Stockport council is planning to plough a £6m cash windfall into libraries, parks, roads and other projects from April.
The main chunk is made up of monies returned from Greater Manchester Combined Authority following its negotiation of a new waste contract for the region.
The council is also forecasting a small budget surplus this financial year and has collected more in council tax than it was expecting.
Together with cash from the 100 per cent business rate retention pilot it means town hall bosses have the rare luxury of some £6.4m to allocate in 2020/21.
However, the money can only be used for one-off projects - not to fund the council’s day-to-day running costs.
Bosses have already lined up more than £3m of spending - and are set to mull over how to invest the rest ahead of February’s budget setting meeting.
Deputy leader Coun Tom McGee told a cabinet meeting the money would ‘make a difference not just to our assets, not just to our facilities but to the people we represent and the people that live in Stockport ’.
Describing it as a ‘great opportunity’ he added: “We can’t use one-off non-revenue monies to support other things because we haven’t got the money it would just mean bigger savings from somewhere else the next year.
“But it gives us the opportunity and ability to do something about our parks, to do something about our libraries , to do something about our town centres, to do something about our infrastructure and consider some other things we might spend our money on.”
Below are the four schemes which have already been identified to benefit from the significant financial boost.
£1.5m - repair and maintenance of roads and infrastructure hit by severe flooding last summer
Floods turned Stockport streets into rivers, bringing misery to residents and motorists after heavy rainfall hit the area in July and August last year.
Coun McGee said it now seemed unlikely the council would receive a government grant to fix the damage caused by the devastating floods.
The overall repair bill is estimated at around £1.5m - and the cash boost will allow the council to step in and carry out any necessary work for which it is responsible.
£1m - investment in new gym and play equipment in parks
While Stockport’s parks have improved over recent years, the distribution of outdoor gym equipment is thought to be ‘a bit hit and miss’.
Plans are now in the pipeline to install new facilities in every council-owned park over the next 18 months to two years.
A further ten ‘strategically selected’ parks would also have a piece of digital equipment for children fitted.
Coun McGee said: “If it’s in Brinnington or Bramhall, Cheadle or Marple, people will get something in due course and I think that’s a really positive thing.”
£232k - supporting the ‘transformation’ of libraries
The council is looking to save £250k from its libraries budget next year via a range of measures, including outsourcing Stockport Advice Service to the Citizens Advice Bureau and reducing opening hours at some sites.
The Open+ scheme - which allows people to access selected libraries while they are unstaffed - is also expected to save the council around £160,000
However, the implementation of Open+ technology requires capital investment of up to £150,000, and the £232 one off-monies will contribute towards this.
Coun Kate Butler, cabinet member for citizen focus and engagement, said: “I would really welcome some spending on libraries given the increased reliance we are having as a local authority on libraries.
“It would be quite nice to come up with a word other than ‘libraries’ so we could more effectively communicate with people what support is available - what range of activities you can do there, and the benefits to community groups.”
She added that Open+ was ‘absolutely not’ a way of making libraries completely unstaffed but a way of ‘extending accessibility to our library buildings’.
Stockport news
£300k - to create recyclable business loan fund to support the regeneration of town centre and district centres
Last month regeneration chief Coun David Meller announced a £200,000 interest-free loan scheme to support Stockport’s eight district centres - this will now be increased by a further £100,000.
The cash will help new businesses with their initial set up costs - from getting their units fitted to improving their external appearance.
However, the fund will not apply to charity shops, payday loan companies, vape shops, betting/gambling shops, charity shops, pawnbrokers, adult shops and temporary shops.
What happens with the remaining £3.4m?
Bosses now have a few weeks ahead of February 27 budget setting meeting to decide how to spend the rest of the money.
Ideas mooted so far include:
- Investment in the 3,000-home 'Mayoral Development Corporation', the town centre and district centres.
- More money for leisure and and community centres
- Investment in school buildings
- Transport scheduling software
- Stockport Local Fund and community wealth building investment.
The cabinet met at Stockport town hall on Monday, January 6.
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