A payment of £2,000 to kickstart a scheme supporting Dawlish Airshow is the first example of the town council flexing new financial muscles gained under changing legislation.

The authority has adopted the Power of Wellbeing, a law which enables 'quality' town councils to react to local needs.

It means locally elected members can take any action they feel will be of social or economic benefit to the town, even if it means taxes have to rise.

Dawlish Council earlier this month agreed to take advantage of the scheme having first put its staff and members through the obligatory training.

As a result the Friends of Dawlish Airshow has now been launched with the council agreeing to shoulder the £2,000 cost.

If everything goes to plan, airshow organisers will sell 1,000 of the £10 friends packs, each containing a member's badge, certificate, offers and promise of a regular newsletter.

If successful the exercise should earn the council its money back and net the airshow valuable income. If not Dawlish tax payers will pick up the tab.

Mayor Cllr Geoff Wills told the Gazette: 'The power of wellbeing opens up the possibility of raising funds for projects within the town other than by us just giving grants.

'It's the next step forward really in local government.

'Now we can say, look, there's a project coming up which we'd like to support and we can put money aside in the budget before a grant application is made.

'There's never a lot of cash washing around so really it's up to the community. If they want it and they're prepared to pay for the precept going up we can support it.'

The previous grant budget of approximately £7,000 has been consigned to the history books with councillors now free to set whatever limits they like.

'Yes the precept may have to go up and in percentage terms it could look quite high but in terms of pounds, shillings and pence for each household it would be relatively small,' said Cllr Wills.

'We're the people on the ground, the people who talk to the community. We hopefully are the ones who know what they want.

'I believe the people of Dawlish will be able to serve themselves better and more quickly in future.'

Details of the Friends of Dawlish Airshow are available via 01626 863388 or [email protected]">[email protected].