A disgruntled councillor has hit out at plans to slash funding for “local priorities”.

Cllr Mike Baldock, (UKIP) Kent County Council representative for Swale West, said community services will suffer if members’ grants are effectively halved in a proposed cost-cutting measure.

Currently, KCC councillors have access to four funds which allow them to delegate money to community and highways projects.

The proposal is to amalgamate the grants, leaving members with £25,000 to spend in their communities, nearly half of their current annual allowance.

As well as saving the council an estimated £1.32 million a year, KCC said the new Member Grant Scheme is designed to bring “financial parity” to councillors’ funding.

However, Cllr Baldock said communities will feel the sharp end if the cuts are approved.

He said: “This grant is the only one the local community and residents have a way of getting the local council to address their local priorities.”

Cllr Baldock said he donated part of his grant last year to Bredgar Parish Council for the refiltration of a pond.

He said councillors also provided funding to install lights at Milstead village hall and run a new bus route between Milton and Sittingbourne town centre.

Cllr Baldock said: “Without funding from our community and highways grants, these sorts of services would be too much for villages to afford.”

In offering his own solution to the funding issue, he added: “If council officers were to relinquish a small amount of their control of the whole budget and hand it over to the community, then the highways fund could be maintained at no overall cost.

“We owe it to the people who voted for us to make sure they have a say on the decisions which affect their everyday lives.”

A decision on the proposed Member Grant Scheme is due to be taken later this month.