A FORMER Evesham Mayor has called on town residents to make their voices heard on how council chiefs should spend £140,000 of New Homes Bonus cash.
Evesham Town Council has the funds to spend on projects and councillors need to decide ideas and proposals to put forward in a future public consultation.
Coun Mark Goodge has urged residents to let councillors know what the cash should be used for, as long as the ideas can be paid for, are within the town council’s remit and have public support.
The cash is coming from the New Homes Bonus, a Government grant handed to local councils for increasing the number of homes and by bringing long-term empty properties back into use.
“There are two ways that local residents can get involved. The first is suggesting projects that the money could be spent on. There’s no formal process for that, so it doesn’t matter how the suggestions are made,” Mr Goodge said.
“We’re keeping an eye on suggestions made on Facebook, and the more practical ones will be part of the discussion that the council has about it.
“The second is that the rules relating to New Homes Bonus require public consultation for any major expenditure, so once we’ve narrowed it down to a shortlist people will be invited to give their comments.
“We haven’t got any definite plans yet for how to do that, but it will probably involve the town council website, social media and local newspapers.
The Evesham town councillor also told the Observer the cash could be used for projects lined up in the Town Plan or by improving town council owned properties.
“I’m keeping an open mind on precisely what we should use it for at the moment.
It’s possible that the Town Plan implementation will throw up some worthwhile projects that need funding, in which case the New Homes Bonus money would be ideal,” Mr Goodge said.
“Or it may be possible to use it for major projects at the Town Hall or Almonry, or other town council properties that could be improved to give a better service to the community.”
