A parish council has explained why it needs to raise its parish precept for the coming year by a whopping 91.3 per cent.
Elm Parish Council near Wisbech says the extra cash is urgently needed to replace 41 street lights.
The village – population of around 4,000 – will raise an extra £30,000 by the increase.
Parish clerk Suzanne England said: “To clarify it is due to the fact that 41 of our streetlight assets have been identified as ‘at the end of their useful life’ and therefore present a health and safety risk.”
She said the parish council had made the decision to replace/upgrade the assets at a cost of approximately £80,000 (this includes not only the assets but also connection charges raised by UKPN).
“The alternative would be to remove the lights permanently; feedback from parishioners suggests that this would be unwelcome,” she said.
“The council has partially absorbed the cost of the project by diverting funds from other reserves.”
Suzanne added: “Looking at the schedule of precepts for surrounding parishes, Elm is still at the lower end of the scale; £47.73 per Band D property against an average of £53.03.
“In fact, the average for the comparable parishes of Leverington. Wisbech St Mary, Doddington, Wimblington and Manea is £64.22.
“Taking this into account, I believe the services/amenities provided by Elm Parish Council will continue to represent good value for money as we move forward into the new financial year.”
