Teignbridge budget proposals approved

Free Sunday parking will be axed.

Council tax will rise by £5, or 2.94 per cent, to £175.17, to help fund the budget and to help bridge a £315,000 deficit in the amount of cash Teignbridge District Council receives from Central Government.

But as part of the council’s budget proposals for 2020/21, a recommendation that a flat nominal charge for Sunday parking of £1 has been included within the fees and charges for car parks across the district.

A nominal £1 charge will be imposed between 10am and 4pm in all car parks the council currently charge for on Monday to Saturday. This excludes the Multi-Storey car park in Newton Abbot, which will remain closed on Sundays.

Councillors voted by 28 votes to 17 to approve the budget.

Cllr Gordon Hook, leader of the council, said: “We will not duck difficult decisions. We have been left with a black hole of finances and we are not responsible for the problems we are trying to resolve. We are determined to invest and we have to raise the money somehow. This is a responsible, pragmatic, sensible, caring budget, and I urge members to vote for this excellent budget.”

Cllr Alistair Dewhirst urged colleagues to support the budget, saying; “This seems to be a budget for the people and to improve Teignbridge. As far as I can see, this is a fantastic budget and I will support it.”

Cllr Andrew McGregor added: “Because of the cuts from central government, we are having to cut our cloth to a much tighter fit and there is no spare cloth at all. We are trying to deliver services for the whole of Teignbridge.”

But opposition councillors raised concerns about aspects the budget, including the recommendation that a flat nominal charge for Sunday parking of £1 is included within the fees and charges for car parks across the district in place of the current arrangement, introduced back in 2011, which means motorists are currently able to park for free all day on Sunday in all of the car parks Teignbridge District Council manages.

Cllr Mike Hocking asked the council to defer any such decision for a year to look at how it would affect the town centres, who are now seeing the benefit of free parking. He added: “It may only be a £1, but is about the principle of having to pay on a Sunday. People come into the district because they don’t have to pay, but if they have to pay, they will go to out of town shopping centres.”

Cllr Mike Haines again questioned the flat £1 rate on a Sunday, meaning the charging structure for some car parks would see it cost more to park on a Sunday than during the rest of the week, while Cllr Sarah Parker-Khan said that the Sunday parking not been fully thought through, the technology won’t cope with the different pricing structures and so cannot be implemented anyway, and that there were no figures on revenue or impact onto the communities.

Cllr Richard Daws added: “It is difficult to support the budget because of the penal nature in terms of how it impacts on the rural villages.”

But urging colleagues to vote for the budget, Cllr Alan Connett, portfolio holder for corporate resources said: “The nominal charge is about meeting the council’s position and finances going forward and is £1 for between 10am and 4pm. There might be a need to hire a new parking officer but then we could better check on the car parks that we monitor.

“If you want to come to Newton Abbot for the market town flavour, we are asking for a £1 contribution towards the betterment of the community. If you want to go to Exeter, then you will anyway. Will the £1 charge cause people to think about it? I don’t think it will as our towns have a growing and exciting offer.”

Speaking to Cllr Chris Clarance, the Conservatives budget spokesman who said he had no quibbles with the council tax increase, he said: “If you like so much of our budget that the only thing you could suggest is to move money from capital to revenue., then the budget is so good that you should back it.”

Councillors voted by 28 votes to 17 in favour of the Liberal Democrats proposals, with Independent Cllr Beryl Austen and Tory Cllr Stephen Purser voting in favour of it. The remaining Conservatives, Independents and Newton Say No members voted against it.

In a report to the meeting, Martin Flitcroft, Chief Finance Officer, added: “These budget proposals show how Teignbridge can start to prepare for the grant reductions and anticipated funding regime by continuing to make savings and generate income. The revenue budget is partly funded over the medium term by savings found, additional income and use of earmarked reserves built up to cover anticipated future reductions in funding.

“However significant work is still required to identify the significant budget gap in 2022/23 as just under £1.5 million per annum and thereafter together with further savings to be found to meet aspirations to bolster the capital programme in future years with increasing contributions to capital from revenue of around £0.8 million per annum initially.”

It added that Teignbridge has benefitted from previous savings plans and restructuring efficiencies are still producing cost reductions, the Strata partnership and the significant ongoing returns from Market Walk.