Waverley Borough Council

Cranleigh councillor warns of higher tax risk

PEOPLE living in Cranleigh could end up with higher tax bills if the parish council takes over more of Waverley’s responsibilities.

That was the warning from Cllr Ken Reed as the authority considered whether or not to register an interest in taking on specific areas of grounds maintenance, along with management of Waverley-owned playgrounds and the village’s skate park from the borough council.

He was in a minority, though, as most members agreed to express an interest prior to putting together a business case for presentation at a future meeting.

The areas considered suitable for the parish council to take responsibility for are the children’s playgrounds at Lashmere and Queensway, as well as the skate park and possibly some grassed areas.

The village’s main recreation area, at Snoxhall, is owned by the parish council.

The borough council has invited Waverley’s parishes to consider taking over responsibility for certain parts of their areas as its main grounds maintenance contract comes up for renewal next year.
The parish is already considering the possible takeover of the village’s public toilets.

A report produced by the authority’s grounds manager, Nick Barnett, showed there will be a financial impact on the authority, with the need for investment in extra equipment.

The council would expect to get some income from Waverley as a result of taking on the extra responsibilities, but one concern was whether or not this would cover the cost of investment in new equipment.

But the council’s clerk, Pauline Whitehead, told the meeting: “All we have to do is register our interest and in the meantime do some more work on the impact on the staff.”

However, Cllr Reed said: “When I read through this and what Nick was saying would have to happen if we were to take this on, alarm bells started ringing.

"Something like this pays for itself because of economies of scale, which we do not have.

“I do not think we will ever get to the position where it will pay for itself,” he said, expressing doubts as to whe-ther the transfer of responsibilities would actually be of benefit to the community.

“Waverley can divest itself of these responsibilities, but I bet it doesn’t make  an appropriate reduction in council tax.

"We will have to add it to our precept and therefore residents will be paying more,” said Cllr Reed, who added that he could not see how it would be cheaper for Waverley to pay the parish.

Review of Grants at Waverley Borough Council - Surrey and Waverley ...

But this comes at a cost and money is tighter than it's ever been. So we've initiated a review of how we do this and what the council wants to achieve. Initial thinking by a small group of councillors which I chair is that we want to set up 'Service Level Agreements' with more organisations whereby the outcomes they achieve with our money are specified more closely in return for a greater continuity of funding (three year contracts would be the ideal but have difficulties of their own). All this at a speculative stage at the moment because it needs to go through the council's normal processes. If we get it right however, both sides will win - the council gets greater reassurance that taxpayer's money is well spent and the organisations themselves will be able to plan for longer-term council funding, something they've been asking for for years. David is an elected councillor in Farnham, Surrey, representing Farnham South at Surrey County Council and the ward of Shortheath and Boundstone at Waverley Borough Council. At Surrey County Council, he has been elected as Vice-Chairman of the Council, having recently stepped down as Chairman of Surrey County Council's Health Scrutiny Committee, responsible for acting as a 'critical friend' to health organisations in the county. At Waverley Borough Council, he serves on the council's 10-person Executive, with responsibilities for communities and older people. Locally, he has been active in the community for over ten years and in 2010 completed an 8-year term as a governor of the highly-regarded Weydon School. However, he is now a governor at Farnham's Abbey School. David is particularly involved with local young people's groups as a former member of the Bourne Children and Youth Initiative and the Farnham Youth project (40 Degreez). Find him on d.munro@surreycc.gov.uk or david.munro@waverley.gov.

Everymans guide to Waverley

The local government finance report (England) 2009/2010

Journal of planning & environment law, Bulletin

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, reducing the reliance on landfill in England, fifty-seventh report of session 2006-07, report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence

Journal of planning and environment law