COUNCIL tax has been called into question by a resident frustrated by the level of increase in Bridport and the fairness of parish boundaries.

Speaking at a full meeting of Bridport Town Council last week, resident Paul Nichols addressed councillors about the increase in council tax and raised concerns it now exceeds the rate of inflation.

He also expressed frustration that council tax payers in Bridport are paying for services he said are being used ‘free of charge’ by people living in adjoining parishes, such as Allington, Bothenhampton, Bradpole and Symondsbury.

Mr Nichols said: “This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. In 2018/19 the town council had the largest precept of all of the 94 parishes within West Dorset District Council. Now, following a 9.9 per cent increase, it has the largest precept of the 190 parishes under the new Dorset Council.

“What a shameful message for people looking to live in our town- If you choose to live in Bridport, you will pay more council tax than in any other part of Dorset. The adjoining all use the services provided by Bridport Town Council, but make no contribution to their running costs. This is very unfair to the residents of Bridport.”

Town council clerk Will Austin said the council had faced some major challenges when setting its budget and council tax for 2018/19.

He said that, this year, for the first time, the council will be required to meet the full cost of town council elections and is bound by nationally-agreed arrangements for staffing costs.

He said the council has absorbed reductions in external funding, including the loss of nearly £60,000, over five years, in council tax support previously paid by the district council.

The town council, he said, has taken on, or supported, new services – youth services, grounds/highway maintenance, public transport, licensing, and tourism services.

“These are services that would have been cut by the larger councils and would be lost to the community if we did not provide them,” said Mr Austin. “This is a political judgement for councillors to make, and as your elected representatives, they have decided that protecting services is important to the town.

“This process of taking on devolved services is continuing, and as a result we have made some provision in next year’s budget for the expected transfer of even more services. All I can say to Mr Nichols is that the judgement on what to do and what not to do is a balance – councillors have by no means rescued everything that has been cut by the district and county council, but in talking to their residents they have formed a view that they must do as much as they can, and that there is general public support for their approach – even if this means increases in Council Tax. Mr Nichols may regard this as ‘shameful’, but I am sure councillors will be proud to have protected the community in this way.”

On the effect of parish boundaries on council tax, Mr Austin said councillors agreed, in principle, that the situation is unfair on payers in Bridport, who pay more than in the immediate surrounding parishes.

Mr Austin said: “Residents of those parishes benefit from quite a lot of what the town council does. However, councillors also recognise the strong desire for surrounding parishes to retain their parish identity, and have no desire to be seen to be ‘empire building’.

"This does not mean that they are not trying to address the issue.

"One approach is to look to new developments just outside the Bridport boundary, and to request that these be included in Bridport.  Such a request has been made in respect of Vearse Farm.  Unfortunately, the district council has deferred this request and will not now consider it until the new unitary council is formed, but we are hopeful that it will be successful.

"Another approach is to ask surrounding parishes to contribute to costs of services that benefit their residents.  We are having some success in this respect, with contributions being made towards our community bus service, the Neighbourhood Plan and the Lengthsman scheme.  We would like to see this partnership approach continue and expand over time."

Council tax paid for a Band D property in Bridport will rise by 39p per household per week in the coming year, and Mr Austin pointed out 60 per cent of properties in Bridport parish are in the lower tax bands A, B and C.