NEWS POLITICS BUDGET 25

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.

5 months ago   2 minutes read    2,468 views

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

Photo: Cllr Peter Lewington (Newtown & Llanllwchairn Town Council)

Share            Listen to the story

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.

  Sign up for All About Newtown Daily

Our new free daily information email service. Sign up below by entering your email address.

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.

You've viewed 1 stories so far!

All About Newtown is an independent not-for-profit online news and information service for the town of Newtown in Mid Wales. We provide ad-free content, so rely on reader subscriptions and donations to run.

  Donate via PayPal

Related or similar stories based on this one

Image for the article Who will be the next Mayor and Deputy?
Who will be the next Mayor and Deputy?

1 year ago

Image for the article New Mayor elected
New Mayor elected

8 months ago

Image for the article Opinion: Mayor looking forward to unleashing towns potential
Opinion: Mayor looking forward to unleashing towns potential

4 months ago

Business of the Week
Brew Hub

High Street

Follow us

Connect with us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Google News

     

Trending
Donate to us

We're a not-for-profit community interest company and have no corporate owners. We'd appreciate anything you can give to keep us providing free content.

  Donate via PayPal
Upcoming Events
The Weave

07/06/25 07:30pm

Aled Jones

20/06/25 08:00pm

Newtown Outdoor Festival

28/06/25 10:00am

Latest Stories
Reform councillors question allowance increase

2 weeks ago

Senedd rejects Conservative calls for £660m tax cuts

2 weeks ago

Newtown councillor steps down from Cabinet

2 weeks ago