SERVICES from leisure centres to public toilets could be under threat if a government proposal for referendums on parish council tax rises goes ahead.

That’s the warning from civic leaders in Blandford and Durweston, whose authorities both voted for substantial, one-off tax rises to support the threatened Blandford Leisure Centre.

The Mayor of Blandford, Cllr Esme Butler, said control of the precept had also allowed Blandford Town Council to save threatened services previously provided by the district council, including public toilets, and maintenance of green spaces in the town “We would be devastated without it. The town would be dying around us if we weren’t able to step in and take on these services,” said Cllr Butler.

A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said that increases of more than 3.5 per cent of budget, or 4.5 per cent of council tax levels, would be considered excessive and trigger a referendum.

North Dorset District Council was capped in 2005. Its Tough Choices policy has seen so-called discretionary services divested to town and parish councils.

District council leader Cllr Peter Webb said that increases of just two per cent would yield tax rises of about £30 and so would be unlikely to be judged excessive.

He praised the government for announcing plans before council tax had been set for the coming financial year, but warned that organising a referendum could land the district council with a sizeable bill.

“To mount a referendum in North Dorset is a similar exercise to running elections, and would probably cost somewhere near the equivalent of a six per cent increase in the district’s council tax rate – about £6 a year, or £150,000,” he said.

Durweston Parish Council increased its precept by £24 for a Band D house in April to fund the Blandford Leisure Centre.

Chairman Cllr Simon Warburton said: “The government says it supports giving power to the grass roots. It needs to be very careful it does not stop parish councils supporting the services that people want.”

A consultation on abolishing council tax capping and introducing a referendum ends on September 15.