A £300,000 WALKWAY and cycle route between Evesham Town Centre and The Valley could be delivered under new spending plans being revealed by Wychavon council chiefs.
The Conservative leadership team debated the proposals on Wednesday (February 3) which will have to be voted through at a full council meeting later this month, but with a Conservative majority on the council, it’s likely the budget will be approved.
Included in the spending plans is a £300,000 walkway and cycle route between Evesham Town Centre and The Valley to boost visitor numbers to the town’s key tourist destinations, although the details of this project are still being finalised.
Despite some investment, £345,000 of savings has been found- almost half of that is coming from sharing more services with Malvern Hill’s District Council.
As the Observer previously reported, Wychavon has to cut more than £1million from its budget over the next five years as a result of the Government axing their support grant by the end of 2020- with £262,000 being slashed this year alone.
And Vale resident’s will also see a small rise in their council tax bills of £5 this year.
Coun Linda Robinson, Leader of Wychavon District Council, said: “When I became leader one of my aims was to protect the services people rely on despite the financial challenge we face and I’m delighted we’re able to do that.
“During the extensive consultation we carried out on our strategy residents told us they would accept a small increase in Council Tax in return for protecting services. We’ve listened to them and the proposed increase amounts to less than 10p a week for the average household.
“There may still be changes to the way services are delivered or if demand for a particular service reduces we will of course scrutinise it to ensure it is still providing value for money.
“But those key things we all rely on day to day will be protected for the next four years. We’ll continue to push ourselves to carry on delivering good services and good value for the people of Wychavon.”
