Powys waiting on another £6m in Levelling Up Funding
POWYS Council is still waiting to find out if it will receive a further £6 million in UK Government Levelling Up Funding (LUF) – a senior councillor has revealed.
Earlier this month (June) the county council said that it had received 'almost £11 million' from the UK Labour Government and that the authority will use this to: 'invest in capital projects aimed at promoting recreational tourism in the county through transport investment.'
The council said that this funding would be used on projects that include resurfacing works, walking, and cycling schemes (active travel) and rights of way refurbishment.
However, a question from Plaid Cymru group leader, Cllr Elwyn Vaughan to the cabinet has prompted the council to say that the allocation is much lower than what they wanted.
Due to this a number of projects are on hold and will not be worked on this financial year while others will be partly funded and completed in the future once more money is found.
Cllr Vaughan asked: 'Can you please (provide) a full list of the projects being supported by the £11 million LUF recently received towards roads and paths.'
Cabinet member for highways, transport, and recycling Cllr Jackie Charlton (Liberal Democrat) said: 'The original LUF bid was for around £17 million plus match funding, but we only received just under £11 million this year.
'The rest of the bid is subject to the UK Government Spending Review which we are still awaiting news on this.'
She explained that 'some flexibility' may be needed with the resurfacing scheme as they will be dependent on departmental budget under and overspends as well as 'changes in conditions' since the bid was sent to Westminster.
All the projects with funding - and those without
Walking/Cycling (Active Travel) projects:
Tri-Town Cycle Route – phase one (Llandrindod-Howey) – part funded.
Crickhowell – Llangattock – part funded.
Brecon Promenade – fully funded.
U1670 Llandrindod Lake – fully funded.
Rights of Way bridge projects
Fron Footbridge – not funded.
Festival Footbridge – not funded.
Black Bridge – not funded.
Llangadfan Footbridge – not funded.
Pont y Milgy – fully funded.
Trans Cambrian Cycle Links Project (Monks Trod & Claerwen byways) – not funded.
Infrastructure Refurbishment
C2040 Back Lane, Criggion – fully funded.
C2040 Cross Road, Criggion – fully funded.
NCN81 Cycle path Garreg Ddu reservoir to forestry entrance – fully funded.
Llangorse lake – fully funded.
U0176 / Llangorse Lake including access road – fully funded.
C2089 Pennant Melangell Church – fully funded
C2143 Montgomery Hill Road – fully funded.
U2122 Cynhinfa Caravan Park – fully funded
U2642 / C2051 /U2646 Dolforwyn Castle – fully funded
B4381 Leighton Road – fully funded
C2022 Llanidloes Dol Llys towards Caersws – fully funded
C2025 Stepaside – fully funded
B4395 Llanerfyl (more works to be identified) – fully funded.
B4393 Llanfiangel (more works to be identified) – fully funded.
C2 Abergwesyn to Devils Staircase – fully funded.
U1135 Moelfre City to Newhouse Farm – fully funded.
Newbridge to Builth cycle route – fully funded.
C0060 – Llaneglwys – Road to forestry – fully funded.
C0079 – Hay Bluff – fully funded.
C0162 -Brecon Beacons Mountain Centre Visitor Attraction access route – fully funded.
C0193 – Road to Pontmelin Waterfalls Coelbren – fully funded.
C0194 – Road to Henrhyd Waterfalls Coelbren – fully funded.
U0223 / Fennifach Road leading to Promenade second Car park – fully funded.
U0305 – C50 junction to Pontarysgir via werngof to U0304 junction – fully funded.
U0306 – U0306 junction to green lane – fully funded.
Ystradgynlais various routes – fully funded
U4231 / U4244 Lon Cerddyn Trehafren, Park Lane – fully funded.
U2856 Husky Hill – fully funded
B4389 Bettws – Aberbechan – part funded
C2005 Red Lane – Powis Castle – part funded
C1206 Elan Valley – part funded.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
25 minutes ago
- The Guardian
UK court upholds Cayman Islands law legalising same-sex partnerships
A court in London has upheld a Cayman Islands law legalising same-sex civil partnerships, in a move that campaigners say could turn the tide for other British overseas territories battling for LGBTQ+ rights. On Monday, the privy council, the final court of appeal for the British overseas territory, rejected an appeal that had argued the Caribbean island's governor had no right to enact the bill, after lawmakers had rejected similar legislation. Leonardo Raznovich, acting president for the LGBTQ+ human rights organisation, Colours Caribbean, described the outcome of the long-running legal battle a 'victory for all'. The change in the law came in 2020 following a landmark court case brought by a lesbian couple – Caymanian lawyer Chantelle Day and her partner Vickie Bodden Bush, a nurse – after they were refused permission to marry. Day said the decision was a 'big relief'. 'It's an absolute relief that us and other couples in the Caymans now have the certainty that the legal framework that we all relied on for recognition of our relationships won't be pulled from underneath us and that the constitution works the way it's intended to,' she said. When the couple made their original case, the Cayman Islands' courts ultimately ruled that the right to marry extended only to opposite-sex couples, but that same-sex couples were entitled to legal protection 'which is functionally equivalent to marriage'. A bill was brought to parliament to put that protection into law, but lawmakers rejected it in July 2020 by nine votes to eight. Two months later, the then-governor, Martyn Roper, enacted the Civil Partnership Law, allowing same-sex civil partnerships, saying the action had to be taken to uphold human rights. Kattina Anglin, a lawyer based in the Cayman Islands, argued that Roper did not have the power to introduce the law under the Cayman Islands' constitution. But her case was rejected by the islands' courts and her final appeal was dismissed by the privy council. Raznovich said the decision could have implications for ongoing litigation in other British overseas territories, such as Turks and Caicos, and the British Virgin Islands. But he was less confident about the impact on cases involving independent Caribbean countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, which still have colonial era laws that criminalise consensual anal sex and where same-sex marriages and civil partnerships are prohibited. In 2018, a high court judgment repealed Trinidad and Tobago's so-called 'buggery law', but in April the country's supreme court upheld a government appeal against the ruling and recriminalised the act, forcing campaigners to take their case to the privy council. Controversial 'savings clauses', which typically were created when countries gained their independence, and were designed to preserve colonial laws unless they are changed by parliament, complicates the situation in Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean countries. Anglin told the Guardian she would provide a response to the decision on Thursday when she has had the time to fully review the judgment and meet with her legal team. Reuters contributed reporting
The Sun
29 minutes ago
- The Sun
Airbnb owner forced to tear down 40ft-high ‘monstrous prison camp watchtower' after furious neighbours complained
AN Airbnb owner has been ordered to tear down a massive 40ft-high "prison-camp watchtower" after furious neighbours complained. The "monstrous" structure was built at the £5,000-a-week holiday let in Rhos-on-Sea, North Wales, without planning permission. 2 2 And fuming locals nearby say the eyesore addition is disturbing their day-to-day lives in a seaside town. Planning permission for the towering "garden room" was turned down last year. And neighbours are celebrating after another bid has now also been rejected by officials who say the tower must be removed. Nearby neighbour Nick Whitmore, 35, who lives with his partner and three young children said their "dream home" had been marred by the platform and cabin. Nick said: "It's advertised on Airbnb year-round, bringing noise, light pollution, and worse. "The impact on my partner, our three children, and our neighbours is horrendous. "The structure dominates our house and garden, as well as our neighbours'. It looks into my daughter's bedroom. He added: "We are a local, hard-working family with three children under the age of 10. "My partner and I worked very, very hard to buy our dream home, just up the road from the children's school, various public parks, with a bedroom for each of our children, and a nice garden for them to enjoy. "This has now been taken away from us as we back onto a busy Airbnb and, since Jan 2024, a building site." The holiday let was purchased by a Sheffield-based property owner in December 2023. Neighbours reported the structure to the council and JAM Domestic Properties Ltd submitted a planning application - which was refused. The owners had described the 'breathtaking' £700,000 four-bedroom property as 'the epitome of luxury '. Nick said: "We alerted Conwy council who asked the company to stop work. "They did, and submitted a retrospective planning application, which was refused in June 2024 after numerous neighbour objections. "With no appeal by the 16 December 2024 deadline, we thought the council would follow through and move to enforce their own refusal. "We assumed relief was near. Instead, two weeks ago, earlier in March 2025, the owner submitted a near-identical planning application. "We've now endured over 15 months of this situation, with Conwy sitting on their hands while local families and residents suffer daily." Families living next-door are furious at the13m high 'concrete plateau' giving clear views into their properties and blighting their lives. Work on the tower - which would provide panoramic views of the village and neighbouring Penrhyn Bay - began last year, only to be paused when a planning application was turned down. The holiday rental - called Gardd y Llys - is a contemporary property in one of the most upmarket residential areas of Rhos-on-Sea. 'OVERBEARING' Neighbours Stephen and Hazel Walburn also wrote a letter of objection to the council. "The cabin is 13m above our main living area and certainly feels to us to be out of character and overbearing," they wrote. "Its scale and appearance are unlike other garden buildings in the area. It fails to enhance the local environment, commanding attention not unlike a prison camp watchtower." They added: "It dominates the roofscape and is alien and incongruous." Conwy council said: "An enforcement notice has been served which requires the removal of the structure." The notice was served on 17 June and the developer has been given 10 weeks from that date to launch an appeal. The application by JAM Domestic Properties read: "Views from the raised platform into neighbouring properties were recognised as being available from the initial planning consent. "The proposed development is not considered to lead to an acceptable increase to this and is not considered to have a detrimental impact on privacy or residential amenity to neighbouring properties, and therefore would be acceptable on this basis." A Conwy Council spokeswoman previously said: "Planning permission was granted in 2016 for a smaller garden structure on this site. "In February 2024, it was brought to our attention that a larger outbuilding was being constructed. "Following an investigation by the planning enforcement officer, the owners agreed to cease work and to submit a planning application to regularise the work.
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Major blow for savers as Reeves is set to slash tax-free Isa allowance
Savers are set to lose a chunk of their tax-free cash individual savings account allowance as the Treasury prepares to take an axe to the £20,000 limit. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to cave into lobbying by City firms in two weeks' time and announce a cut to the allowance in her Mansion House speech on July 15, Government officials have said. Individuals can currently put £20,000 a year into tax-free Isas and can choose to split the limit how they like between cash accounts and investments. But plans to set a lower limit for cash Isas could be announced later this month, according to the Financial Times. Some 12.4 million adults hold cash accounts to shield their nest egg from the taxman. But the Treasury has been lobbied by investment firms to curtail the cash Isa tax break and prioritise investments, which will in turn boost their coffers. Trading platform IG has called for the cash wrapper to be 'scrapped altogether.' In May Ms Reeves confirmed the overall £20,000 limit would remain in place. But she stopped short of stating the amount that can be kept in cash will also stay at this level. The Treasury repeated this when approached for comment. Ms Reeves said: 'It's really important that we support people to save, to achieve their aspirations. 'I'm not going to reduce the £20,000 Isa limit but I do want people to get better returns on their savings, whether that's in a pension or in their day-to-day savings.' The Government wants to reform the Isa system to encourage more people to plough money into the stock market to bolster the UK's lacklustre retail investing culture. It is hoped the move will spark more investment into London-listed stocks, which will support the Government's growth agenda. Insiders say the Treasury previously discussed cutting the cash Isa allowance to as low as £5,000 but it is understood they are still considering the threshold. The Building Societies Association warned earlier this year that savers rely on the tax wrappers to achieve their savings goals but also claimed any curtailment could lead to a mortgage shortage and a hike to borrowing costs. In response to the Mail's Hands Off Our Cash Isa campaign, many readers said they shouldn't be penalised for preferring safe cash savings over risky stock holdings. The Exchequer will rake more money into its coffers if savers breach their Personal Savings Allowance rather than investing.
