PLANS to make every resident live within the boundaries of a parish council are set to be pushed forward next week.

Swindon Borough Council has confirmed it will stop funding a variety of services, such as grass cutting, street cleaning and low level maintenance, to save £5 million.

These services will be passed over to existing parish councils and new authorities will be created for areas where there is not one.

The parishes will be able to raise precepts to fund the new services, with each household likely to pay an extra £75 a year.

“This is about ensuring the protection of services,” said council Leader David Renard (Con, Haydon Wick).

“Increasingly our funding has to go towards helping the most vulnerable in society which means the borough has to step back from funding other things.

“By doing this, services will be provided by local people and can be tailored to local needs. We had a trial in some parishes which went well, some even wanted to take on more."

In the coming weeks, several maps will be drawn up outlining possible boundaries for the new parishes.

These will go out to a public consultation and it is expected if everything is approved they will come into force early next year with borough councillors making up shadow parishes before elections are held.

When the plans were first mooted last year, there was strong opposition from some quarters which Coun Renard put down to misinformation.

Old Town resident Colin Doubleday set up a petition calling for a referendum on the plans, something the council say they are unable to do, and has slammed the decision to move forward with it.

He said: “It’s arrogant, indefensible and undemocratic and obviously not wanted. Why have Swindon Borough Council not looked for other ideas or not had a referendum on this?

“It’s a major constitutional change.

“If you look other parish councils, as far as we can tell none of the seats contended at election. So there is £5 million worth of funds going to unelected volunteers.”

Not all parish councils have welcomed the move either, with Covingham trying to resist on paying for extra grass cutting services.

However, it has got to such a length they have gone out to tender.

Vice chairman Derek Benfield said: “The borough councillors should be ashamed of themselves. This is a tax rise through the back door.

“We have gone out to tender but it is going to cost at least £20,000 to cut grass which is half of our precept.”

The Labour group have also criticised the plans, saying people should have been consulted.

Coun Jim Grant (Lab, Rodbourne Cheney) said: “We should not forget that they failed to announce this before the local elections so that residents could not have a say over this.

“And now they wish to subvert local democracy even further by imposing these new parish councils without holding a local referendum.

“One might call it a power trip.”