Parish council’s costly broken board

A digital noticeboard that’s not working is costing a parish council over £785 a year.

Holbeach Parish Council says it did not know it would have to pay the rates on the board when it was installed in Spring 2022.
The issue was raised at a council meeting recently by resident John Kinder who questioned whether it was worth the money to tax payers, especially as it’s not currently working.
Parish council clerk Jan Hearsey said the council had appealed the decision.
“There’s an appeal process for the rates since the board was installed.
“We’ve tried a test case but they came back and said nothing’s changed.
“All I can do is make an appeal on it.
“The thing is, since it was installed its size hasn’t changed and the use hasn’t changed and you have to have a material fact to warrant change.
“We’ll keep appealing and hopefully we’ll be able to get somewhere.”
When asked about the current technical issues, she continued: “It needs a hard reset but where it’s connected to the electricity is inaccessible.
“I’ve tried to get to it but can’t. I’ve got to wait for the owner of the premises that it’s plugged in to contact me as I’ve been in and tried to do it but can’t.”
The acting chair of the parish council Tim Wiltshire said: “We’re all really distressed that it’s not working and costing a lot of money.”