TOWN councillors in Okehampton have voted to raise their council tax precept to help pay for a marketing campaign to revive the fortunes of town centre shops and businesses.

They voted on Monday to add £2,000 to the precept to help set up a not-for-profit company to take over responsibility for promoting the town from the struggling Okehampton Chamber of Trade.

They also decided to ask council taxpayers for an extra £1,000 for a contingency fund for the new boiler in the town hall and Charter Hall, and £1,500 for future repairs of the Charter Hall roof.

A further £500 will be set aside for the planned 2020 celebrations to mark the 800th anniversary of the granting of the Okehampton Charter.

Overall, the town council precept will rise from £236,941 for 2018/19 to £249,753 for 2019/20, which residents will be asked to pay through their council tax from April.

This translates as an extra £6.03 per year per household on a Band D property.

However, Cllr Christine Marsh urged her fellow councillors on the policy and resources committee meeting on Monday to back the budget, the most extravagant of five options on the table.

‘More and more is being put on town councils to fund and I think that if we as a town council don’t support our community and our town, then what are we here for?’ she asked.

She felt the £2,000 for the marketing campaign was particularly vital, with the future of the chamber of trade currently uncertain.

‘As you know, we have a problem with our chamber of trade and until we have our AGM, which is coming up, we won’t know what is happening there.

‘It would be disastrous for the town if we didn’t have something there so that’s why we are looking at setting up this marketing company. If the town council isn’t supporting our businesses then what are we here for?

‘We need to support the people and the businesses and the vibrancy of this town. If the money doesn’t get used, then it can always be put aside for our reserves for next year.’

Cllr Paul Vachon, who has drawn up proposals for a marketing campaign, said he supported having some money set aside.

‘We have got an influx of people coming into the town and our costs are going to rise, so we really do need to go for the higher amount just to cover our costs — and the costs we know are going to come in the future,’ he said.

Cllr Tony Leech, who sent written comments in his absence, said he was concerned about asking households to foot larger bills.

‘Any increase of our precept will put a great deal of strain on those in our community who are unable to afford the increase, those who used the foodbank over the Christmas period and those 53 households who were given emergency food parcels by another charity over Christmas.’

However Cllr Jan Goffey said the extra amount residents were being asked to pay was only a matter of pence.

‘Really our precept is a very small proportion of the council tax bill in any case,’ she said.

The committee voted to back the new budget and precept, which has to be approved by the full meeting of the town council on Monday, January 28.

The town council is backing proposals for a not-for-profit marketing company to take over responsibilities from the town’s chamber of trade, which is losing members.

People in the town and surrounding area are invited to give their views on the idea at a public meeting being held in the Charter Hall at 7pm on Wednesday, January 23.

It is proposed that the new organisation would take over the organising of events such as Edwardian Evening.

As a charitable organisation, it would be able to apply for grants from other bodies to finance its plans, which include a promotional website, a newsletter and a ‘currency’, the Okehampton pound.