KEEPING Barnard Castle's floodlights switched on in the small hours of the morning has been described as “excessive”.
Town councillors are preparing to set aside £700 in 2022/23 to pay for the floodlighting of the 12th century castle and Market Cross
Clerk Martin Clark told the services committee that he wasn’t expect the sum to dramatically increase.
Durham County Council manages and maintains the multi-coloured floodlights and then sends a bill to the town council each year.
A similar arrangement is in place for the Market Cross after floodlights were erected in 2015. Mr Clark said: “There has been no indication to date that the electricity recharge costs will increase dramatically and, together with the inclusion of a small sum for incidentals, it is felt that the current allocation is satisfactory.”
But Cllr Pauline Connelly said: “I saw that the lights were on at 3am. That's excessive when most people will not see them.”
However, the committee agreed the proposals as part of a package of budget bids to go before full council in the coming weeks.
Other items included the Wednesday market with a proposal to keep pitch fees the same – £10 for a standard area and no charge for charities but reduce overall spending by £580 to £3,500. In a report, the council said it expects the market income for the current financial year to be about £4,500 – down from £5,848 last year due to lockdown restrictions. Expenditure for the current financial year is predicted to be £3,500 – mainly the costs of setting up the market – with a profit of £1,000. It is proposed to keep the budget for war memorials at £500 and play areas at £2,500. There would also be no change to mini-golf fees and charges in 2022/23 – £3 a round for all users, £9 group ticket, £15 loyalty ticket, £1 to replace a lost ball and £6 for a damaged club.
Allotment spending would also be set at £4,207 – the same as the income. Plot rents for the 2022/23 have already been set at £48 with no rise proposed for the following year.
