At Shepton Mallet Town Council's full council meeting this week, the council agreed, after a healthy debate, to increase council tax next year.

The proposed increase will take the current budget from £452,765 to £580,252 which is an increase of £127,487. The calculates as an approximate increase of 73p per week on a Band D household.

This followed two months of consideration at committee meetings, where future plans and initiatives were discussed which included:

Resurfacing of the Market Square in a joint financial venture with Somerset County Council and Mendip District Council;

Improvements to the town infrastructure including better signage, information boards, more bins and bike racks;

Enhancements to the award-winning Green Flag Collett Park including information boards, water fountain and a much stronger emphasis on the natural environment as well as building up a fund to enable the council to repair and maintain the infrastructure in the park.

A new idea was supported which is to create a £10,000 People's Vote Fund, which will allow the public to decide on a project to be implemented.  

The chairman of the council, Councillor Chris Inchley, said: "The council was being aspirational with its vision and wants to move forward with these projects."

The town council continues to financially support Citizens Advice Mendip, the Youth Club and the Tourist Information Centre, and has made a strong financial commitment to support the retention of the library in the town centre.

In order to do all of the above, it is necessary to engage a new member of staff to assist with project delivery as the current staff base is already stretched. 

Many of the services that the council supports were previously provided by the county and district councils.

As they become stretched due to capping on their funding, they have to either pass some of their services to the town council, or reduce their commitment to them.

Shepton Mallet Town Council has responded to this by stepping in to support those services.  

Public representatives attended the meeting to state their concerns that this increase would hit hardest on those who have no disposable income and would struggle to pay the increase.

Councillors responded that they were aware of, and sympathetic to, the effects this increase would have on households.

While they acknowledged that this was a difficult decision, they see this as a long term investment that will lead to regeneration of Shepton Mallet and bring benefits to many people. 

Councillors have been developing a four-year plan to invest in and improve services and facilities that they deliver or can influence.

This plan is due to be published in the spring of 2020. Therefore, this budget forms the basis of starting to deliver these projects.