor, an increase in the council’s local grants budget, and more cash for preventing flooding in the future.
His full speech outlined the full budget proposals: “Staff are our most valuable asset – how many times have we said and heard that? I can say, from the bottom of my heart, that I have been completely overwhelmed by the dedication, professionalism and sheer determination of our staff since the New Year when the flooding crisis started in earnest. I look around and see not just tired faces, but exhausted faces, of staff who are working to do the best for our flooded-out residents, who have faced the misery of losing their homes to the flood waters. Several command cells are 24/7 and staff are juggling family and personal life around these rotas.”
“This situation won’t magically disappear over the next few weeks, and it will be many months before things get back to anything like normal. I know that these staff will continue to put in long hours, as well as their colleagues who are covering their duties, be it at Colley Lane or Bridgwater House. I am so proud to lead an organisation such as Sedgemoor with its first-class staff. Members, too, play a large part in community leadership and I know that some have been directly affected, yet still have time and energy to try and do the best they can for others. Life for those who are, relatively-speaking, unaffected by the flooding, goes on as normal, as must our work at Sedgemoor District Council.”
Cllr McGinty, pictured, added: “Our budget proposals are sustainable and prudent. The two-year voluntary redundancy exercise will see thirty-eight staff leave over the next couple of years. We are taking this opportunity to re-engineer council to meet future demands. Services may change in some ways, but will not be lost. We are ploughing back £330,000 towards retraining and back filling within the Council and dramatically expanding our apprenticeship scheme by the addition of £100,000 over the next two years.”
“Economic growth is one of our four priorities. A one-off additional investment of £90,000 will be put into attracting business in Sedgemoor. We must capture as many of the benefits arising from Hinkley Point and other opportunities for local businesses. Whenever the ‘start-up’ proper happens at Hinkley Point, we need to be ready. Now is the right time to provide a measured increase in this area to enable us to compete both locally and nationally. We need people and time to work with businesses considering Sedgemoor as an investment location; provide supplementary capacity to focus on critical issues during the next year; as well as presenting Sedgemoor professionally to the outside world in a way which will allow us to compete with larger and far more affluent areas.”
“We support many organisations that work with our grass-roots communities; complementing our services. To that end, we propose to top up the grants budget to £70,000 and maintain it at that level until the Council decides to change or not.”
“We wholeheartedly support the Bridgwater Vision, but cannot support the opposition bid for £250,000 for the Bridgwater Celebration Mile. When more detailed and funded proposals come forward, we will use our resources to lever in money from other pots and potentially contribute at a later date. In these extraordinary times, it would be foolish to tie up a budget that may or may not be used in the coming year. As has been shown in the past, we are prudent and flexible enough to find funding when it is needed.”
“I return to flooding. We know all too well that the weather has the ability to affect us and our district. Weather impacts have the potential to be very expensive and we must plan ahead. Therefore, I am proposing an increase in council tax to allow for the additionally requested £115,000 for the Internal Drainage Boards.”
“We will further invest an additional £50,000 (to include £30,000 for council tax relief) towards flooding expenditure – that makes £100,000 so far in total. Obviously, we hope that some of this will be refunded from government, but in meantime we do not want to be hindered by finance in providing the services to our residents at this time.”
“Staff at the really sharp end, those who work out of Colley Lane Depot, can be overlooked when the focus is on the work done at Bridgwater House. We could be accused of rather taking them for granted – turning out in all weathers, at all times, to keep the district at its best. We have had three flooding incidents in the past three years and what has become evident is that the aging buildings and working conditions at Colley Lane are not fit to deal with these demands. I therefore propose that up to £90,000 is spent on the facilities for staff at Colley Lane. Just for those of you who don’t know or haven’t visited the depot – there are no showers or drying facilities for those who often work in cold, hard and wet conditions.”
“Finally, to the council tax. The government has recognised that whilst tax levels must be minimised, there is the need for the very low cost councils to have the ability to make small increases. After considerable deliberation, we are proposing an increase in Sedgemoor’s proportion of 1.99% . On a band D property, this is equal to an increase of just 5p per week. Pound for pound, we are still the lowest Band D equivalent across Somerset. Therefore, SDC’s proportion of council tax for Sedgemoor in the coming year will be set at an average £137.78 for a band D property.”
