A number of youth groups are set to benefit financially in Narberth's Town Council's budget this year. For the third year running, councillors kept the precept for 2007/08 at £32,000, but they have adjusted the balance sheets to give £1,500 to the recently-launched Bus Stop project, £1,000 to Narberth Skate Park and £500 each to the town's cricket, football and rugby youth teams. These donations come in addition to £1,500 each for Bloomfield, the Queen's Hall and Narberth Museum. Narberth Swimming Pool and Civic Week will also receive £500. A total of £5,000 has been set aside for the Christmas lights, while there is £1,000 in the Ludlow Twinning fund and £1,500 for environmental improvements and £2,000 for miscellaneous donations which will be allocated to organisations and good causes at the council's March meeting. Other principal spend items include £9,900 to cover the clerk's salary, expenses and training, £1,500 for the Mayor's expenses, and £1,750 for civic functions, which has been increased by £250 to reflect an anticipated rise in costs in the forthcoming year. The amount allocated for the burial ground stays at £2,500, as do the Town Hall total at £1,265 and Narberth Castle fund at £2,000. The contingency fund stands at £8,000. As far as income is concerned, a major source of revenue will be the tenancy of the Town Hall, which is set to bring in £9,700. The precept was set at Tuesday night's monthly meeting. Clr. Colin Williams proposed that members accept the recommendations and Clr. Suzanne Radford- Smith seconded him. Members agreed. Mayor, Clr. Eric Feetham, thanked the clerk, Mrs. Caroline Coaker, for the 'tremendous' amount of work she had put in to setting the precept and he thanked her for keeping it at the same amount as the previous two years.
