A mayoral decision changing how Bedford Borough Council allocates Special Area Charges, which affect council tax bills in different parts of the borough, has been sent back for reconsideration after a fractious scrutiny meeting.
The call-in, heard at last night’s Budget and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee last night (Tuesday) centred on Executive Decision 1850, which updates how parks and open-space costs are shared between Bedford, Kempston, Brickhill and rural areas.
The decision followed a re-measurement of green space and recalculated how much expenditure falls under special area charges rather than the general council tax.
At the heart of the disagreement is whether open-space maintenance in Great Denham and Kempston West wards should be included in special area charges like other neighbourhood parks, or whether their costs should continue to be spread across borough taxpayers.
This was highlighted by the Bedford Independent yesterday (Tuesday) after hearing about concerns from locals about the charge.
Read: Labour councillor’s frustration at “political game-playing” over Open Space Management charges
During public participation, one resident told councillors she feared the return of a historic £120 open-space management charge previously levied on some Great Denham households, calling it “very unfair”.
However, councillors leading the call-in insisted the issue was not about reinstating the £120 charge.
Cllr Henry Vann (Lib Dem, De Parys), one of the call-in signatories, said the dispute was over fairness and transparency in how open-space costs are recorded, adding: “This is not about re-imposing the £120 charge… it is about how you include open space fairly and transparently”.
Mayor Tom Wootton defended his decision, calling the former management charge “a unique and unfair tax” and said the council was “putting right a bad decision from years ago”.
But he admitted he did not know why wording referencing Great Denham costs was removed between earlier and later versions of the report, saying: “At the present time I don’t know”.
After around 90 minutes of debate, the scrutiny committee voted to refer the decision back to the mayor, citing concerns over missing background information, transparency, and whether alternative options had been properly considered.
The two Conservative councillors on the Committee voted against the proposal.
By John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
