BASINGSTOKE and Deane Borough Council has decided to do a public consultation on budget proposals as it plans to increase the council tax by 10p a week and car parking charges by three per cent.

The council is looking to get feedback from residents on the budget proposals to support the refocussed priorities in the updated council plan for 2023 to 2027.

This will decide how the council will fund its services from April 2024.

More money to support the delivery of high-quality services and pledges set out in the updated Council Plan are at the heart of the budget proposals for the next year.

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This includes an additional £750,000 to keep the borough’s streets and open spaces clean and well-maintained, £180,000 more to improve play areas and £165,000 to drive forward the delivery of much-needed affordable housing to tackle the borough’s growing housing register.

Alongside this, there are also plans for additional investment to support the borough’s community and voluntary sector and funding to continue the council’s free events programme to support the Top of Town in Basingstoke.

Tackling the borough’s climate and ecological emergencies is a also key thread running through the proposals.

The proposals include additional funding to maintain natural areas and drive forward the delivery of a biodiversity strategy as well as money to power more community centres with solar panels to help meet the borough’s challenging climate targets.

With the cost of living challenges that residents continue to face, proposals also include funding to continue the innovative work of the Basingstoke and Deane Social Inclusion Partnership tackling homelessness and schemes to support victims of domestic abuse and continuing council tax support, as well as funding for community transport to help residents who cannot access public transport. 

To fund this, an average 10p per week council tax increase is proposed, bringing the borough’s part of the council tax to £141.42 a year for the average household.

Despite the proposed increase, the council said this is expected to be one of the lowest in Hampshire, and most of the rest of the country, again.

Alongside this, charges for additional services the council provides, such as car parking, would go up by an average of three per cent.

However, the cost of bulky waste collections and replacement waste bins are due to be frozen for the next year.

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Co-leader and cabinet member for finance and property Cllr Gavin James said: “We are living in an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis and continue to grapple with high inflation so the cost of delivering our services and the demand we are seeing for them continues to go up.

“Despite having to make some difficult decisions, it is a big achievement that we have been able to put forward a balanced budget for the next two years, as part of our first budget since forming the cabinet in May. We are going beyond what many other councils can do by investing even more money to improve the services that we know matter most to our residents.

“But we can’t be complacent and must continue to respond to the challenges we face and making the best use of our resources while balancing this with meeting the needs of our residents to leave a legacy of financial stability for future generations.

“We want to residents and businesses to share their views with us to make sure our proposals strike the right balance and support our clear focus on delivering high-quality services and making people proud of their borough.”

More information on the proposals, and the opportunity to give views in the consultation that runs until Wednesday, January 3, 2024, is available on the website at basingstoke.gov.uk/budget2024.