Powys Liberal Democrats have confirmed that abstaining on a vote regarding the future of the Welshpool Air Ambulance was not a vote against the community campaign.

The party has also criticised the Plaid Cymru group leader for what they describe as misrepresenting the views of Liberal Democrat councillors, labelling it as “unhelpful”.

Powys Liberal Democrats have stated that their abstaining was due to a wish to postpone the vote and debate until when the Formal Consultation document and detailed report will have been published.

The motion to support the campaign to keep the Wales Air Ambulance base in Welshpool open, was brought to a council meeting for discussion on October 13 by Plaid Cymru group leader, Cllr Elwyn Vaughan.

The motion was put to a vote and was carried by 41 votes in favour and 17 abstentions.

“The vote on Thursday was like being asked to decide a Planning application before the paperwork has been submitted,” said Cllr Pete Roberts, who is taking the technical lead for the group on the issue due to his previous professional experience in the field of spatial logistics.

In September the entire council membership was emailed by the campaign group to stop the closure and asked “not to decide on whether you will support or not support the proposal to close Welshpool base until Wales Air Ambulance releases all the data behind their proposal and makes it freely available for independent scrutiny”.

With multiple plans under consideration, some of which may not include closing the Welshpool station, the group had stated it wanted all the information to be available before carrying out a debate and vote, especially given council procedures stop the issue from being brought forward again for another six months.

Cllr Pete Roberts of the Welsh Liberal Democrat Group said:

“What we have seen over the last few days, especially online, is a dishonest and seemingly deliberate misrepresentation of the Liberal Democrat position by Plaid Cymru Councillor Elwyn Vaughan.

“Given this is such a serious issue and until now, not a party-political issue, it is extremely disappointing to see Cllr Vaughan try and divide a united campaign for the sake of trying to score a few political points. I would have liked to have thought that behaviour is beneath us all when it comes to protecting lifesaving services in Powys.

“What makes it even more disappointing is that over the past two months he has been more than willing to take advantage of the rapport that the Cabinet has established behind the scenes with EMRTs officers even submitting a further 4 questions earlier this morning for us to discuss at a technical level.”

“It is a matter of public record that a number of our councillors and our Senedd Member Jane Dodds are supportive of the station staying in Welshpool unless an extremely strong case is made that moving it would directly save more lives in Powys. As of yet, we have not been provided with any independently verifiable evidence to suggest this is the case.

“It is normal procedure to expect councillors to vote with all the information they need at hand, which would have been the case had the vote been postponed until November as our group suggested.

“Like Russell George and others, the Liberal Democrats want a full, open and independent scrutiny of the data that leads to the conclusion that more calls on the air ambulance will be responded to if the service operated from the base.

“As councillors, we all are acutely aware of the challenges a rural county like Powys faces with healthcare access, particularly given the county’s poor road links, sparsely populated nature and winter weather. I think every single councillor and political party stands united in making sure we fight for the best service possible. The most important thing is making sure lives are saved.

“I hope this statement will have cleared up some confusion and I hope that Plaid Cymru ceases seeking to spread misinformation about the position of our councillors.”