Newark & Sherwood Council proposing to freeze council tax from April

The council, which is currently controlled by Labour and the Newark & District Independents Group, has put forward a budget that will freeze council tax from April.

This means the band D charge will remain at £198.60, while band A, the most common in the district, will stay at £132.40.

Budget documents show the council has ‘sufficient funding over the next three years to fund service provision’, and can therefore set a balanced budget for the next three years.

A budget gap of just over £2.7m is anticipated by 2029-30.

However, the council has proposed using reserves to fill it.

Coun Paul Peacock (Lab), counci, leader, said the budget ‘reflects a well-run council’ that is efficient and generates an income.

He said: “We are freezing council tax, protecting vital services and investing in the things that matter most, from parks to housing, climate action and major regeneration.

“Newark & Sherwood is in a strong financial position and this budget makes sure we continue delivering for residents now and in the years ahead.”

Council documents further show the authority aims to invest more than £3.7m in environmental initiatives, £100,000 in parks and open spaces with a legacy fund for town and parish councils, and £30,000 in future Green Flag parks.

But Coun Johno Lee (Con), has questioned the budget – particularly planned and historic investments in green space and ‘pet projects’.

One of his concerns relates to the council’s own housing developer, Arkwood Developments Ltd, acquiring land off Lowfield Lane in Balderton.

Another relates to the investment in a set of large sandstone sculptures, called the Kiddey Stones, that were installed outside the council’s Castle House headquarters last year.

He said: “There is now so much investment going into green open space and council tax freezes, but my residents have lost over two acres of green open space because the council said they had to develop green open space on Lowfield Lane.

“I’m working with elected councillors from the opposition to see if we can actually put a council tax proposal forward that will lower the precept, so it will cancel last year’s increase and also freeze this year’s.

"It will mean council tax will go down for residents, if I’m able to get that through.

“The council is financially very well off – we never really had to increase council tax anyway.

"But the council argued the mid-term financial plan didn’t fit and was unstable and it was never the case.

“Some residents will be quite disappointed that the Labour and Independent-controlled group wasted so much money on pet projects like the Kiddey Stones.

“Even though it looks good on paper, we are heading into an election and most residents won’t be naive enough to not know that’s why they have done the council tax freeze.”

“If you are a council tax payer you will be asking why have we been told, for the last two years at least, that the finances were so tight, that council tax had to increase year-on-year, and now all of a sudden they have put in massive amounts of money into green spaces, massive amounts of money in investment into projects like the Kiddey Stones?”