By Local Democracy Reporter Peter Davison
Hundreds of services offered by Wiltshire Council will cost more from April, from weddings and burials to pest control and late fees at the library.
A price list of hundreds of fees and charges were considered by the council’s finance and procurement select committee for examination last month.
Most will be going up by the Consumer Price Index – meaning an increase of around 3.8 or 3.9 per cent. However, there are exceptions.
The cost of getting married in an approved venue will rise from £630 to £675 – an increase of 5.1 per cent – if you want to get married on a Thursday or Friday. Tying the knot on a Saturday will go up from £685 to £725.
That’s just for the legal services provided by the council and doesn’t include the cost of venue hire at council-owned venues, which varies from town to town.
When death does you part, the price of a burial will be going up too, from £1,075 to £1,120 – up 4.2 per cent – for burial in a coffin, and from £370 to £385 – up 4.1 per cent – for the internment of ashes.
There’s a surcharge for oversized coffins, and for erecting a headstone. And if you want exclusive use of the plot for 40 years there’s an extra charge for that too.
Thinking of staving off death by keeping fit? That will be getting more expensive too.
A one-year adult gym membership will be going up from £385 to £396 – an increase of 2.9 per cent – while the cost of an annual swimming pass is going up from £297 to £308, or 3.7 per cent.
Exercising the mind remains free if you’re borrowing books from the library, but reserving a book will cost £1.10 – up 10p on the current year – and make sure you get those books back on time – the overdue fee will be going up from 22p to 30p a day – a whopping 36.4 per cent increase.
Getting some photocopies done at the library? A black and white document will be going up in price from 15p to 20p a sheet – that’s 33.3 per cent – while printing a colour document will go up from £1 to £1.10 per side.
Good news for green bin users – the price has been frozen at £75 a year. That, the meeting heard, is because demand has “plateaued.”
Meanwhile, bulky waste collection is going up by £1 per item to £34.
And the cost of pest control is going up too. Three visits from a rat catcher will cost you £156 – up £6 on the previous fee – while getting someone to sort out a wasp nest will set you back £88, up from £85.
The list of discretionary service fees also shines a light on some of the more unusual services operated by the council.
The much-vaunted requirement for a licence to keep a monkey as a pet will be coming in next year at a cost of £350. That excludes the cost of the inspection of your property to make sure your premises is suitable.
Want to open a zoo? Along with all the other costs associated with running such an enterprise you’ll need a £1,277 licence.
Opening a sex shop? You’ll need a licence for that too, costing £2,284, while operating a strip club will cost you £4,152 in licence fees alone.
Want to try your hand as a stage hypnotist? That’s £145 per event – although presumably you can use your unique skills of persuasion to negotiate a discount.
All of the fees discussed are in the draft stage and subject to change, the meeting heard.
The list does not include council services like parking, planning, commercial rents, or any services for which the government mandates a set fee.
