“TOUGH choices” will come under the microscope at Blandford Town Council (BFTC) tonight.

Civic leaders will consider the potential for taking on more services from North Dorset District Council (NDDC), including the town’s markets and green spaces.

Staff and councillors at the town authority have been celebrating the success of the transfer of toilet facilities in the Marsh and Ham car park.

But question marks hang over further transfers, with the recession raising fresh concerns at NDDC about handing over money making services.

An income of more than £23,500 is anticipated by NDDC by the end of the financial year from Blandford’s markets.

And while the maintenance of the town’s green spaces generates an annual cost to NDDC of £13,000, the combined transfer of the two services would cost the district authority £10,000 a year.

Councillors will consider two transfer options at Monday night’s meeting, including bundling street cleaning in the town centre with the transfer of the market and amenity space.

But a meeting of the council’s Tough Choices Working Group ruled out taking on the street cleaning “for the foreseeable future” at a meeting in January.

While street cleaning has proved successful for other civic authorities in North Dorset, the task in Blandford is larger.

District chiefs could be asked to cut the size of the cleaning zone considered for transfer, and to reduce the staffing levels required for the task by 50 per cent.

A second option for BFTC to consider is to take on the markets and green spaces with a £10,000 annual payment to NDDC.

But such a consideration is thought to be a long way off, with town council staff needing to ascertain how much extra money the civic authority could generate from through more efficient operation of the markets.

The public meeting starts at 7pm.