CALSTOCK Parish councillors discussed the overwhelming need to increase the precept for this year at a full council meeting last week and it was agreed to up the charge by 30%.

The council has felt the need for the increase due to the removal of a number of grants previously received and the adoption of a number of services formerly carried out by Cornwall Council.

Councillors were keen to stress that although the percentage seemed a large amount, in monetary value it equated to £32,445 — on average a rise of £10.81 per household per year.

Cllr Dick Hoile said: 'We have had a number of options to consider for the need to increase our precept. It sounds like a large sum but we're not looking financially at a large amount of money.

'Last year we only increased the precept by five percent when other local councils were increasing theirs by nearly 35 percent.

'This year we are going to lose £8,000 to £9,000 in terms of grants that we were getting and we know that taking on the management of the car parks in the parish is going to cost the council more, so we are looking at a need for around £20,000.

'The remainder we will use to provide the services that we know Cornwall Council will no longer provide for us after the cuts.'

With Cornwall Council having to restrict or stop services because of budget limitations, the parish council, supported by public demand, has had to step in.

During its last two public consultations, regarding public toilets and car park management, more than 95% of the public responses supported the council's view that these services should be maintained and managed by the parish council.

Also this year, Cornwall Council is removing the public toilet grant of £6,914 and reducing the Council Tax Funding grant by £1,742.

These reductions, along with the parish council taking over the management of the car parks in the parish, will cost in the region of £7,000 (£12,000 in the first year). This means a shortfall of £20,656 in year one.

The remainder of the increase will be used to provide additional services to supplement those being cut or reduced by Cornwall Council during the next and subsequent years.