North West Leicestershire District Council is inviting Coalville area residents, tenants and businesses to comment on how it plans to spend and save money in the coming years.

The online survey, which allows people to comment on the council's two budgets by Friday, January 27, is available to view HERE.

Proposals for 2023/24 budgets include:

• Freezing the district council portion of council tax for the 14th year running
• A £2.2 million spend in 2023/24 upgrading the council's fleet to electric vehicles, making them zero carbon
• Spending £100,000 in 2023/24 replacing CCTV units in Coalville town centre and Coalville Park
• Increasing the number of solar panels on our leisure centre buildings at Whitwick and Ashby de la Zouch, at a cost of £195,000
• A £50,000 professional feasibility assessment of regeneration plans for Coalville
• £130,000 for a new surface and new fencing for the 3G sports pitches at Hermitage Recreation Ground in 2024/25
• £650,000 earmarked for improvements to the council's sheltered housing schemes over the next five years
• A below-inflation increase to council home rents of seven per cent - with money invested into council homes to maintain a decent standard
• Spending £3.1 million in 2023/24 to retro-fit sustainable energy measures on council housing homes, with £1.4 million coming from a government grant
• 

  Solar panels are planned for the Whitwick & Coalville Leisure Centre. Photo: Coalville Nub News

The council also has two budgets which can be commented on:

• The Housing Revenue Account specifically for council housing. The income is solely from rents and service charges and the money is only spent on council housing.
• The General Fund covers everything else the council does, from collecting waste and considering planning applications, to managing parks and promoting tourism across the district. The income for this work comes from council tax and business rates and government grants as well as other fees and charges like planning fees.

The surveys will be open until midnight on January 27.

Comments will be fed back to the authority's Cabinet, which will meet to set the budget on Tuesday, January 31.

The budget will be decided at a Full Council meeting on Thursday 23 February.

Councillor Nick Rushton, Corporate Portfolio Holder at North West Leicestershire District Council, said: "It is very important to us that we can continue to freeze our portion of council tax, to reduce that burden on local people.

"We're proud to continue to deliver high quality services to people in North West Leicestershire, whilst focussing on our key priorities, including our journey to becoming a Zero Carbon council and improving our council housing. A good budget is crucial to this commitment.

"Every completed survey helps us to understand what people think of the budget proposals is very important, so I would encourage people to take part in our online consultation to let us know their thoughts."