Weymouth councillors have made a plea for last-minute changes to what the new town council will inherit from the borough council.

Cllr Colin Huckle asked the shadow Dorset Council executive, meeting in Dorchester this week, to consider a share of car park income to help put on events and maintain the beach and public loos.

A request not to split up the existing cemetery staff and those who work at the crematorium was made by Cllr Kate Wheller. She said it was wrong to think of the service as two businesses when, in reality, they worked together.

She said she understood why the crematorium should go to the new council because it served a far wider area than just Weymouth and Portland.

“But its staff are an integral part of parks and gardens…they work in an entwined way.

“I am worried that if they are split up when residents are at their most vulnerable things might slip,” she said, suggesting that the brief holder responsible should go and talk to the team before a final decision was made: “It’s not as simple as it seems,” he added.

Cllr Huckle, the leader of the shadow town council, said that what was on offer to the town amounted to a ‘lack of carrots.”

He said that the new town council, with a budget of £3 million, would be responsible for parks and gardens, allotments, cemeteries, the beach and Esplanade and putting on events which attracted people into the town, while having little potential to earn any extra income above what local council tax payers contributed through the precept.

He said that a report on car park income for the year showed that the town’s parking spaces contributed well above what was expected into the budget and that a share of that should go to the town council to help with its expenses.

A final decision is expected at the full shadow Dorset Council meeting on February 20.