A SERIES of improvements are planned around Dorchester in the year ahead by the town council.

These include replacing play equipment at Holmead Walk, remedial work to weathered surfaces at the War Memorial, creating a rose pergola north of the tennis courts in the Borough Gardens, repainting the Poundbury Cemetery wall and fitting new self-closing mechanisms to gates  at a number of playgrounds.

The budget, discussed at a meeting on Monday evening, also sets aside £24,000 for the Corn Exchange lift which has become temperamental and failed last year trapping a disabled visitor and her mother inside – resulting in the fire brigade having to be called to release them.

That failure led to the council having to change its timetable of meetings to make provision to hold some committees in ground floor rooms, should the need arise, as it was unable to meet the needs of people with disabilities who may have needed to use the lift to get to the first floor council chamber.

The increases are part of the council’s management committee budget which is being proposed at £997,000 for the coming financial year, £4,000 higher than the current year.

The budget includes a further £100,000 payment to a fund which has been set up by the council to pay for extensive repairs and improvements to the Corn Exchange complex, including a new roof, and the possibility of installing a biomass boiler.

The town council is currently suggesting that it will make a 2 per cent increase in its share of the local council tax, half the rate of increase being proposed by Dorset Council which makes up the biggest share of what people pay.

Some increased charges are being considered by the town council including a £5 addition to the £25 annual fee for tennis court use and some rises for cemetery fees and for hire at the Borough Gardens House and Corn Exchange.

The town council will consider its overall budget strategy at a meeting on January 27th.