Many thanks to Mayor of Ryde Town Council, Brian Harris, for this report from last week’s meeting. Ed
Ryde Town Council (RTC) finally set its 2011/2012 precept last week.
At a lively meeting in the George Street Centre, which had been delayed in order to hear which services would definitely be cut by the Isle of Wight Council, around three dozen members of the public applauded RTC’s decision to contribute £30,000 towards the Waterside Action Group’s planned takeover of the Waterside Pool.
Funding for beach safety
Other decisions made were to pay to keep the public toilets open at Binstead Rest Garden, provide funding for a beach safety service, now the lifeguards have gone, and to set up a working party to identify suitable premises for office and meetings accommodation, along with additional money.
Smaller amounts were agreed to provide for extra staffing in connection with the Esplanade skatepark and the newly-acquired allotments.
The new precept, a Band D rate of £36.30, is £319,800, up from last year’s level of £200,000 – a percentage increase of 58.04. [No, it’s not 59.9%, due to the expanding tax base – the number of properties in the area!]
Image: Jeffrey Beall under CC BY 2.0
