UPHILL'S town councillor tried to argue the village out of project cash last week, saying poorer areas should benefit more from grants. Councillor John Ley-Morgan argued for a cut in the amount of money given to Uphill Village Society during a draft budge

UPHILL'S town councillor tried to argue the village out of project cash last week, saying poorer areas should benefit more from grants.Councillor John Ley-Morgan argued for a cut in the amount of money given to Uphill Village Society during a draft budget-setting meeting of Weston Town Council.He said: "We all owe a duty to the wider public. According to my analysis 16 per cent of our budget is deliverable as grants. The current grant of £10,000 represents 47 per cent of the income we get from Uphill properties."The society has already had three lots of £10,000 and thousands have been spent on play equipment in the village."It's a fairly well-to-do area and it does mean other ratepayers are subsidising Uphill. The area I live in gets nothing. The pavements make it look like a third world country."I think £10,000 is a disproportionate grant, bearing in mind what we are receiving from the properties in Uphill."Cllr Michael Kellaway-Marriott agreed and said more deprived areas like South Ward should get more funding. Cllr Derek Craft said Uphill society's grant should be cut.But Cllr Mike Bell championed the society saying it delivered services without any running costs and grants should be decided on a case by case basis. He was backed by two other councillors.Cllr Ley-Morgan suggested cutting the grant to £4,000 and a vote landed on a knife edge, with eight councillors equally split. Chairman Robert Payne used his deciding vote to defeat the suggestion. He had to use his deciding vote again to approve another £10,000 grant for the society. The budget is yet to be approved by the full town council.