Householders living in Teignmouth, with identical houses have an average £43 difference in council tax depending on which side of the road they live on.
The political boundary between Teignmouth and Dawlish runs straight down the middle of Cliff Road and Oakhill Cross Road in Teignmouth. The houses all share the same Teignmouth address and postcode, but because of historical boundaries houses on the eastern side of the road are in Dawlish Town Council’s area.
Now a 50 per cent-plus increase in council tax precept levied by Dawlish Town Council has prompted residents who live in roads with Teignmouth addresses yet pay council tax to Dawlish to call for changes in the boundary.
Dawlish will charge an extra £30.32 – a rise to £86.80 a year on the average Band D home. Meanwhile neighbouring Teignmouth Town Council will only increase by an extra £3.65 to £43.61 a year on the average Band D home – nearly half that of Dawlish.
A resident of Woodland Avenue Teignmouth told the Devon Week: “I have a Teignmouth address, a Teignmouth postcode, I shop in Teignmouth, my children go to school in Teignmouth, yet for some reason lost in the mists of time I pay council tax to Dawlish Town Council.
“I don’t consider myself a Dawlish resident, I shouldn’t have to pay nearly £50 more in council tax for services I don’t really use. It is time the boundary was redrawn to reflect the modern reality that this area is in fact in Teignmouth.”
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