Chippenham Town Council has voted unanimously to increase its precept, which will mean the average household pays 27p a week more council tax. 

This is a rise of 10.28 per cent which is to help the council deal with a £65,000 cut in income.

The council faces a 35 per cent cut in Council Tax Support Grant, pension changes and the loss of other grants. 

Coun David Powell, leader of the council, said: "Without these external factors the town council would have been able to make an inflation only increase to its budget.

"We are an active council. We have aspirations set out in our Strategic Plan to provide facilities and services which are relevant and appropriate to a town of almost 45,000 people.

"For an additional few pence per week on the council tax the town council will be able to deliver significant projects including the much needed refurbishment and reorganisation of the town and Neeld Halls complex.”

It was agreed to open up £40,000 of previously ring fenced funding for the installation of a splash pad in John Coles Park to a wider range of possible projects covering the provision of improvements to infrastructure, community safety and to support local business and community projects.

Coun Powell stressed that the splash pad “was still on the agenda for the future" but in common with most of council projects significant external funding would be needed to supplement the money received from the towns’ taxpayers.

He said: "We do also have to be realistic that in current circumstances there are likely to be calls from other sections of our community for town council support and we need to be able to react to these”.

Councillors approved a proposal to set the precept at £1,717,463 for 2014/15 meaning that the tax on a Band D property will be £150.92 a year.