Council's U-turn on 500% pay rise
Dozens of residents turned out to see Wootton and East Hunsbury parish councillors back down over a 500 per cent pay deal.
Members of the council made a U-turn last night when they accepted the independent panel's recommendation of 750 per year for elected councillors instead of their unprecedented decision to award themselves 4,000.
Councillors then went on to slash the draft budget by thousands of pounds to put council tax for the parish at a 3.14 per cent rise instead of the initial 16 per cent.
Ahead of questions from the public, parish council chairman, Jonathan Nunn, proposed the change and said: "I'm going to put a proposal in front of the council now and change the decision we voted a little while ago.
"People round the table do work very hard and it might be that we got this one wrong and I perhaps apologise for causing you any concern."
Members of the parish council voted unanimously in favour of reducing their proposed allowance by 3,250.
Councillor Nunn also admitted the idea of raising members' allowances had been in the pipeline for two years and that the councillors may have been motivated by "commercial views".
However, one resident asked the council how they decided on 4,000 annual allowance, representing two thirds of a borough councillor's annual allowance and which could have resulted in High Court action.
Councillor Andre Gonzalez de Savage said: "It was based on the work that was carried out and not the hours.
"It was based on the presentation made to the panel."
The chairman confirmed the council also had a budget for councillors' IT expenses although he said not many of the councillors took the available 300 for computer and internet use.
Councillor Gonzalez de Savage also spearheaded a number of cuts to the draft budget including reducing administration costs by 1,600, salaries by 2,000 and community safety by 1,500 to leave a council tax increase of 3.14 per cent.
In a statement after the meeting, councillor Nunn said: "I am delighted that we have been able to keep the parish council tax to 3.14 per cent, while at the same time providing funds for initiatives such as much needed new footpaths in the Blacky More area and significant investment into our carbon reduction initiative within the local community."
The revised budget includes 20,000 for this year's Walk in the Park festival event, which last year saw the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform and made a loss of 36,000.
Residents congratulated the councillors on seeing sense on members' allowances, which only applies to elected members and the chairman.
donna.bowater@northantsnews.co.uk
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Tuesday 07 February 2012
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