A NEW set of fees and charges will be introduced from Tuesday, following a virtual meeting of Wokingham Borough Council’s Executive committee.
The revision is to the amount residents are asked to pay for a range of sports and leisure services and facilities; the new prices have been set against a background of the “significant financial pressure both in the current and future financial years” according to the report presented to the Executive which met online on Thursday, November 26
In general, the new price rises are between 10% to 30%, and new charges have been brought in for new programmes within the Sport and Leisure and Arts and Culture programmes. These reflect the increased offerings made in activities and cultural events.
They are being phased in from December, through to April next year.
The increases for Sport & Leisure prevention programmes, pitch hire and dementia and disability programmes have been capped at the RPI of around 1.6%, due to the nature of their groups.
They include increasing the car parking fees for both California Country Park and Dinton Pastures: an hour will rise from £1.50 to £1.65, while four hours will be £6.60 – a 10% rise.
A six-month season ticket goes up from £80 to £88, while a 12-month ticket goes from £150 to £165.
No other car parks are affected at this time, and Wokingham Borough Council is offering free parking in some of its car parks on the four Saturdays in the run-up to Christmas.
There are some new fees as well. Hiring an artificial cricket pitch at Cantley Park for T20 games will cost £50, and £75 for a game of 40 overs or more at weekends.
And use of Woodley Airfield’s youth and community service car park for those who are not using the hall will be £5 per session.
Fees will also rise for fisheries: White Swan Lake at Dinton will increase from £240 to £264, for example. The council says that there are long waiting lists for this service, and the additional funds raised by the increase would be reinvested into the management of the site and improving the visitor experience.
At Twyford Reserve, the fee will increase from £250 to £300, while a guest ticket is to rise from £20 to £30 per 24 hours.
However, there are also benefits. A restricting of the charge to hire a pedalo at Dinton Activity Centre will charge from £7 per person to £16 per boat for 30 minutes. The council says that this is in response to feedback and that by switching to a per boat fee, rather than per person, means that online booking will be possible.
Customers will be able to check availability before coming and can also book online, using their phones or at reception for any remaining boats available on the day. Moving online reduces staff costs, which is why Wokingham Borough Council says it can afford to amend the pricing structure to make hiring boats as a family or larger group more affordable.
Introducing the proposed changes, Cllr John Kaiser, the executive member for finance and housing, said: “Basically, these are the fees that we set for maintaining the services to the community, ensuring that appropriate fees and charges are charged for the service”.
He added: “(They will be effective) from the date shown on the schedule, which most enacted from December 1, 2020; sports, cemetery, housing, training courses, and youth and community charges will alter from January 1, 2021; sports from April 1, 2021, respectively.”
There will also be changes to fees for the Public Protection Partnership, again from April 1, 2021.
Cllr Wayne Smith queried whether the new artificial cricket pitches would be open to private cricket clubs and schools which don’t have the appropriate facilities.
Responding, Cllr Parry Batth, the executive member for leisure, said: “Yes, it’s going to be a brand new facility at Cantley Park, which should be ready by this time next year.
“That will include an artificial cricket wicket and nets.
“These facilities will offer opportunities for local schools and private clubs … Already, I’ve had some several inquiries from private clubs, and schools … to use the facilities when they are ready.”
Cllr Kaiser wanted to know how Wokingham Borough Council compared to other local authorities.
“We commissioned a benchmarking exercise to ensure that we were able to offer our sports and leisure facilities at very competitive rates,” Cllr Batth said.
“We felt that, due to the current financial pressures posed by the Covid pandemic, we had to bring our charges in line with other local authorities, such as Bracknell, Barnet, Devon and East Hertfordshire.”
He added: “You’ll be pleased to know that Wokingham is the cheapest authority compared to the benchmarked councils.”
