95 per cent of residents face council tax rise of 8p or less
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council’s share of any council tax increase is set to be 8p a week or less for most residents.
Under proposals being considered by the Borough Council for 2024/25, 95 per cent of residents would face an annual increase ranging from £2.84 to £4.27.
The suggested 1.99 per cent increase puts the authority on target to set a balanced budget and continue its investment in town centre regeneration for Newcastle and Kidsgrove, improving Newcastle’s historic market and moving towards achieving net zero carbon emissions.
Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said:
We are determined to deliver good quality local services as efficiently as possible, while investing in the future.
In common with many borough councils we face rising fuel and energy costs, a larger than expected pay award for staff, and increasing demand for temporary accommodation for the homeless and vulnerable.
Despite these challenges, I am proud to say that thanks to careful management and cost reduction programmes the council remains financially stable, which means 19 out of every 20 residents will only pay between 5p and 8p a week extra for the services we provide.”
The authority is committing to spending £41.2 million between 2024/25 and 2026/27 as the Ryecroft and York Place areas of the town centre face wholesale regeneration, with housing, multi-storey car park, shops, offices and open space.
The intention is to generate greater footfall and help connect the north side of the town centre with the historic market, which is also being reinvigorated.
At the same time as overseeing regeneration, the council is also proposing building up its reserves to £2.157 million in case of emergencies.
Stephen Sweeney, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council’s Cabinet member for Finance, Town Centres and Growth, said:
As well as managing our parks, protecting green spaces, investing in the town centre and collecting the bins on time, in recent years the council has faced a huge increase in workload caused by the problems at Walleys Quarry.
Although regulation of the landfill remains the responsibility of the Environment Agency, we have been obliged to spend a great deal of time and money challenging problems there and, if needs be, we must maintain the resources to stand up for our residents again in future.”
A recent review of Newcastle-under-Lyme against other, comparable authorities nationally put the Borough Council in the top performing 25 per cent for low cost collection of Council Tax, processing planning applications on time and for receiving low numbers of complaints.
At the same time the authority was also in the top half of councils for low waste collection costs, high recycling rates and low numbers of fly-tipping incidents.