FIRSTLY, can I welcome Nub News to Trowbridge and wish Gary all the best in his mission to bring informative content to the county town.
As we tipped into the New Year, things were looking really quite good. Brexit, which had paralysed politics for four years bringing down two Prime Ministers, was being resolved and the economy was doing well.
Then the world changed. Apart from the weather, we’ve had a truly awful year with, I fear, more to come.
I am worried about debt - national and local. The national debt has necessarily rocketed to pay for furlough, keep people and businesses going and support public services. Debt is generally held to be taxation deferred, or perhaps future public services not achieved, or both.
But the consequences of the Treasury not borrowing during this crisis do not bear thinking about.
The Town Council’s debt too has been widely reported. Councillors Antonio Piazza and Edward Kirk have been leading attempts to rein it in and ensure that money is spent on things that improve residents’ lived experience – most will have a more pressing need for somewhere decent to ‘ease springs’ as my good friend the late Cllr Graham Payne would have had it than a facility for storing council vehicles, for example. Public loos are not to be sniffed at!
The Civic Centre refurbishment and new administrative suite accounts for a lot of the Council’s debt and it will say it has the debt covered by future anticipated receipts.
Actually, I quite liked the old one and the previous council offices in the middle of town always seemed adequate, if cosy, and very much among the people.
A council mustn’t be a self-licking lollipop.
Trowbridge Town Council is, according to the UK Debt Management Office (DMO), the most indebted council of parish rank in the country. It owes more than £10 million to the Public Works Loans Board (PWLB). In second place is Huntingdon Town Council (£9.5 million) and taking bronze is a place called Crowborough with a miserly £4.6 million.
Huntingdon may be second only to Trowbridge, but its debt came in one lump sum. It was used to build a crematorium that will apparently be the first all-electric carbon-neutral facility of its type in the UK, including a cemetery for two thousand and, intriguingly, function rooms.
It may not be a fun thing to spend money on, but the public benefit is clear. So is the income stream, sadly.
Let’s compare Trowbridge’s (population 35,554) £10million plus with our Wiltshire neighbours.
Salisbury (population 40,786) owes PWLB £1.9 million and Chippenham (population 35,919) £679,304.
But credit where it’s due. The precept – the relatively small part of council tax levied by town councils - raises £1.7 million in Trowbridge, £2.1 million in Chippenham and £3 million in Salisbury.
In other words, the precept is lower in the county town - a very good thing. However, not so much if the council continues to land grab more taxable homes in the large villages surrounding the town, as it continues to do against the wishes of residents.
I would not worry so much if Trowbridge was not the clear frontrunner in the debt league table. Outliers worry me. It could be that it’s the ambitious, visionary leader of the pack and the laggards have got it badly wrong.
However, an alternative interpretation would be that it has overstretched itself. Since government must sign off PWLB approvals, I have felt it necessary to discuss the situation with ministerial colleagues. However, as expected they take the view that its principally a matter for the voters. I agree.
I am backing Wiltshire Council’s £23 million Trowbridge bid for central Government’s Future High Street Fund. If successful it will transform Trowbridge town centre making it a more attractive place to shop and relax.
Looking forward to a world with COVID on the leash, we will need to invest in our town centres, and it is about time Wiltshire’s county town got a slice of the action.
I do worry about future car parking which seems to have been overlooked, but you must press the right buttons to have a realistic chance of getting public funds. Being carbon neutral is a very big button.
Trowbridge has a string of very attractive buildings, notably the old Town Hall. They need to be linked in a vibrant, happening corridor to attract businesses and offer the best visitor experience. Fingers crossed we’re successful. Should know soon.