Anger after Datchet parish tax rise

Open warfare has erupted between a former mayor and parish councillors from the village he represents.

Cllr Jesse Grey who is one of the two ward councillors representing Datchet on the Royal Borough, criticised the less powerful parish council after members voted by a slim majority of six to five yesterday to raise their precept by four per cent.

In practise the parish precept makes up a tiny portion of the monthly council tax demand. But the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead council managed to reduce its share of the charge this year.

Cllr Grey, a former borough mayor, said: "We manage on the borough to cut costs and they turn round and make sure our residents in Datchet don't get the benefit."

He said the parish had failed to come up with any reasons for the increase. He said: "They haven't given any details of project costs, start or finishing dates for anything. It is sheer incompetence.

"Here we are as a borough trying to give residents a good deal and they are just frittering it away."

But parish councillor Tim O'Flynn accused Cllr Grey of playing party politics. He said: "In practise we are talking about an extra 4p a week which is affordable.

"We have got to look after the village and we have to provide services. The borough is constantly trying to offload the provision of services onto us without coming up with adequate financial support."

The new row comes a week after Datchet's borough representatives Jesse Grey and Gary Muir publicly accused the parish members of leaving them out in the cold over controversial plans to put three mooring jetties on the Thames in the village. Parish members responded by accusing the borough colleagues of never attending their meetings.