Tonight, the Parish Council has decided it will spend more money on children’s play equipment. It was not a unanimous decision. Over the coming year, at least sixty thousands pounds of additional funding will go towards updating our parks and locality, and we hope to work with parents and neighbours to plan these improvements.

In addition, the council has committed to spending an additional two thousand pounds on grit bins and litter bins next year. For too long, the council has said that gritting and litter are somebody else’s responsibility. This additional funding will not solve our problems overnight, but it is a start.

With this extra spending, the parish tax will rise for the first time in many years to £54 a year for a band-D property. This parish tax makes up a small fraction of your whole council tax: less than one percent. After the rise, it will still be a tiny proportion: the rise will be less than half a percent of your total council tax bill. Of course, some households will continue to pay nothing after receiving Council Tax Support.

For more than a decade, Parish Councillors refused to raise the parish tax, as inflation has eaten away at its value, and neighbouring parishes have pushed ahead in their spending. If you live in Sparrowpit, on one side of the road households spend £30 more than on the other. In Whitehough, households spend £17 more on one side of the road than the other. The parish tax rise will bring Chapel Parish Council up to the same level as the tax charged in Chinley and Bugsworth, and still far below what is charged in Peak Forest.

After a long period where services have been cut by the Borough and County Councils, it is time for the Parish Council to step up to the challenge of filling the gaps. We must never repeat the situation where for 26 consecutive months, safety inspection reports were ignored, telling us to repair our play equipment.

This is a small rise to your bills, but we will spend the money on important local improvements, and it’s the right choice.

The video of the meeting can be viewed here: 

CHAPEL-EN-LE-FRITH PARISH COUNCIL