Villagers opt for council tax hike to fund £350,000 pre-school building

The rebuild of a village pre-school has received the support of the majority local people, who will bear the burden of plugging a huge funding gap in the £350,000 project.

Acle Parish Council is set to hike its council tax by £17.15 per Band D property, which is an increase of around 13pc, following a public consultation about the project.

The increase was supported by 54pc of local people, who want to see the Fletcher Room, a mobile unit hired to the pre-school, demolished and replaced with a larger two-room building.

The council tax hike will support the repayment of up to £300,000 in loans needed to fund the project, a process which is expected to take around 15 years.

Acle Parish Council said: "We have a long list of grants to apply for which could cover most or even all of the cost of this project, our sincere hope is that should a loan be needed, it will be for a significantly lower amount.

"There is unlikely to be an update on this for some time."

People living in Acle voted in favour of the project (Image: Angela Sharpe)

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The rebuilding project is expected to cost a total of £350,000, which will be funded through loans and just over £50,000 in council reserves.

The annual council tax hike of £17.15 per Band D property will be on top of the £129.30 that the parish council already collects from these properties.

The Fletcher Room is a community building on Fletcher Way, next to the primary school, and its main hirer is the pre-school. It has been in use since 2001 but the council says it is now "coming towards the end of its lifespan".