PORTLAND councillors under fire for hiking up the council tax precept by 1,000 per cent look set to go back to the drawing board and start the budget process again.

Town councillors have been under great pressure to rethink a decision to increase the precept, a move which would generate more money for the island.

Councillor Tim Munro, who put forward the proposal, is now urging councillors to scrap decisions made on the precept and start again.

He has put forward a request for an addition to the agenda at a town council meeting on February 5.

It is for a special resolution to rescind earlier resolved decisions made at meetings in December and January.

In accordance with standing orders which govern council business, the resolution must bear the names of four members. These are Councillors Tim Munro, Amanda Munro, Elspie Munro-Price and Ian Munro-Price.

The public meeting tonight at All Saints Church at Easton will still go ahead and people attending will be informed of the latest proposal.

Coun Tim Munro said today: “We’ve not been very good with communications and it’s important that this debate needs to run its full length.

“It appears we have gone about this in a way which has not been engaging.

“This gives us the ability to start the debate with everyone knowing what we’re going to debate. It’s a way of correcting the way we have gone about things and engaging the community more widely.”

He added: “It’s likely the same proposal for the precept will come forward but we may come to a different conclusion.

“The main reason for putting this proposal forward was because of the threat of capping by the government next year.

“If that wasn’t going to happen we could have increased the precept gently over five to ten years.”