Council Tax freeze and £5 million We Are Wychavon Fund agreed

Wychavon has agreed to freeze its share of Council Tax for the seventh time in nine years as well as a £5 million package to support residents, businesses, communities and the environment.

The decision means the average Band D Council Tax for Wychavon’s services will remain at the current level of £128.21 a year for 2026/27 - or less than £2.47 a week -  for everything from award-winning parks and public toilets to business support and help with housing. It will maintain Wychavon’s position as the district council with the fourth lowest Council Tax in the country. Overall Council Tax bills will still rise though because other organisations have increased their part of the bill.

The £5 million We Are Wychavon Support Fund was also agreed at a meeting on Wednesday, 25 February. Details are being developed and will be released over the coming weeks but will focus on schemes that encourage residents to be more active, health prevention, boosting skills, business growth, young people, wellness and connectivity.

An extra £3.7 million will also be spent delivering Wychavon’s services from April, with further funding earmarked for significant investment across a range of projects. These include £400,000 for community grants, an extra £412,000 to support the growth of small and medium-sized businesses, up to £4 million to decarbonise Pershore and Evesham Leisure Centres (energy-efficiency is already being upgraded at Droitwich Spa Leisure Centre) and £100,000 for energy efficiency schemes for community buildings and biodiversity improvements for communities.

This is on top of multi-million-pound commitments already made by Wychavon for major regeneration and wellbeing projects, including Evesham Town Centre through redevelopment of the Riverside Shopping Centre site and upgrades to the lido and leisure centre in Droitwich Spa.

Bills will start to arrive on door mats over the next couple of weeks. Anyone who has registered their email and mobile phone number with Wychavon will receive an email, along with a code by text, allowing them to access their bill. Paper bills will be sent to other residents and those who don’t click the link in the email.

Cllr Richard Morris, Leader of Wychavon, said: “Because we are a well-run council that for many years has managed our finances sensibly and invested wisely, we are in a position to support our residents and businesses when times are tough.

“Freezing our share of the Council Tax will avoid adding to the financial burden people already face. Together with our unprecedented £5 million We Are Wychavon Support Fund, and millions of pounds of investment across Wychavon, this is a budget that will make a real difference to our residents, communities, businesses and environment.”

Cllr Emma Stokes, Wychavon’s Executive Board Member for Resources, Investment and Innovation, added: “In Wychavon we’re always working to reduce the cost and not the service. We will continue to deliver award-winning parks and public toilets, a high-quality waste and recycling service, leisure centres, events, housing support, action on fly-tipping and a lot more – and all for significantly less than the average cup of high-street coffee!

“This is a budget that keeps bills down and ambition high with more money staying in residents’ pockets, more money to improve services, more money to boost businesses, more money to strengthen our communities and more money to deliver regeneration where it’s needed most. Our strong financial position is partly due to decades of sensible capital investments in schemes providing a good financial return.”