Okehampton Town Council has agreed to transfer unspent grant money from last year into this year’s fund following an increasing number of grant applications.

At a meeting on July 6, councillors unanimously approved moving the remaining £1,541 in last year’s grant budget into this year’s budget, which currently stands at £27,045. This will bring the available grant money for the rest of this financial year up to £28,586.

The decision arose as councillors discussed a proposal from Cllr Richard Colman that the council increase the regular grants budget to meet a growing need for council funding.

This proposal for an increased budget divided opinion. Cllr Mark Richards said he was opposed to the proposal, raising concerns that if the council funded all requests, grants could amount to eight or nine per cent of its annual expenditure. He also questioned whether residents should be asked which organisations they wished the council to fund if the budget was increased, and whether they might prefer to donate money directly to the organisations themselves.

However, Cllr Allenton Fisher and Cllr Tony Leech supported the one-off transfer of last year’s remaining grant money. Cllr Fisher added that relying on residents would not ensure all groups relying on council grants would receive the money they needed to continue running, while Cllr Leech proposed that the council hold a formal debate on the subject.

The debate followed concerns raised by a representative of the Museum of Dartmoor Life, who said reduced funding from the town council had affected its plans and meant the museum was unlikely to “break even” this year.

Speaking at the meeting, the representative said: “I've got to say we've been completely thrown in the last two years by the reduction from £5,000 to £1,500… It will probably mean that this year we won't break even. If we don't break even, we have to increase the reserves that we put on one side, which are part of our match funding to the National Lottery, and we have ambitious plans for our current site.”

She said the museum needed to find ten per cent match funding for its National Lottery bid and retain enough money for a second stage of the process and show it had local support. With decreased town council funding, she added, the museum would have to draw on its reserves to meet the ten per cent requirement and argued that reduced funding could suggest that support was waning.

In September last year, the council announced that grant applications were exceeding the amount put aside for grants, meaning it could not offer the requested funds to all groups, especially those which applied for funding later in the financial year.

To meet growing need, the council was unable to fund all requests fully and altered the application process for 2026/27. This year, larger applications between £400 and £5,000 were considered at an annual June meeting, while applications for under £400 will be considered throughout the year.