A CALL has been made for a fairer distribution of the cost of maintaining the Malvern Hills and Commons.

Six Malvern parishes are currently shouldering the burden, with a levy of £282,000 on their Council Tax, compared with just £5,800 contributed by Worcestershire County Council.

The council, which handed over the maintenance of Castlemorton, Old Hills and Newland commons to Malvern Hills Conservators in 1968, is giving just £542 more than in it did in 1979.

Tax payers in the parishes of Castlemorton, Newland, Powick, Little Malvern, Eastnor and Berrow, covering 46 per cent of the board's land, do not pay a precept to the Conservators and there is no contribution from Herefordshire County Council.

Former Conservator Alistair Macmillan has urged the board to press the county councils for a fairer contribution, saying it was unreasonable that Malvern, Malvern Wells, Colwall, West Malvern, Mathon and Guarlford should have to subsidise the other parishes.

"The Hills are, after all, a national asset," he said at the annual meeting of council tax payers last week.

Mr Macmillan pointed out that Worcestershire County Council appoints five members to the Board and Herefordshire appoints two, out of 29 members.

"The levy for next year works out at £10,000 per board member and at that rate Worcestershire should be contributing £50,000 and Herefordshire £20,000," he said.

Chairman Brian Wilcock agreed that the situation was unfair to small number of Council Tax payers.

He said Worcestershire County Council paid 100 per cent towards the maintenance of the three commons when it first handed them over, later reduced to 60 per cent.

The annual contribution was £15,600 in 1993, after which it was cut to £5,000 plus inflation.

"Clearly with inflation as it has been over the past 32 years, the current contribution is no longer adequate," he said.

Vice chairman Richard Graves, of Canon Frome, who represents Worcestershire County Council on the board, was the council's countryside officer when the maintenance grant was cut.

"I really can't remember what happened. It was a political decision," he said.

He suggested the Conservators should reapproach the County Council, as well as the parish and district councils, to try and assess the value of the Hills as an asset for local people and tourism.