14/04/2026
*Residents deserve honesty on bills before town council vote*
Harborough District Council is about to ballot residents about the creation of a town council for Market Harborough.
This would mean creating a new, additional layer of local government covering the town - it would be in addition to Harborough District Council and the County Council. A referendum of all Market Harborough voters will take place on 30th April.
It is not for me to say whether a parish council is the right choice or not, and I am not taking a position either way. But I do believe residents deserve to go into this vote fully informed – especially when it comes to the cost.
At the moment, I do not think Harborough District Council (which is promoting the idea) has been up front about what this could mean for taxpayers.
Experience elsewhere suggests such councils can do good things - but the bill for residents can be quite significant.
In Braunstone Town, which is slightly smaller than Market Harborough, the town council costs around £238 a year for a typical Band D property. Those in higher council tax bands pay significantly more.
Closer to home, Lutterworth Town Council, serving a town around half the size, adds around £136 to local council tax bills.
These bills are *in addition* to the normal council tax - that isn't reduced accordingly.
These sort of figures are what residents in Market Harborough should expect to be paying once a Town Council is up and running.
But Harborough District councillors have refused to say what the cost would be - and worse still, their website suggests a *first-year* cost of just £14.50 for a Band D property - but this only covers the set up costs, not the costs once it is running.
No parish council locally operates at anything like that level. It is simply not a realistic reflection of what residents are likely to pay over time - which will be more like the bill in Lutterworth or Braunstone.
My worry is that people will vote on the basis of the good things such a body could do (fair enough) but not realise that there will be a cost which will be added to their council tax bill.
Given the cost of living challenges at the moment, I worry that will lead to people feeling that they haven't been given the full picture.
I do not want residents to be surprised later on, having assumed this would be a “nice to have” that comes at little or no cost.
Even the most well-intentioned ideas come with a price tag. Running services costs money – and expanding services costs more.
At a time when the cost of living remains a real concern for many families, it is only right that people are given a clear and honest picture.
Residents should make up their own minds. But they should do so with all the facts – especially on cost – clearly set out in front of them.
