* It may cost more at Leisure Centres and for burials * Arts Festival and RNLI donation could be scrapped

IN a bid to balance the books, cash strapped Caradon District Council has come up with proposals for cuts and charges which will save almost £1million, the amount by which it would have been in the red for 2005/6. The Caradon Arts Festival is facing the chop, and there are recommendations for savings in every department, right down to telephone bills and stationary. Having already faced toilet closures, the Caradon community can now expect to pay more to use the Leisure Centres and car parks, to lodge planning applications and to bury the dead. It might even cost you more if you pay your council bills using a credit card. A charge is being considered. The council's overall budgetary position, based on the provisional government funding settlement for 2005/6 of £5,287,000, is being discussed today at a special meeting of the Cabinet. Of all the Cornish district councils, Caradon receives the lowest sum from the government. The council has given only a cautious welcome to the announcement that its proposed new government funding will be increased by £150,000. Money Council Leader Ron Overd said: While we welcome the extra money it is only a one off. We are still looking for efficiency savings to meet our commitments. We will be concentrating the money available to us on the things that local people have told us are their priorities, such as affordable housing and good quality jobs.' Without the recommended savings and cut backs Caradon Council realised earlier this year that the provisional figure from the government would leave the council £600,000 overspent, plus additional spending pressures of £351,000 already committed to projects, making a total of £951,480. A year long Organisation Development Plan has made recommended savings based around 'non priorities' totalling £929,480. The Cabinet's findings from the report by the head of the council's financial services, will be put before the full council for further discussion and approval, and is also expected to include a recommendation for a council tax increase of between three and five per cent. Among the savings identified annually for the next three financial years were the handing over of the running of the Looe Sports Hall (£28,160) and Callington Sports Hall (£32,780) to the two secondary schools, and an increase in leisure fees and charges of 7.8 per cent at both Saltash (£9,381) and Liskeard (£11,909) Leisure Centres. Among a long list of 'Savings Identified', recommendations include ceasing the contribution to RNLI seasonal beach life guarding (£41,000), cancelling Caradon's Events Courier (£3,000), reducing the district council's support for Town Forums (£6,500), transferring the running costs of street lighting to parish councils (£5,000), transferring parks' facilities to clubs (£15,000), introduction of a house naming fee (£13,000), and house numbering fee (£500). Savings Under the economic development heading it is proposed to remove grants to Enterprise Tamar (£9,000), and the Torpoint Development Trust (£2,800), and the management of Enterprise Court, Torpoint, is to return to Caradon (£24,735). Over the last five years Caradon says it has made efficiency savings of nearly £1 million, while this year the council took over £250,000 from reserves to stop council tax increases going even higher. Last year just under 32 per cent of Caradon's revenue was raised through the council tax, with the rest coming from fees charges and central government.