COUNCIL tax payers in Wiltshire face a hike of almost five per cent in their bills from April after the budget for 2023/24 was set at a marathon County Hall meeting.

Wiltshire Council also rejected calls by opposition groups to abolish the parking charges for disabled blue badge drivers it introduced last year as the plans for tax increases and service cuts were rubber stamped.

The move came as part of plans to make savings of £26 million as the Conservative-controlled council set its £465m annual budget for 2023/24 at a marathon eight-hour meeting at County Hall in Trowbridge.

Councillors passed the budget by 48 votes to 19, with 11 abstentions, and the 4.99 per cent council tax rise by 73 votes to one, with four abstentions.

It means that thousands of householders across Wiltshire face a charge of £1,719.90 for 2023/24 - an extra £81.64 per year or £1.57 a week - for a Band D household.

They approved the budget of £465.874m for 2023/24, while the council tax requirement was set at £332.187m.

The Wiltshire Council element of the council tax will rise by 4.99 per cent in April – the maximum allowed - including a two per cent levy to be spent solely on adult social care.

Opposition councillors tabled five amendments to try and minimise the impact on residents, all of which were heavily defeated.

Opening the budget debate, Wiltshire's Conservative leader Richard Clewer said the local government sector was “on the edge of financial catastrophe" with many councils likely to suffer severe issues.

But thanks to sound financial management, Wiltshire would be able to avoid the worst of the spending cuts facing many other councils across the region, including Somerset, he told the meeting.

The ruling cabinet had made sure that funding for arts, museums, libraries, leisure centres, and other vital services would be protected, he said.

The Liberal Democrat group tabled amendments hoping to overturn cuts agreed a year ago to funding for lunch and friendship clubs, as well as wanting the council to abolish new charges for disabled blue badge drivers in council car parks recently introduced.

They claimed the savings were hurting people who could not afford to pay the new charges and were having difficulty in physically accessing the machines.

Liberal Democrat Group leader Cllr Ian Thorn described the cuts as “pretty mean” and said they were hitting some of the most vulnerable and elderly people in the county.

Previously, the hundreds of drivers who qualify for a blue badges due to a disability have been able to park free of charge in Wiltshire Council car parks.

Some Tory members argued that most blue badge holders are able to afford to pay for parking, with some wealthy people having “millions in the bank”.

This was denied by the Lib Dems, who said 90 per cent of blue badge holders are also receiving disability and other benefits.

The Tories said the small budget savings being made would all help Wiltshire Council to balance its books and avoid the financial problems being faced by other neighbouring councils.

Lib Dem councillor Paul Sample described the budget as "a bad budget" because the Conservatives had voted down all the amendments the Liberal Democrats had made.

"I do not believe that all the decisions need to be taken by that bunch up there," he said, pointing to the cabinet members.

Labour group leader Ricky Rogers attempted to lower the increase in rent facing social housing tenants from seven per cent to five per cent but that amendment was also defeated.

Outside the meeting, Wiltshire Climate Alliance campaigners staged a protest rally calling for Wiltshire to do more to tackle carbon emissions, saying it should go further and faster to achieving its aims.