The impact of Covid-19 has led to a sharp fall in the town council's income from hiring out rooms at the Manor House to local groups and organisations.

Councillors heard a report on the financial position from the town clerk, Andrew McKenzie, at the Manor House and Riverside Centre working group's remote meeting on Wednesday, January 13.

He told them the effect of the lockdowns is becoming more pronounced each time. Under the tier system, some groups were still allowed to meet and were paying for room hire, but under lockdown the rules are much stricter and only a small number of groups are permitted to continue meeting.

He said: "To date, as of 31 Dec, the income for the Manor House alone is 65% down on where it should have been for this financial year, that equates to about £26,000 in income, so it is hitting us quite hard and will continue to do so, by the looks of it, till the end of the financial year.

"In the budget setting we have taken note of that and we are building in contingencies for the first quarter, maybe the first half of the next financial year, and of course that may need to be looked at again because we didn't know that we were going to be locked down in quite the way we are, back in December.

"It is starting to pinch. We are still facilitiating support groups, education and training bookings where we can, but obviously that's nowhere near the level of bookings that we used to have, so inevitably it's going to have an impact."

But he added that the overheads – the costs of cleaning and utilities – had been 'much reduced', and this would go some way to compensate for the drop in income.

Councillors also discussed the delay in obtaining quotes for repainting work as part of the maintenance of the Manor House. The need for repainting was identified nearly a year ago, and contractors were asked for their prices in February, but some have still not responded. The town clerk acknowledged that this matter had been put aside while the council had more urgent matters to focus on during the pandemic, but said the contractors are now being reminded about the request.

At an earlier meeting, the committee discussed the licence for using the Manor House as a wedding venue, and agreed to renew it for three years. The hire fee will be £600 for the 2021-22 financial year.