A Herefordshire town council plans to take charge of seven playgrounds currently managed by the county.
But one member has warned this will only add to already high local tax bills.
At its Annual Council Meeting on May 14, Ledbury Town Council agreed to submit expressions of interest to Herefordshire Council on the possible asset transfer of the Browning Road, Kemply Brook, Prince Rupert Road, Yeomans Close, John Lee Road, Deer Park (Villa Way) and Childer Road playgrounds in the town.
Herefordshire Council said last October it was inviting parish and town councils to take ownership of some 64 play areas, offering a total of £1 million in one-off funding to assist the process.
Newly re-elected town council chairman Coun Liz Harvey, who is also a county councillor, said careful consideration would be given to the financial, operational and resource implications of taking on the ownership, management and maintenance of the playgrounds.
“The town council continues to expand its investment in supporting young people and has a long track record of improving play facilities at the Recreation Ground,” she said.
“It’s only right that we now consider stepping forward to secure the future of other play spaces in our town for the benefit of our youngest residents.”
But town councillor Tony Bradford, who was not at the meeting, said afterwards: “It’s in the county council’s interest that we take these on. But where will the money come from?”
“We first need to know how much it will cost,” he said. “Playground equipment is expensive to replace. We need to get quotes from people to maintain them. Then there’s the public liability insurance.”
He pointed out that Ledbury already has the second-highest precept in the county – the local “add-on” to residents’ main council tax bills, which the town council has already raised by 11 per cent this year, to £816,000.
Hereford by contrast, with around five times Ledbury’s population, will raise £1.26 million locally this year.
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