Milford Parish precept up 19% to cover waste collecting and open space work
MILFORD parish council will increase its annual share of the council tax by 19% to cover the costs of waste collection and maintaining public areas.
The increase is equivalent to an additional £11.76 a year for a Band D property – taking its total for the 2024/2025 financial year to £73.06 per household.
This means the parish council will receive an annual total of £220,291 in order to maintain public spaces, sports facilitates and play areas, pay its staff and undertake further community enhancements.
In addition to this, it will receive a modest income of around £2,500 from rental of its facilities such as allotments, grazing land and sports facilities.
In the future, extra money will be needed to maintain the 1.375 area of land off School Lane, which is set to pass into the ownership of the parish council. The area includes a children’s playground and a number of community allotments, and there are parish council aspirations to build a sports pavilion and create pitches on part of the land.
As previously reported, the land will be donated to the community as part of an agreement with Pennyfarthing Homes, which was drawn up during the development of The Swifts on Lymington Road. As part of the deal the parish council will receive a one-off payment of £182,000 for ongoing maintenance or site enhancements.
The authority will also contribute £5,500 a year towards the cost of running a youth club at Milford Community Centre, and a loan repayment of £6,972 which was taken out by the authority at the time the community centre was built. It will continue to make small grants to village charities and organisations, allocating a total of £4,000 a year for these awards.
New this year is a £6,000 bill from NFDC for emptying and disposing of rubbish from community waste bins. The total cost of employing four full and part time parish council staff will be £138,097 for the next financial year.
The parish council is also responsible for the upkeep of the sports pitches at Barnes Lane recreation ground, some grass cutting, maintaining dozens of seafront benches and maintaining the village green.
