NYTHE residents can afford to have a night out on their new parish council after a £60 reduction in council tax was secured at the first meeting for the area.

About 1,100 households are set to benefit from the hefty cut after the first meeting of the new Nythe Parish Council, which came into existence after years of campaigning and consultation work.

Nythe has broken away from Stratton St Margaret Parish Council, where households are required to pay £105.52 a year in their council tax bill to carry out grassroots services.

The very first Nythe Parish Council meeting took place in the Civic Offices, in Euclid Street, on Thursday.

There, the shadow council agreed the parish precept for the next 12 months.

As it stands, no parish councillors have been elected, and in the meantime the ward councillors for Covingham and Dorcan –Kevin Parry, Dale Heenan and Richard Hurley – will operate as shadow parish councillors until an election takes place after the General Election has been held in May.

One of the first urgent matters of business was to set the budget and the precept, which had to be signed off by April.

Coun Dale Heenan, who was appointed as chairman of the meeting, said: “It’s great news for residents in Nythe that the first ever Nythe parish budget has been made and that it sees a £60 cut in council tax for 1,100 families.

“Richard Hurley and Kevin Parry and I have worked very hard to get to this point and we look forward to working with residents and providing the parish with good services.

“These will include grounds maintenance like grass cutting and tree work and other services around the parish which need a little TLC.”

During the meeting, an interim clerk was also appointed, and it was also speculated that regular parish council meetings would be held in future in the Nythe Community Centre hall.

They also set a date for the next parish council meeting in order to discuss how services would be delivered to the parish.