I received our council tax bill yesterday and could not believe that Dartmouth Town Council was shown to have claimed a precept of almost £300,000. Never having quite understood these matters I have made general enquiries and it seems, to my total disbelief, that DTC can elect, without public discussions, to increase our town council taxes by 56 per cent, as they have done, thus raising this enormous amount without any form of control or agreement.

To make this even more unbelievable, I am told that this money is needed for the transposition of many local functions from South Hams District Council to Dartmouth Town Council, such as the control of Avenue Gardens, Coronation Park, Castle Estate, general road sweeping and many other expensive operations requiring new staff, vehicles and plant, to be purchased by DTC.

But we shall now be double charged for all these expensive operations since SHDC are retaining the funds they have historically had, as if they were to continue, but with DTC now charging us again for exactly the same maintenance services. The classical “double whammy”!

Against the background of £6m being spent with such gay abandon on the new community college a few years ago, perhaps to be downsized into a primary school due to its failure to attract enough older children, we now have a £2.5m new swimming pool which, I’m told, is already proving a failure due to the limited take-up. The town council is almost penniless with no reserves, having committed £200,000 towards building the swimming pool and £10,000 per year towards its upkeep.

Would you believe £350,000 has been spent by DTC on a refurbishment of the Guildhall. Goodness knows what will happen now they have taken on these massive transfers of major areas of responsibility for everything from our public toilets to our Estates; and more, thus raising our council tax by this amazing 56 per cent. Mayflower 400 are promised £10,000 per year, and possibly other projects, such as Dartmouth Green Partnership, when our council is said to be penniless!

Am I, in my old age, imagining these threatening images of our town’s financial and administrative failure being true, or is there anyone out there who might share these concerns or, perhaps, correct the decline I feel is happening in so many aspects of life in lovely Dartmouth? And to cap it all our wonderful hospital closes this week without us residents raising a finger in protest!

Philip Roe

Bayards Cove, Dartmouth