STRATFORD councillors have agreed the lowest council tax in Warwickshire after agreeing a 1.5 per cent increase.

It will mean residents living in a band D property in Studley and Alcester will pay £139.12 to the district over the year although other portions of the tax set by Warwickshire Police and county, town and parish councils will take the annual bill to nearly £1,860.

Council leader Cllr Tony Jefferson (Con Welcombe) said: “We are committed to keeping any increases in council tax to a minimum and I can assure you that this budget represents real value for money.  

“This will be the lowest within Warwickshire and will be amongst the lowest ten per cent of district councils in the country.”

During the meeting, Cllr Jefferson also announced a number of projects and their costs for the coming financial year. These included £1.125m for a one-off sum towards the compulsory purchase of Wellesbourne Airfield and £750,000 for the refurbishment of the district council offices at Elizabeth House which will lead to some of the building being sub-let.

He added: “Setting the budget is one of the biggest responsibilities we have and is the result of at least ten months’ work.

“During the budget process we have continued to seek the views of the public, local businesses, staff, partners and of course councillors to ensure that everybody’s opinion has been considered before we finally make these important decisions. The priorities reflected in our budget have received strong support from this consultation.”

But fellow Conservative Cllr Robert Vaudry (Bishopton) was unimpressed by the plans laid out in the budget.

He said: “What struck me when I read through this budget was, in my opinion, how little ambition it had in it.

“Here we are, only a couple of months before an election and I would expect something quite exciting to give some kind of indication about what might be in the manifesto. It struck me that officers may have drafted this with very little amendment – it feels like an accountant drafted this.”

An amendment put forward by the opposition Liberal Democrats and supported by the sole Labour councillor outlined eight areas that they wanted included in the budget.

These included spending £50,000 on improvements to the council owned Windsor Street car park and the same amount on installing electric charging points in Stratford District Council car parks but the amendment was defeated with Cllr Jefferson saying that many of the suggestions were already being looked into.