Residents will be aware from our previous communique that the Parish Council had to take the difficult decision to remove the slide from the play area as age and erosion had, unfortunately, made it unsafe. We consulted with you last year about what you would like to see replace the slide and thank the many of you that responded. Your overwhelming choice was the Castle Mordred.
The slide replacement is part of a wider play area improvement project that the Parish Council is undertaking; this has included replacing all of the fencing and gates, extensive repairs to the wet-pour safety surfaces under the swings and around the roundabout, installing a wooden bench more in-keeping with the area, repairing the basket swing and witches hat and purchase of a goal post.
With an annual precept (the part of the Council Tax that the Parish Council receives) of £11,500, the Parish Council does not have the funds to purchase the slide outright. We are continuing to look at sources of income and grants but we don’t want to make local children wait any longer! The agenda for the March Parish Council meeting will include an item to discuss whether the Parish Council should apply to the Public Works Loan Board for a loan of £10,000 in order to purchase the slide and complete the first phase of the play area renovations. Residents are warmly invited to participate in the public session and to present their views and comments to the Council at the virtual meeting at 7pm on 24th March 2021 (a link to the meeting will be available on the agenda which will be posted on the Parish Council website https://glyndebeddingham-pc.gov.uk/meetings).
The expected cost of the loan will be:
Borrowing: £10,000
Term: 15 years
Annual Interest Rate: 1.17%
Cost of borrowing: £932
Total Repayment: £10.932
It is not intended to increase the precept for the purpose of loan repayments; however, we would like to seek your views about whether you think we should go ahead with this application.
We would be very grateful if you could answer just one question…
“Should the Parish Council go ahead with the loan application….Yes or No?”
We greatly appreciate you taking the time to answer this question. Please feel free to leave any additional comments in the comment box below.
***This survey is open until 5pm on 12th March 2021***