A public consultation will be held next month as part of Ashby de la Zouch Town Council's 'once in a lifetime' bid to secure the future of the Bath Grounds.

The consultation will be centred on an application to gain approval for a loan for the proposed purchase of the grounds - and the increase in council tax needed to repay the annual instalments.

Ashby people are to be asked if they are in favour of the purchase going ahead if it means an increase of five per cent - which would work out at an extra £3.89 a year, or 7p a week, on a Band D property.

The town council says the consultation is not on the principle of the purchase itself, but on the increase needed to repay the instalments on the loan.

It is a move which is seen as securing the historical green space for the town 'in perpetuity'.

The council makes it clear that if the Bath Grounds remain in private ownership - which they are at the moment - then the space will continue to be targeted by property developers who want to build houses on the site.

The local authority wants the Bath Grounds to be publicly owned - and that would protect them from future development.

It says that this is a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity to acquire the grounds and 'secure them for the people of the town'.

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A deal to buy the Bath Grounds for £620,000 has been negotiated - subject to the current owners getting planning permission for the redevelopment of the hotel car park and the area behind the cricket club pavilion.

That re-application could come before North West Leicestershire District Council's Planning Committee in September.

If that happens, it will co-incide with the town council securing the loan.

The consultation is needed to as part of the application process to secure approval from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for a loan from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) for the proposed purchase of the Bath Grounds.

The survey will run for one month and a voting slip will appear in Ashby Life magazine.

A Survey Monkey will be created and will go live on July 1 until the end of the month.

The council intends to draw down the loan from PWLB with effect from September 1, 2020. The deadline for responses is July 31.