FOR the second time in as many months Bude and Stratton Town Councillors were denied the opportunity to voice/hear concerns regarding the recently voted in ten per cent increase in local Council Tax. I am therefore asking the 'Post' to redress the balance.

At the full council meeting on December 4 a majority of councillors (seven to five with the chair abstaining) voted for the increase. At this meeting the chair did not allow any discussion before the vote was taken, on figures which had been produced by the Finance, Staffing and General Purposes Commi­ttee.

Consequently full council was made subservient to a committee (which is made up of only six councillors). Councillors do not have to attend committee meetings and therefore many did not know the background discussions to the decisions made.

The chair also disallowed a question regarding whether the cost of re-roofing The Castle had been included in the figures. He decided it was "off-agenda", (analyse that).

At the full council meeting held on January 2, a regular agenda item was not included. It was said to be excluded because of the length of the agenda yet we have worked through longer agendas and the recently introduced 'Mayor's remarks' was still included.

The item excluded and entitled 'questions from members' allows councillors to ask questions on a variety of subjects. This is special as questions on the remainder of the agenda are limited to the topic as listed.

The proposed increase is surprisingly high in a time of recession. Some background information includes comments from the Internal Auditor who, in his quarterly report (when inflation ran at approximately five per cent) said: "Council will need to be aware at that stage that a budget that simply follows inflation is not able to deal with the introduction of new activity or increased activity for existing services."

This would indicate that any increase over five per cent could be towards "new activity or increased activity." So are those councillors who compiled the figures preparing for a time of growth in a contracting economy?

By voting in the larger increase are councillors aware that nearly £30,000 extra is being taken out of the area's economy? Can these be the right actions of the town council? Do all councillors understand these outcomes?

We, as councillors, can still reverse our decision by signing a 'Special Resolution'. We then need to vote in a new figure which will still enable us to function effectively.

Bude.