Beach safety and a well-being cafe that addresses loneliness and mental health issues were among two of the priorities for Ventnor Town Councillors as they set the precept for the coming year.
Councillors met on Monday evening to agree what their portion of residents’ council tax bills will be.
Inflation and expanding services
Ventnor Mayor, Cllr Stephen Cockett, told News OnTheWight,
“The budget has been driven both by cost inflation and the expansion of services, primarily additional hours for the very successful and well frequented well-being cafe that addresses loneliness and mental health issues, and an expansion of the towns’ beach safety service which will run throughout the summer from the start of June until the end of September.
“We believe that the beach safety service will be of great comfort to residents and visitors alike and should also benefit local trade as Ventnor Esplanade becomes an even more attractive place to spend time.”
Precept rise
The Ventnor Town Council agreed to increase the tax collected for the town by 6.3 per cent.
This equates to an extra £9 a year for Band D households and an extra £6 for those in Band A.
More than £40k funding raised to benefit the town
Cllr Cockett told News OnTheWight,
“We very much appreciate the hardship that households are facing with so many rising costs, but would like to point out that in addition to the many facets of community development work undertaken and supported by the council’s staff team, the council has also managed to secure over £40,000 in grant money that has directly benefitted members of the community in greatest need, this is largely thanks to the council being a trusted local government partner.”
Image: Simon Haytack under CC BY 2.0
