THE government has dropped plans that could have restricted local councils raising funds for emergency expenditure, much to the relief of councillors in Malmesbury.

The proposals would have meant that town and parish councils had to hold a referendum if they wanted to increase precepts by more than two per cent year on year.

A formal consultation was conducted by the government, with local councils and councillors giving their opinions on the plans.

Malmesbury Town Council voted unanimously against the proposals.

Cllr Gavin Grant, chairman of the town hall and facilities committee on the town council, said the whole concept was a “really bad idea”.

“While we run a tight ship financially and have decent reserves, unanticipated repairs to the town hall can be very expensive,” he said.

“Even if local council tax payers backed a one-off large increase in the precept to deal with such a problem in a referendum, the costs of organising it would eat a lot of the cash being raised.”

The town hall has cost the town council around £150,000 over the past three years, due to a number of emergency repairs that have had to be made, significantly eating into council reserves.

Cllr Grant said that it is important the town council have the ability to put the town council tax precept up to compensate for such unexpected costs.

Baroness Scott of Bybrook OBE, leader of Wiltshire Council said: “We'd like to thank town and parish councils for their input into the consultation earlier this year, which means they can continue to set their precepts unfettered by government.

“Their responses were lucid and to the point and we really appreciated their help in lobbying against this proposal which if implemented would have prevented many projects going ahead in communities.

“It is really important town and parish councils retain their independence as they receive no financial support from the government, and this announcement ensures that continues to be the case.”