VOTE: Should Arun District Council make the Tamarisk Centre one of its priorities, as it considers its five year spending plan?

The You Pay – Now Have Your Say consultation asks what Arun District Council’s priorities should be from 2013-17. It also asks for suggestions as to where cuts could be made.

Currently, the plans outline three main areas of focus: council services which provide value for money, bringing benefits to the district and residents through economic development and helping families in difficulty.

Council leader Gillian Brown said: “It’s really important we know what the people of Arun think of these plans.

“They affect every single person who lives in the district and I would urge as many as possible to respond to the consultation document.

“We all acknowledge tough decisions have to be made so let’s make them together, fairly and effectively and deliver the valuable services we all need.”

The consultation also leaves a question mark over the long-term future of Littlehampton’s Tamarisk Centre.

The Tamarisk, together with its sister day centre for older people, the Laburnum Centre in Bognor, is among the services being reviewed by Arun.

A “task and finish working group” of councillors looking into Arun’s day centres has recommended: “That the council move away from delivery of day centre services to the elderly that are only building-based by February, 2016, when the lease on the Tamarisk Centre ends.”

The first chance for people to have their say will be a questionnaire in the council’s residents’ magazine, Arun Times, delivered from the end of this month.

The same survey will be posted online at www.arun.gov.uk from tomorrow (Friday, April 27).

In its 2013-14 revenue budget, the council is aiming to save around £100,000 through changes to senior management as well as generating extra income from recycling and rental income and savings on upkeep costs of sold buildings.

What do you think?

Do you think Arun District Council should make the Tamarisk Centre one of its priorities in the longer term, as it considers its spending plans for the next five years?

You can cast your vote by clicking on the poll at the top right of this story.