The Town Council sets an annual precept as part of the Council Tax to help pay for the many local services they provide. The Council has worked hard in difficult circumstances to keep the precept low and made savings wherever possible.
The Cheshire Police Commissioner, Mr Keane, has decided to end the previous scheme where the Town Council contributed £60,000 towards the cost of local Police Community Support Officers. The Town Council has ensured services are maintained by employing Council Community Support Officers directly in addition to funding one PCSO provided by Cheshire Constabulary. The Town Council have added an additional £10,000 to the community policing budget to provide for this bringing the total budget for policing to £110,000.
The Town Council’s precept for 2019/20 is £469,913, an increase over the current year of £33,425 or 7.21% for a Band D home. The annual precept is £80.16 for the year, or £1.53 per week. This represents an increase of just over £5.39 per year or 10p per week and believe that this represents good value for money when measured against all the additional services in Poynton which are provided by the Town Council. These include:
∙ Hockley and Brecon Close play areas
∙ The majority of Lady’s and Prince’s Inclines
∙ CCTV monitoring – 5 cameras in the centre of Poynton
∙ Graffiti removal
∙ Coppice Road allotments
∙ Employing three Community Support Officers and funding one Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) to enhance the service provided by Cheshire Constabulary’s two PCSOs
∙ Employing the Operations Manager post for a further eight hours, a total of 28 hours per week
∙ The Civic Hall, owned and maintained by the Town Council, is home to an increasing number of local voluntary organisations and clubs and needs maintenance and improvements
∙ The Time-Out café and Friday Shoppers group which provide social contact for many older residents
∙ Increased funding to increase the hours of the Citizens Advice service delivered from the Civic HallFunding many local organisations and community events, including Poynton in Bloom, Higher Poynton Summerfest and the Christmas FestThe Town Council acts as Poynton’s voice on many issues, including the Cheshire East Local Plan, defending the Green Belt and protecting the environment.
The Communities Co-ordinator promotes health and well-being initiatives for both older and younger people, working with voluntary groups and service providers to ensure Poynton is a strong and resilient community. As a result of this, Poynton is now officially a dementia friendly town. Other work includes supporting the Poynton Area Community Partnership and the scheme to lend out mobility scooters and wheelchairs.The Operations Manager and Village Ranger have a key role working with Cheshire East, pushing for road and footpath repairs and lighting improvements; dealing with residents’ enquiries and litter problems; supporting the Pick and Tidy group; emptying bins and similar jobs maintaining Poynton’s infrastructure.
Town Councillors receive no form of salary, attendance or other allowances and give freely of their time. Poynton Town Council’s website is www.poyntontowncouncil.gov.uk
