Community
PLANNING FOR THE DAY WHEN THE ‘R-RATE’ STANDS FOR ‘RECOVERY’ Cllr Matt Hall, Finance Portfolio Holder, Sherborne Town Council
O
ne core principle sits at the heart of Sherborne Town Council’s pandemic recovery budget for 2021-22. How do we best use taxpayers’ money to invest in a healthy future for our town and all the people who live and work here? By the time the new tax year begins in April, many of us should have had at least one round of the COVID vaccine. So, I hope some prospect of recovery may be in the spring air. Near the top of the Town Council agenda is investing in upgrading our parks, gardens and playing fields. During the COVID pandemic, these beautiful outdoor spaces have been important for our mental wellbeing as well as physical fitness. The pandemic has made us value the simple things in life. Whoever thought that a walk in the park would become so precious? A resident phoned me the other day to say thank you to the Town Council for upgrading the pathways at the Quarr Nature Reserve. The resident concerned is just about to celebrate her 90th birthday and walking the dog at the Quarr is her one chance to get outside and catch up with friends, albeit at an appropriate social distance. Equally important is long-term investment in green projects to play our part in tackling the climate emergency, including solar energy at the Terrace Playing Fields. How to encourage all of Sherborne to explore ways to tackle climate change will be a big debate in the coming year. Humble things like keeping rents low on council allotments are all grist to the mill. We have ring-fenced money for a pandemic recovery fund designed to help community and voluntary organisations survive the worst effects of COVID. And a financial priority for the council is helping Sherborne’s tourism sector get going again after what must be one of the worst shocks to the system since the Second World War. At the same time, we will do everything we can to make sure that struggling businesses have access to all the financial support available from central government and Dorset Council. Of course, all of this is a tight-rope walk for financial planning. The council’s own income has gone down significantly during the COVID pandemic. For example, income from events hire at the Digby Hall and office rents at the Manor House has disappeared almost completely. That is not a complaint. I know that almost all residents of Sherborne have faced very tough financial choices over the last year and some businesses will be wondering if they have a future. The pandemic simply highlights the dilemma facing Sherborne Town Council’s finance team: how to invest in a prosperous and healthy future while keeping council tax as low as possible. All town councillors are determined to plan now for the day when the R-rate talks about recovery and not illness. sherborne-tc.gov.uk
18 | Sherborne Times | February 2021
