Welshpool Town Council launches public consultation
The plan covers the period from 2025 to 2028.
The council is asking residents for their views on services it provides, including the Town Hall, public toilets, and Meals on Wheels.
The consultation is also looking at how these services are funded, whether they provide value for money, and what the council should focus on improving or investing in for the future.
This move is part of the council's efforts to plan amid rising costs, limited income, and the possibility of taking on more responsibilities from Powys County Council.
The survey will take about 15 minutes to complete and is open until August 31, 2025.
The feedback received will directly influence the new Interim Strategic Plan, which is due to be finalised and adopted at the end of September.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Powys County Times
2 days ago
- Powys County Times
Welshpool Town Council launches public consultation
Welshpool Town Council has launched a public consultation to shape its Interim Strategic Plan. The plan covers the period from 2025 to 2028. The council is asking residents for their views on services it provides, including the Town Hall, public toilets, and Meals on Wheels. The consultation is also looking at how these services are funded, whether they provide value for money, and what the council should focus on improving or investing in for the future. This move is part of the council's efforts to plan amid rising costs, limited income, and the possibility of taking on more responsibilities from Powys County Council. The survey will take about 15 minutes to complete and is open until August 31, 2025. The feedback received will directly influence the new Interim Strategic Plan, which is due to be finalised and adopted at the end of September.
Powys County Times
4 days ago
- Powys County Times
Powys parking charges will 'kill the town' says councillor
Welshpool Town Council has criticised new car parking charges being introduced to Powys, with one member saying it will 'kill the town'. At a full council meeting on July 23, Welshpool councillors raised issues they had with planned car parking charges being introduced to the town as part of changes following Powys Council's car parking review. Cllr Sally Fitzgerald said: 'This has upset an awful lot of people. It's going to kill the town. Local business owners are really worried about charges going up. 'There's not enough footfall in town as it is and this would be detrimental to the town as residents would rather go somewhere like Oswestry other than Welshpool. I really don't understand why Powys are doing this because it's not good." Welshpool mayor Cllr Phil Owen added: 'How in the name of all that's reasonable can Powys apply blanket parking charges to an area the size of this with a sparsely populated area with a lot of rural inhabitants coming into town without adequate transport. 'We're diverse in terms of people's income, their daily usage of the car park and their basic transport facilities. How are we the same as someone in an area with an entirely different economy to ours. It's insane.' Councillors also considered the issue a problem in tackling illegal parking, driving footfall to the town and inconveniencing people who work and volunteer in Welshpool on a regular basis. 'Powys Council are out for every penny they can get with car parks' said Cllr Alison Davies. 'Look at the 10k event. Last year it was a real problem as they couldn't get everyone to pay because the machines were so slow. 'It's a real problem on the town and on everyone who's employed but also look at volunteers in charity shops, which we have plenty of. Consider the cost for transport and cost of parking for someone doing that.' Cllr David France also criticised the charges in addition to changes to parking for Blue Badge holders, who will also need to purchase a pay and display ticket in council car parks. He said: 'We'd all like car parks to be free, while we know money has to come from somewhere, another part that bothers me is the council now asking for disabled people to pay for parking. 'I understand that money will have to come from somewhere but don't make it off the backs of disabled and vulnerable people.'
Powys County Times
5 days ago
- Powys County Times
Powys Council paid £28,000 overtime to one member of staff
OVER £28,000 was paid in overtime to a single Powys County Council worker- a report has revealed. At a meeting of the council's Governance and Audit committee on Wednesday, July 16, members received an internal audit report from SWAP (South West Audit Partnership) into overtime payments made by the council over a 15-month period. During that time £2.84 million was spent on overtime, of which £2.24 million was in the 2023/2024 financial year - about one per cent of the council's total wage bill. The report also showed five council employees received over £20,000 in overtime, 39 between £10,000 and £20,000 and 92 between £5,000 and £10,000. SWAP principal auditor Kevin Price said: 'The council did not operate under a single overtime policy and meant the existing rules were fragmented and inconsistently applied across the board.' He explained that overtime needed to be agreed in advance by managers. Mr Price said: 'We found this process was often informal and lacked proper documentation. 'Noticeably there were a large number of employees that received substantial overtime payments which suggested possible staffing pressures and raised concerns on the impact of long working hours on employee wellbeing.' He stressed that all overtime had been approved before payment was made. Cllr Pete Lewington Cllr Pete Lewington (Conservative) said: 'I do find it a concern that we have five employees earning over £20,000 in overtime, I'm pleased to see that the council's fraud team will be reviewing this as it doesn't seem quite right to me. 'As well as getting the controls framework correct and operational around this, what is the plan to reduce this unacceptably high level of overtime?' Cllr William Powell (Liberal Democrat) was concerned that the council is 'routinely becoming reliant' on staff willing to work overtime and that this is storing up problems in the future. He wanted to see a further study done to look at the wider issues of overtime working at the council. Committee vice chairman and lay member John Brautigam wondered whether the reported signified that there is a skill shortage in the council workforce. Mr Brautigam: 'In my experience it causes those that have the skills to work extraordinarily long hours.' Cllr Graham Breeze (Powys Independents) said: 'Any action we are proposing to take needs to be a matter of urgency, a serious look is needed. 'I'm shocked that it's allowed to happen at this level.' Head of workforce and organisational development Paul Bradshaw said: 'The main thing for me is that whenever anyone works overtime, they are not paid until the manager authorises it.' He believed that flexibility to allow overtime had to be built into organisation structures to deal with work demand and that other councils would also report similar amounts of overtime payments. Mr Bradshaw said: 'I would expect to see one per cent overtime possibly more, so I was reassured.'
