NEWBURY SETS ITS BUDGET FOR NEXT YEAR
Newbury Town Council has set a budget of £2.326M for the coming year, with a range of exciting new plans for the Town. Among these are the construction of the new Community Café in Victoria Park, improvements to the public toilets at The Wharf, upgrades to playgrounds at Fifth Road and The Nightingales and a new mini golf facility in Victoria Park. Further works are planned for the Council’s open spaces at Wash Common and Hutton Close. The Town Council budget also provides a range of grants and support to organisations working with the old, the young, the vulnerable, the disadvantaged and the minority groups in Newbury.
Cllr Martin Colston, is the Leader of the Council and the Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee. He said that the budget demonstrates the Council’s commitment to all sections of the community in Newbury.
He said, “We continue to deliver on the Strategy which we agreed in 2019 and this budget accelerates some of our key aims and objectives. The Community Café in Victoria Park will be a fantastic asset in the centre of town. We are also looking forward to upgrading the public toilets at The Wharf, where we aim to provide a ‘Changing Places’ facility, which is a specially designed hoist for disabled people. When you consider that these toilets were closed by the District Council in 2016, we are delighted to be able to plan this improvement for the Town centre of Newbury.
He continued, “Some of our playgrounds need improvement and we are commencing a comprehensive programme with an investment of £115,000 next year. I am delighted that the Council continues to deliver two of our main objectives - addressing the Climate Emergency and supporting the disadvantaged and vulnerable people in our communities. On the Climate Emergency, the Council has re-designed the Community Café in Victoria Park to a very high standard of environmental sustainability, and we expect the same approach from the café operators when it opens in 2023.
We continue to carry out works and improvements to reduce the Council’s carbon footprint. In 2020 we set ourselves a target of a 10% reduction each year and so far, we are exceeding that target. We are constantly expanding our support to our communities, through grant assistance to other organisations and working with a wide range of partners, such as Berkshire Youth, Community United West Berkshire, the Newbury BID, Thames Valley Police and the District Council.
It is even better news that we aim to provide these improvements with minimal impact on the Council-tax payers of Newbury. Next year the average payment per dwelling in Newbury will be £89.00, which is an increase of only 1.5% on this year. Most of the improvements to services and facilities will be funded from contributions paid by developers, our own internal reserves and external grant funding, where we can attract it. This budget and our plans for next year are proof that this council is delivering for the people of Newbury.”
Full details of the budget for 2022-23 can be found on the Council's website https://www.newbury.gov.uk/the-council/key-documents/budget/
Contacts:
Cllr Martin Colston, Leader of the Council martin.colston@newbury.gov.uk 01635 36591
Hugh Peacocke, CEO Newbury Town Council hugh.peacocke@newbury.gov.uk 01635 35486