Powys councillors need to stop opposing “Sustainable Powys”, the council’s chief executive has said.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Governance and Audit Committee on Friday, September 25, councillors and lay independent members discussed the recommendations and the authority’s response to a Panel Performance Assessment.

The Panel Performance Assessment (PPA) took place in April.

The panel, which is mostly made up of councillors and senior staff from other local authorities, had made nine recommendations on improvements Powys Council could make.

The report contained two sections relating to Sustainable Powys, which included the programme’s economic priorities and the use of digital and AI (Artificial Intelligence) strategies for transformation.

The panel had also said that communicating the principles of Sustainable Powys to staff, residents and partners should be “a priority”.

Sustainable Powys are buzzwords for the council’s schemes to cut and change council services due to the funding crisis facing local authorities throughout the UK.

It sees the county divided into five ‘core areas’, which will see council services centred on Brecon, Llandrindod Wells, Newtown, Welshpool and Ystradgynlais.

Residents living an hour away, including children, will be expected to travel to these towns to access council services.

Some councillors have opposed this move as they see that vast swathes of Powys will lose services.

Others have questioned the lack of tangible results being shown to come from Sustainable Powys.

Chief executive Emma Palmer gave her views to the committee on the panel’s recommendations.

Chief executive Emma Palmer said: “It’s around the whole council understanding Sustainable Powys.

“And the whole council needs to be part of taking Sustainable Powys forward rather than essentially opposing or simply saying they don’t understand.”

She explained that the council is “shaping” its services to align with the changing demography and economy of Powys.

“So that’s a shift in communication and the wider understanding,” said Ms Palmer.

Independent lay member Gareth Hall said: “I’d like to put myself in the shoes of the target audience, the citizens and residents of Powys and, as the report says quite rightly, it is not a one size fits all.

“We’re talking about communicating sustainable development principles.

“When you put yourselves in their shoes in terms of their perspective of the council, it’s immediately on things like: “potholes being filled, is my refuse being collected, car parking and are my kids getting the best education.”

“People are more interested in outcomes rather than the principles behind them in isolation.”

Mr Hall continued: “If we could communicate positive constructive outcomes that have required hard, tough decision making by applying the principles of sustainable development, I think a better message and engagement would be brought about.”

The committee went on to note the report.