A TURNOUT of more than 200 people in Hay-on-Wye showed the strength of feeling against Powys council’s proposed budget cuts.
Well over 200 people attended a public meeting on Wednesday, February 13, which had been organised by Hay Town Council. Both town and local county councillors (Gareth Ratcliffe and James Gibson-Watt) were in attendance as well as one member of the Powys Cabinet (Cllr James Evans).
The town’s Mayor Cllr Trudy Stedman explained that Hay Town Council were so frustrated by recent Powys Cabinet decisions they felt the need to share details with residents and judge the level of support for fighting the decisions.
Cabinet decisions have left the public toilets at risk of closure as the town council are unable to fund them without the financial support previously agreed with the county council and yet again Library services in Hay are under threat.
It was also revealed that Powys Cabinet had voted to terminate the town council’s lease on the council building, which is also occupied by eight other tenants including the Dial a Ride charity.
The draft budget put forward by the Powys cabinet recently will also lead to the loss of Registrar services in the town.
Cllr James Evans explained that setting the budget was not an easy task; hard decisions had to be made which although unpopular with communities protected the statutory services that the county council had to provide.
The overwhelming feeling of the meeting was to support the Town Council in challenging the decisions. The town council will now be meeting to discuss the way forward.