Swaffham Newsletter

Annual Report: Mayor’s overview of the year – a
final report by the Mayor Cllr Paul Darby given to the Annual
Town Assembly on 26th April 2017 picked out the following
(Skatepark, MUGA & Neighbourhood Plan updated above):-
•The Church Gates have re-appeared at the end of Church
Walk after a long absence. The new gates and replacement
fencing was managed by the Town Council and the PCC
jointly, with the Town Council putting is approximately
£5,000, the Town Estate £6,000, £1,000 from the PCC and
the remaining £3,000 from an anonymous benefactor.
•Work is in progress repairing the Church Wall, in partnership
with the neighbouring property owners. A structural
engineer looked at the stability of the wall and this resulted
in the section of wall being repaired at a cost of just over
£10,000. Town Council contributing around £5,000.
•A TROD pathway has been constructed as a rear entrance
to the Infant School in Whitsands Road. The access comes
via the Oaklands open space/play area. The Town Council
gave a grant of £1,500 to this project, working in partnership
with the School and a number of other contributors.
•Our Gritting volunteers had another easy year, this is the
third consecutive year we have had a mild winter. We will
again hold a meeting in the Autumn for gritting volunteers
to try and encourage more people to volunteer, as it is a
worry that we could get caught out by a bad winter.
•The Swaffham Newsletter completed its third full year
under the ownership of Iceni Partnership with Jonathan
Read being its Editor and we thank them for continuing to
produce an excellent community newsletter. Our team of
volunteers are also appreciated, as they are available every
last Thursday in the month delivering to every door in the
town. We need more deliverers, please put your name
forward at the Town Hall; we also need someone to help
out sorting the rounds.
•In September last year, Swaffham welcomed visitors from
our twin towns in Couhe and Hemmoor. The Civic Twinning
takes place every two years, in 2018 Couhe will host the
50th year of Twinning, a real achievement. Swaffham will
next host in 2022. The Council have now agreed a new
policy to run alongside the proposed new ‘Declaration of
Partnership’ to replace the current Twinning Charter.
•The Local Plan consultations have continued this year,
as Breckland Council acting as the planning authority
seek to update their planning policies. The final round of
consultation is due to take place this summer June/July, and
the plan should be adopted early next year.
•The Council are actively considering offers received for
Days Field, they have meetings coming up in May which will
determine what the future holds for this land. Whilst the
potential buyers have been narrowed down to two, there
are a number of options still being considered: The outright
sale of the freehold; a combination of capital and houses to
rent; finally, the possibility of a 50/50 arrangement to build
out the site and retain houses to rent. A decision will be
taken in the not too distant future.
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Annual Report: Budget & Accounts by the Town Clerk
Swaffham Town Council decided to put up their Precept
(Council Tax) at £146.78 at Band D at their Budget meeting
in January for 2017-18, an increase of £7.11 per year.
Councillors also agreed to take advantage of an increase
in their Council Tax Base from 2313.20 to 2436.30 as the
Town is expanding there are now more people living in
the Town to share the Council Tax burden, otherwise that
increase would have been much higher. This has meant
that the Town Council have been able to increase their
Precept from £323,090 to £357,605, thus following a
5.3% increase for the previous financial year with a 5.1%
increase in the year from 1st April. As the Town expands it
means that the Town Council is taking on more Play Areas,
Open Spaces and Street Lights, so the additional income
will be needed to pay for more services delivered locally.
For 2017-18 Breckland Council continue to reduce the
Council Tax Support Grant year on year. It was £25,308 last
year, it will be £17,334 this year, reducing in future years
until it reaches zero in two years’ time. The Town Council
must now manage this loss of income by monitoring its
expenditure to ensure good housekeeping. The Council
Tax payer in Swaffham at Band D last year paid £1,617.38
this was shared out as follows:
£1,190.79 - County Council
£73.98 Breckland Council
£214.94 Police
£139.67 Swaffham Town Council
The general revenue reserves balance has been
consolidated this past year. Our Councillors and
Staff work hard to put the Town Council in a
position to make a difference for the benefit of all
who work, live and visit Swaffham.
Swaffham Town Council – Synopsis Of Annual
Income & Expenditure Accounts 2016-17
INCOME DETAILS EXPENSES
472 Bank Interest/Charges 543
323,090 Precept 0
1,025 Un-earmarked Capital Reserves 6,178
133,924 Earmarked Capital Reserves 42,062
0 Earmarked Revenue Reserves 27,722
9,735 Town Hall 31,791
131,479 Administration & Misc. 157,192
32,857 Market 19,828
4,187 Market 800 778
0 Northwell Pool 956
8,199 Allotments 8,653
6 Toilets & TIC 18,166
19,955 Cemetery & Churchyard 30,136
0 Open Spaces 45,642
42,267 Amenities & Agency 76,101
959 Recreation Ground 11,849
708,155 TOTAL 477,597