Henry Clark, Chairman
Development – Land off Peakirk Road Glinton 24/00483/OUT
This application for up to 250 houses, about half of which could be in Peakirk Parish, has not yet been determined by PCC. You may, however, have noticed that an archaeological survey is being carried out on the site. This is being done speculatively, to speed up development should planning permission be granted.
Peterborough Local Plan
The next draft of the local plan is expected in mid-February and consultation will take place over 6 weeks afterwards.
Annual Budget
In a similar way to the Westminster government, we must draw up a budget every year in order to decide what precept to ask PCC (Peterborough City Council) to collect on our behalf.
We look at what expenditure we will incur in 2025-26, and what income we will receive. Our biggest source of funds in the precept which is paid by every council tax payer in the parish. Our major items of expenditure are grass cutting and the clerk’s salary. We try to achieve a balanced budget where income and expenditure are roughly the same. If we receive more income than expenditure we make a surplus. If expenditure exceeds income we make a deficit. Unlike PCC, we are allowed to have deficit, provided we can make up the shortfall from reserves.
We are recommended to have ringfenced reserves sufficient to cover foreseeable future costs, e.g. village green tree maintenance, maintenance of major assets and legal and election fees, and a general reserve of 6-12 months operating costs.
The Numbers in 2024-25
- Annual income is about £15,000
- Annual expenditure is about £15,000
- General reserve is just over £10,000, which is sufficient
Forecasting Next Year
The grass cutting is the item we can control somewhat. Currently it’s looking like it could be up to £5,000 in 2025-26. We could reduce the frequency of cuts or move to demand based cuts. This would mean the grass was cut fewer times in March to October. This might save us about £1,000, which could go to the general reserve.
Other sources of income are CIL (community infrastructure levy) from developments, and grants. We are not anticipating any CIL next year. In the past we have successfully obtained modest grants but these are unpredictable, and we apply for them when the opportunity arises; typically they are earmarked for a particular project and cannot be used for general expenditure
Precept Increase
As our general reserve is enough, we do not expect to have to raise the precept this year. You may remember we increased the precept last year to cover the increased grass cutting cost. Fortunately, we do not expect any large unforeseen increases this year.
Feedback
If you have any comments about anything in this article please contact our clerk Angela Hankins at clerk@peakirk-pc.gov.uk
