Mayor calls for re-think on play park to keep tax down

The Mayor of Newtown & Llanllwchaiarn, Cllr Pete Lewington was successful in his proposal on Monday to ask other councillors to 're-think' the £50,000 it had budged for the upcoming year to be spent on a new play park in Llanllwchaiarn.

On Monday, the Town Council's Resources Committee met to discuss the third round of revisions to the draft budget for 2025/26.

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As we'd reported last week, the latest draft budget would hike the town council's element of council tax by 11.5%, if enacted. To cut costs, town councillors had already approved a reduction in the major refurbishment fund from £20,000 to £0.

However, during the November Services Committee meeting, an additional £30,000 was added to fund the new play park at Llanllwchaiarn - bringing the total proposed allocation to £50k.

The play park initiative is being prioritised in the committee, following a 2023 review, which identified Llanllwchaiarn as a top priority for new play facilities due to a significant lack of such amenities in the area.

In September, councillors selected a preferred site - land already owned by the town council - and instructed the Operations Manager to gather quotations for the project.

However at the Resources Committee meeting, a debate was held around the impact on residents of this inclusion in the budget.

The Mayor, Cllr Lewington highlighted the need to balance community projects with financial prudence, stating:

"The Resources Committee request for Council at its meeting to set the precept for the next financial year to give further consideration to the impacts on our residents of an 11.5% increase in the precept in these difficult times."

"As part of these deliberations, we should reconsider the inclusion of the monetary amount in the budget for projects such as the proposed Woodland Way Play Park, which requires further evaluation work before committing.”

Councillor Richard Edwards seconded the recommendation, emphasising the importance of thorough evaluation and clear communication at the full council meeting. “It’s not about stopping the project but ensuring we evaluate its feasibility and the financial implications more thoroughly before proceeding,” he said.

Next Steps

If councillors decide to remove the £50,000 allocation for the play park from the budget, the project may face delays while further evaluation is conducted. However, councillors on the Services Committee will no doubt want to defend their decision to increase the budget for the project.

The final budget and precept will be set by town councillors on Tuesday 14th January 2025.