Press Release - Uppingham 2020/21 Precept

Ref: Uppingham Precept for 2020/21

Uppingham Town Council continues to work hard for the benefit of the local community. This year has seen change with the departure of the Town Clerk at the start of the financial year and new Town Clerk commencing in post in September 2019. There has been a period of transition where the Council has continued to look at ideas to improve facilities in the town and access to the town hall with consultations with the community regarding use of council assets and what future development should look like.

Tod's Piece development will remain a key focus for Council in 2020. The Council have been successful with a grant application to help fund and facilitate improvements to the play equipment and will review results of the public consultation when deciding how to progress this. Improvements to the play equipment will be part of a 'bigger picture' to improve Tod's Piece and open spaces in Uppingham. Additional projects are being considered and talks are underway with third parties regarding the marketplace toilets and the library. With assistance from Uppingham School, Planning application has recently been approved to install a handrail to Leaming Terrace steps in order to improve pedestrian safety in an area which is part of Uppingham's Heritage Trail.

Council remains mindful that large-scale projects need to be robustly planned and deliver value for money and will look to draw on Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) payments that have been and will be generated from the new development sites in Uppingham. Where to prioritise CIL monies is something that the Council will gather views on from the community.

In the current year the Council agreed an increase to the precept in part to help fund additional maintenance works to the town hall. This includes new carpeting to the foyer and refurbishment of the hall cellar. These funds are held in budget and works are planned to be undertaken this coming year. For 2020/21 they have agreed an increase of 2% based on CPI inflation and some minor adjustments. However due to the population increase in Uppingham and subsequent increase to the Uppingham taxbase in the current year, this in real terms equates to a £2.08 decrease over the year, or £0.04p per week for a Band D home.

Dave Casewell, Mayor of Uppingham commented, "The Council's Finance & General Purpose Committee have done a great deal of detailed work on the 2020-2021 town's budget, carefully considering all the options. Thanks to the town's Neighbourhood Plan , the town is slowly growing at a planned pace, and the increase in dwellings actually means that the burden of costs to run the Town Council's operations are now shared by more council tax payers , so there is in fact a small reduction in price per household. I hope that the services we provide will continue to enhance the life of all who live in the town".

Any queries should be directed to Deborah Bettles, Town Clerk, Uppingham Town Council, townclerk@uppinghamtowncouncil.co.uk