‘Why must we pay more than Mansfield?’ - Warsop Parish Council vote to freeze tax

That is the question posed by Councillor Andy Wetton as members of Warsop Parish Council voted to not raise their share of Council Tax.

However, at the full council meeting on Monday, January 21, Councillor John Kerr voted alone to raise the precept by £5 on band D properties.

He said he was concerned about upkeep costs of the parish council’s assets including the Town Hall on Church Street which was built in the 1930s.

He also said the car park on High Street which cost the council £50,000 is still being paid off .

He said: “If we have no money for the parish council, everything we support would all have to fend for itself.

“In 2010, we took on the churchyard which costs £4,000 to maintain – that is a biggy. The Town Hall, the money we have spent on it we will not get back.”

He went on to say that, without financial security, people using the Town Hall including the police would be “thrown out and the Town Hall would be knocked down”.

Coun Wetton voted to freeze the precept for the next financial year, saying: “Why must people in Warsop pay more than people in Mansfield? Since 2003, Mansfield District Council has not put its precept up, meaning it is short of money, so has sold off the crown jewels and invested in buildings outside of the area.”

Speaking about potentially raising the precept, Coun Debra Barlow said: “People don’t see it as 10p a week.”

She said residents should be made aware that freezing its Council Tax precept will mean less money for charities.