DANCING babies, lovebirds, elderly rail enthusiasts and swimmers are all set to be hit in the pocket amid plans to increase the costs of dozens of council services.

Brighton and Hove City Council will today decide whether to ask for public donations as it struggles to fund library and leisure services.

Councillors have been urged to approve plans to introduce fees for children’s events at libraries, as well as increase the rent on beach huts and the cost of wedding ceremonies.

One proposal is the introduction of a discretionary fee for the popular Baby Boogie sessions for toddlers held at the city’s libraries.

Mothers condemned the plans as another blow to families in the wake of plans to cut services at children’s centres across the city.

Other changes include charging a £5 entry fee for visitors from outside the city to the currently free Brighton Museum and Art Gallery – a move that has been criticised as a “step backward” by tourism chiefs.

Daily library fines are proposed to rise by 25% and reservation charges by 80% in moves estimated to increase revenue to the library service by £52,000.

The council said many charges had remained the same during the past four years, with some not being updated since 2000.

Library computer users will now have to pay £1 per hour after their first 60 minutes of internet access, while new charges are proposed for coffee mornings, writing groups and children’s activities.

The council hopes to raise £3,000 in donations in the first year.

With a charge to tourists for Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, it is estimated the number of annual visitors could halve from its current 340,000 but revenue would increase by £200,000.

Leisure centre charges would increase by 2.63% in line with the agreement the council has with operators Freedom Leisure.

Beach hut rentals would increase by 50% during the next two years and the council also wants to increase the costs of wedding ceremonies at the Royal Pavilion and Bandstand.

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: “Financial regulations require that the council annually increases all fees and charges across the organisation to meet inflation costs.

“The council is facing an enormous budget challenge and every department, including the library service, is finding ways to contribute financially in these difficult times.

“This is the first time that we have considered asking for donations from users of the library service.

“Our libraries have a wonderful history of philanthropy, with marvellous financial bequests and collections donated to us over the years including the Bloomfield Collection, which consists of 13,500 treasured books containing illuminated manuscripts and rare art reproductions.

“We hope this spirit of appreciation remains with residents and visitors today.

“The proposal is to place donation boxes in all our libraries and at the many specific events we hold throughout the year. This is a pilot scheme, which we will review at the end of the financial year.”

The proposals have been recommended for approval by the economic development and culture committee today.

The proposed new charges

  • Baby boogie – introducing new discretionary charge of £1 per child. 
  • Previously free talks and events at libraries – charge of £3 to £5 to be introduced. 
  • Adult swim at Prince Regent – going up 10p to £4.55. 
  • Hire of Madeira Drive for enthusiast groups, up £158 to £1,738. 
  • Cost of hiring the Brighton Centre after 6pm to rise £10 an hour to £440 an hour. 
  • Reserving a book at the library – increasing 40p to 90p. 
  • Charge for overdue book increasing 5p to 25p. 
  • Printing one A4 page from microfish reader – doubling to 50p. 
  • Hiring the Jubilee Library for a week-long exhibition – increasing £50 to £150. 
  • “Discount” rate for hiring Coldean, Hangleton, Hove, Patcham, Whitehawk or Woodingdean libraries for a morning, afternoon or evening – increasing 60% to £40. 
  • Beach hut hire to increase 50% over two years – resulting in a rent of up to £464 in 2017. 
  • Senior citizen single trip on the Volks Railway to increase 30% to £2.10. 
  • Hiring Brighton Bandstand to increase 10% to £825.

Brighton Museum and Art Gallery

AS proposed in December, a £5 charge could be introduced to the currently free Brighton Museum and Art Gallery for visitors to the city. Residents would still be able to visit the museum free.

The cost of entry to special exhibitions at the museum will stay at £6.50 for Brighton and Hove residents and others.

Nick Head, of Sussex Tourism Partnership and owner of the Ambassador Hotel in New Steine, criticised the move which he said could turn visitors off the city.

He said: “It will have quite a detrimental effect. So many of my customers go to the museum and gallery and really enjoy it. It’s penny-pinching and a step backward and not what Brighton is all about.

“Will they turn around in a few years and say we will have to close it because there are not enough people visiting?”

Soozie Campbell, chairwoman of the Brighton and Hove Tourism Alliance, said: “I don’t think a £5 charge to visit the Museum and Art Gallery would have a major impact on visitor numbers.

“It is no secret that the council needs to bridge a growing funding gap and I think this would be a more acceptable way to do it than imposing a broader tourist tax.

“If they introduce a charge, it might be an idea to have a day a month when it is free. As for donations to the library – why not?”

Baby Boogie

THE popular Baby Boogie sessions are free music and rhyme sessions for pre-school children held at the nine Brighton and Hove libraries.

The twice-monthly events at the Jubilee Library attract hundreds of toddlers every fortnight, and parents said the events at the city’s smaller libraries are a community lifeline.

Library staff expressed concerns over how any charges would be administered but council officers have suggested asking parents for a voluntary donation of £1 per child from April.

Rita Whitelaw takes her one-year-old granddaughter Chloe to Baby Boogie in Patcham.

She said: “I don’t think I would bother coming if it wasn’t free.

“I think for a number of new mothers it’s a good service. There are not a lot of places you can take toddlers.

“Because it’s free, it’s a good meeting place for young mums. But if I had to pay I would probably look for something else.”

Mother to two-year-old Arlo, Ruth Parfitt, 34, from Hanover, said: “I’m shocked that the council wants to start charging for Baby Boogie.

“It's one of few free events in Brighton that you can take your child to and is always really well attended.

“There is already a threat to children’s centres across the city which is going to leave a lot of mums isolated and without help. Charging for Baby Boogie could also alienate them further.

“I thought the nature of libraries was that they are meant to be free for everyone to enjoy? If they start charging for Baby Boogie, what’s next? Paying an entry fee to access the children’s area?”

Madeira Drive

ONE suggested “above inflation” rise is the price of hiring Madeira Drive for enthusiast events.

Enthusiast groups – like the vehicle rallies regularly held on the seafront – would have to pay 10% more to hold events on the former race track.

And the council hopes to cash in even more by charging “significant increases” for commercial promotions such as poster sites during the events.

Hiring Madeira Drive would rise from £1,580 to £1,738.

More than a dozen vehicle runs regularly take place on Madeira Drive each year – meaning the price rise could net the council up to £2,000 extra.

Greg Harman, owner of the Madeira Cafe, said: “I don’t think that’s a huge amount extra to pay for the organisers of these events.

“But my concern would be that what keeps Brighton ahead of other seaside towns like Worthing and Eastbourne and places is that there is always something on.

“There is always a chilli festival or a car run or something you can go and have a look at even if you’re not part of it.

“When people come to Brighton there is always something happening and if they put the prices up too much we might lose that edge.”

Commercial, charity and community events would all see prices rise by around inflation – 2%.

Beach chalets

THE waiting list for Brighton and Hove’s beach chalets has been closed for years and some people have been waiting more than a decade.

In the hope of reducing the waiting list, the council is suggesting increasing the rent 50% over the next two years.

It would mean a cost of £1.77 a day in Saltdean and Rottingdean, about £120 extra a year in 2015, then another £120 in 2016.

A chalet in Hove would rise from £928.86 a year to £1,393.29 by 2017.

Council officers said: “This stepped increase will enable chalet tenants to make an informed decision over next summer as to whether they are maximising the use and value of their chalet.

“This also allows for the tenant to hand the chalet back before the final 25% increase the following year.”

A licence for a traditional wooden beach hut on Hove promenade will rise 2%.

Weddings

The cost of getting married will rise by about 2% – but an extra 15% will be slapped on to the cost of tying the knot on a Saturday or Sunday.

The council said it wants to encourage more people to make use of quieter times.

The cost of a wedding ceremony at the Royal Pavilion will rise by up to 13.3% – with the biggest proportional rise conversely for hiring the Red Room for a ceremony on a weekday.

Hiring the bandstand on the seafront for a ceremony would rise by 10%.