COLUMN: ‘Being a town councillor isn’t exactly glamorous’
“As a society, what are our greatest challenges? You might get a thousand different answers to that but two are constant throughout history: poverty and sustainability - as a Labour town councillor, I am doing what I can to help.
Being a town councillor isn’t exactly glamorous. We have no power, little time, and no pay. We’re volunteers. Many think we can simply command something to happen and it will happen… this is very definitely not the case. Especially if the County Council doesn’t want what we want.
Thankfully, there have been two recent moments when what I’ve wanted has aligned with what the County Council is offering: I’ve had the chance to get town-wide free wifi installed and my proposal to the council to install solar panels on the Tourist Information Centre was approved so Powys County Council are helping us find funding.
You can find the free wifi on the main cross of the centre of town, stretching from the Tourist Information Centre to The Angel and from Fitzgerald’s to Rikki Lloyd’s as of the end of October.
This is my work to relieve a particular kind of 21st Century poverty, data poverty: if you know someone who always runs out of data or can’t make it through the whole month with what data they have then they can now use the free wifi in town for what they need. I’m incredibly grateful to the business and the Town Council for hosting the wifi hubs - a little space on their walls makes all the difference.
We are making a difference. To today and the future.
I’m now working with the Town Council staff to see how best we can get solar panels and a battery to bring down their costs and ensure any profit goes into a Community Wealth Fund. My hope is that any electricity produced and sold back to the grid would mean a small profit and, in time, that could be reinvested into the community.
The future is a difficult thing to manage. When we see crises on the horizon, it can seem all but impossible to adapt. And yet, we are adapting - we are answering the call of the future by leading the way on sustainable projects. Another Labour town councillor, Deputy Mayor David France, has supported me in this because he is young and wants a sustainable, greener, fairer future for all young people. We both do.
To the outside world, these will seem like small steps…but every journey begins with small steps. In alleviating poverty and installing solar panels, we are leading the way from the ground up.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|