Market Drayton Town Council allocates £10,000 of budget to upkeep of cemetery paths
A town council is to spend £3,000 of its budget on new brushes for a mower to keep its cemetery clean.
Market Drayton Town Council’s services and facilities committee agreed to move £10,000 from the council’s general reserves to its cemetery budget to pay for the upkeep of new paths, with £3,000 to be spent on new brushes.
The meeting heard that the council had been quoted the fee to attach new brushes to a mower so that the cemetery's recently-refurbished paths can be kept clear of debris.
Part of the budget will also be spent on repairing a section of fence which was damaged by an unknown force.
Councillor John Gough was uneasy about the fee for the brushes.
He said: "What brush are you buying for £3,000?"
Town clerk Julie Jones replied: "[They are] brushes that fit on the front of the mower. That's what we have been quoted.
"We have to get what fits... it has to fit our specific mower."
Cllr Gough said: "It just seems a lot of money for a brush. You could most probably buy 10 walk-behind ones for the price of that."
The clerk agreed that the cost was high but she said that the council had looked at other options which came to similar prices.
Cllr Gough and the clerk agreed to meet and try to find a cheaper option.
The former said: "As things are running very tight, we don't know where the next move is by Government. £3,000 to be spent on a brush, it could be seen as a wrong move to be done."
He abstained in the vote to approve the movement of the money, which passed.
Councillors spoke approvingly of the quality of the new paths.
