9 pence a week increase

Savings of more than £380,000 through sharing services with South Hams District Council has helped West Devon Borough Council set the lowest council tax increase in seven years.

The new, lower council tax increase has been unanimously agreed by the Borough Council, to help people out of the economic downturn.

The Council is raising its share of the council tax by 2.59% which is an extra £4.85 a year – or 9 pence a week - for the average Band D property. The rise means that the average West Devon household will, from this April, pay £192.15 for their services from the Borough Council.

It’s the lowest council tax increase for seven years and is below the current rate of inflation of 3.5%*.

West Devon councillors were told that despite budget pressures of just over £900,000, the Borough Council had still managed to reduce overheads and make savings of £700,000 with frontline services being protected from any cuts.

Last year the Council had to use around £400,000 of its savings to balance the budget as its investment income dropped considerably due to the recession. In 2007/08 the Council had an annual investment income of £700,000, yet this amount has dropped to just over £100,000 this financial year.

The rest of the council tax bill is made up of charges from Devon County Council, parish or town councils and the fire and police authorities. A 1% increase in council tax raises just £38,000 for the Borough Council.

In the next year, residents and businesses will benefit from a number of initiatives from the Council including:

• Free bus travel from 9am for the over 60s and the disabled and the scheme has been extended to include carers/companions too.
• A new waste service which will mean residents can recycle more materials than ever before – including all types of plastic bottles– and food and garden waste collections are to be extended across the borough.
• Delivering 172 new affordable homes (the largest number in Devon).
• An innovative service for council tax collections and benefit payments, where customers are being visited in their own homes to help them complete benefit applications straight into a computer, thereby speeding up the process.
• Further extension to the rural outreach initiative, West Devon Connect. These events bring together many different agencies and organisations into a local venue, taking public services right into the Borough’s more rural communities.

In addition, the Council will spend more than £800,000 on a wide range of projects to benefit the community. This includes £290,000 on grants to make homes more convenient for the disabled, £300,000 on providing affordable homes for local people and £180,000 on village hall and community project grants will also be available.

Cllr Margaret Garton, Chairman of West Devon Borough Council’s Strategies and Resources Committee, said: “We continually strive to look for ways and means, either by working in partnership or looking for innovation, to reduce our overheads and give the public the services they want.

‘’Strong finances built up over past years and new ways of working have enabled us to keep the council tax increase down to 2.59%. The economic conditions against which the budget has been prepared are the worst for a generation. This is a budget that is designed to help our residents and businesses during these hard times.”

Residents struggling to pay their council tax can call the Council for help on 01822 618800. Staff will help them work out a payment plan and give information about council tax benefit.

* Consumer Price Index January 2010

New contracts for refuse and recycling collections and the cleaning of streets and public toilets have been awarded by West Devon Borough Council and will begin on April 1, 2010.

At a recent meeting of the Council, Borough Councillors agreed to award all the contracts to Focsa Services (UK) Limited. The contracts, which together make one of the largest ever awarded by the Council, will include increased recycling collections such as the kerbside collection of plastic bottles and extending the food and garden waste recycling service to all suitable households in the borough.

The contract will run for seven years from April. After a careful assessment of costs and taking into account residents’ feedback, Councillors decided that residual waste would be collected in sacks and not wheeled bins.

The new refuse and recycling contract has been designed to meet current and future recycling targets, improve the environmental efficiency of waste collections, decrease the amount of waste going into landfill, and provide excellent value for money for West Devon’s tax payers.

Some of the benefits of the new refuse and recycling contract include:

• a separate weekly food waste collection for everyone, with the waste going to a local renewable energy plant

• increasing the number of materials that can be recycled in the kerbside boxes to include items such as plastic bottles and textiles;

• extending the garden waste and bulky card recycling collections to all suitable households; and

• reducing the number of heavy vehicles collecting waste and ensuring that the new fleet vehicles are the most efficient in their class. This will significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions arising from providing the service.

With the ability to recycle a greater range of materials, recycling and food waste will become the main focus of the waste collection service and will be picked up from the kerbside every week from every household.

Waste which cannot be recycled or composted will reduce and will be collected every second week. Garden waste will be collected from households every other week.

Currently West Devon recycles around 43% of household waste. This is expected to increase quickly to 54% once the new system is fully operational.

On street cleaning, the Council voted for a service option which will include additional staff and improved cleaning methods to target specific problems, many of which have been highlighted by residents during consultations.

Public toilet cleaning will improve, with increased staffing and an extra vehicle, allowing cleaning staff to be split between the north and south of the borough. Opening hours of public toilets will also be extended.

The contract awards are the culmination of two years’ work by Councillors and staff which has taken into account the views of residents through a series of public consultation events held last summer.

Councillor Robert Sampson, Chairman of the Environment and Community Committee said “We are delighted at the outcome of this tender process and welcome Focsa Services (UK) Limited as a partner for the next seven years.

“For all West Devon residents it will mean a more efficient, high-quality service throughout the Borough giving Council Tax payers great value for money as the price of the new contract is extremely competitive and will be of major assistance in our future annual revenue budget challenges.”

For more information contact Helen Dobby 01822 813600 or email services@westdevon.gov.uk

Government plans to press ahead with legislation and create an Exeter unitary authority are a tragedy for Devon says West Devon Borough Council leader James McInnes.

The Minister for Local Government, Rosie Winterton, announced last month that proposals for a Devon-wide unitary council have been scrapped in favour of an Exeter unitary on the existing city boundary. Local government in the rest of Devon – including West Devon Borough Council - will be left as it is.

Just over two years ago, the Boundary Committee was asked by the government to carry out a review of local government in Devon after the Secretary of State initially rejected Exeter’s bid to become a unitary authority saying it was ‘financially unviable.’

Following its review, the Boundary Committee recommended to the government in December that Devon’s 750,000 residents should be governed by a single unitary council with Plymouth and Torbay’s unitary boundaries remaining the same. The advice was made even though two public consultations run by the Boundary Committee showed more than 60% of those who responded were against any changes.

Miss Winterton announced that the government had dropped the Boundary Committee’s recommendation in favour of the original Exeter unitary bid which had previously been rejected. She added that a unitary Exeter would be better placed to deliver services, jobs and economic growth.

Cllr McInnes said that he believed the decision was made to support Exeter Labour MP Ben Bradshaw.

Cllr McInnes said: “The Government is carving up Devon for its own political gain which will fracture the county irrevocably. This is a tragedy for Devon. The former Secretary of State Hazel Blears told us just over two years ago that a unitary Exeter was financially unviable. If the figures didn’t stack up for Exeter in 2007, they surely won’t stack up now particularly as we are just emerging from one of the longest recessions in history.

“This entire process has wasted millions of pounds in public money and precious time for all the local authorities involved.”

Nationally, the Conservatives have said they will give a manifesto commitment to overturn any unitary plans made by the government.
 

WEST DEVON Walk and Talk Programme for Tavistock, Okehampton and Horrabridge – contact Kate Wright, Walk & Talk Coordinator, on mobile 07920 786505 or email kwright@westdevon.gov.uk. Also TAMAR VALLEY Walk and Talk Programme for locations in the Tamar Valley - contact Dave Readman, Tamar Valley AONB Walks Coordinator, on 07909 965762 or email walkscoordinator@tamarvalley.org.uk

Friday March 5 and Saturday March 6 : Wren Trust’s Piping Hot Bagpipe Weekend. Phone 01837 53754 or visit www.wrenmusic.co.uk for more information.
Thursday March 18: Felt Workshop for Beginners. Explore the techniques of feltmaking, hollow forms, needlefelting and sculpture. 10.30am – 4.30pm at Buckland Abbey. Phone 01822 853607 or email bucklandabbey@nationaltrust.org.uk.
Saturday March 20: Okehampton Craft Fair. A wide varity of unique West Devon craft work. 9am – 2.30pm at the Charter Hall, Okehampton. Phone 01363 82295 for this and other Fair dates.
Saturday March 27:  Annual Dunterton Boundary Walk. 11am – 1pm, signed from the Felldownhead turn off on the B3362 from Milton Abbot. Refreshments available at Woodtown Hams. 
Saturday March 27: Villages in Action present Ro :Toro. Traditional Estonian music with a modern twist. 7.30pm Lydford Nicholls Hall. For tickets, please call 01822 820345, or visit  www.villagesinaction.co.uk .
Saturday March 27: Flute Cocktail's 10th Anniversary Concert. 7.30pm St. Petroc's Church, Lydford. For further details visit www.flutecocktail.co.uk or contact Sarah Hunt (01822) 853743.
Saturday March 27: Villages in Action also present Massie & Green Traditional Music. Two energetic young Scottish performers who are well established on the folk scene north of the border. 8pm Milton Abbot Village Hall. For tickets, please call 01822 618668 or visit www.villagesinaction.co.uk .
Sunday March 28: Easter Craft Activities. 2pm – 4pm at Lydford Gorge. Phone 01822 820320, lydfordgorge@nationaltrust.org.uk.
Tuesday March 30: Be Involved Devon Roadshow. People with experience of or interest in mental health and wellbeing are invited to find out more about Be Involved Devon. 1pm – 3pm at the Town Hall, Tavistock. Phone 01392 201218 or email enquiries@beinvolveddevon.org.uk for further details.
Sunday April 18: Tavistock half marathon. 10.00am start and finish at Tavistock College 400m track. Visit www.tavy13.com for details of this new event.

Visit www.bipwestdevon.biz/newsletters.php or phone 0800 592872 for AgriBIP events and news.

For details of Arts Events visit www.westdevon.gov.uk/artsevents

For a full list of all events and films at The Wharf, Tavistock visit:www.tavistockwharf.com or phone 01822 611166.

For films showing at the New Carlton, Okehampton visit: www.merlincinemas.co.uk or phone 01837 658586.