This in from Geoff Lumley, in his own words. Ed
On the casting vote of the Chairman, Cllr Julie Jones-Evans, Newport Parish Council has agreed to make a £10,000 per annum contribution to under threat Island beach cleaning services.
Cllr Mary Craven had proposed that Newport should pay its full share (£26,000) of a proposed contract (current value of £160,000) whereby all town and parish councils take on this service – due to be cut by the IW Council from next April due to cuts in central Government funding.
Cllr Craven argued,
“Whilst we have no beaches in Newport, our residents do use and enjoy all the beaches. We also want to Island to continue to attract tourists who do not want to find dirty beaches when they arrive. We increased our precept this year for the very purpose of plugging service gaps like this. Let’s step up to the plate.”
Seconding her proposal, Cllr Geoff Lumley said,
“What has been suggested is a collective approach to dealing with this IW Council cutback, where all town and parish councils make a contribution. I have little doubt that some won’t, but at least with Newport’s full support and hopefully other large local councils there will be some chance of rescuing at least part of this service.”
Impassioned debate
After an impassioned debate, Cllr Matthew Price proposed a reduced contribution of £10,000.
On being put to the vote it was 6:6, with the Chairman casting her vote in favour of making the contribution.
Image: Simon Haytack under CC BY 2.0
