Driffield Town Council have agreed the precept for financial year 2020/2021 at £432356, this equates to an increase on a Band D household of 49p per week.  The increase is necessary to facilitate the provision and expansion of our services to cater for the substantial growth the town has seen in recent years, which continues.  Driffield Town Council, whose members were re-elected in May 2019 have responded to the many calls from residents that this growth in both houses and population can no longer be ignored.  Whilst many essential services are being cut, from the Alfred Bean Minor Injuries Unit to the bus station, to name but two, the Town Council are extremely concerned that they should rise to the challenge this expansion presents, and increase their capacity to provide the services the public demand and rightly expect that are within their remit.

The Mayor, Cllr Amanda Croft, commented ‘We are a largely new council, we have both young people and members of the older generation in our ranks.  Their experience and skills emanate from a myriad of backgrounds, from running their own or working for local businesses, working within the public sector and those who are retired.  They have listened to the concerns of their residents about the growth of this town and seeming lack of urgency for services to match that growth and so we are responding to this’.

The clerk Claire Binnington said ‘this council are a very forward thinking bunch, they want to make a real difference to the town and the lives of its residents and next year will certainly see some big changes and great strides forward in the services we provide’.

Chair of the Personnel Committee, Cllr Mark Blakeston commented ‘we will be able to employ an additional Tidy Team operative, something we promised with the erection of our new purpose-built depot.  This will transform the efficiency and level of service provision.  In addition, we hope to welcome a part time External Grants Officer, whose sole aim will be accessing the many potential external funding streams available to help deliver a number of projects which would other wise not be financially possible and bring essential outside investment to Driffield that we have been missing out on to date’.

The Town Council will be embarking on a public consultation in February and March to ask the people of Driffield what their priorities are so that services and projects can be moved forward accordingly.

The Mayor concluded ‘the people have spoken, and we have listened.  We are doing everything within our powers and duties to enable us to rise to the challenge of a Driffield that is growing at a considerable rate.  These are exciting times!’.