Urgent Welshpool meeting call over drugs crisis

Welshpool Town Council is to call for an emergency meeting with all the relevant authorities to put the squeeze on ruthless drug gangs who have turned the town into a major cannabis-growing hub.

Two town centre raids this week on empty premises discovered farms growing around £450,000 of cannabis plants, and they follow previous huge raids on empty premises earlier this year that discovered sophisticated and professionally-run operations in the heart of Welshpool.

Dyfed-Powys Police have vowed to stop the operations, and at last night’s Town Council Strategy, Policy and Development Committee meeting, Cllr Morag Bailey said that residents were understandably concerned and wanted to know what is being done.

Town Mayor, Cllr Phil Owen, admitted there wasn’t much that the Town Council could do except pressure building owners to ensure their empty properties were secure, or rented out legitimately.

“It has also been a concern to me, and I think that part of the problem here is that we have a number of premises in the town that have been left empty, unused and unsecure by the owners, businesses or the portfolios to which those properties belong,” said Cllr Owen.

“We are a small market town, and I think we have become a bit of a target and the fact that we have these empty premises is part of the problem. There isn’t a great deal we can do about it but we can put pressure on the owners of these buildings to either make them secure or to make sure they are being used.”

Cllr Chris Davies said: “The drugs throughout Welshpool has really become a concern. It’s not just a small drugs raid, it’s a very large drugs raid and it has happened at least three times that we know about.

“So, it is becoming a lot more frequent. We need to be in touch with the local authorities, the local police, to have a meeting and see if we can help at all, or if there is anything the council can do.”

Committee Chair, Cllr Phil Pritchard, agreed to the emergency meeting after Cllr David France added: “We need to fix the underlying issue of empty buildings.”

A letter will be sent from the committee to the relevant authorities to request the meeting.

PICTURE: One of the drug finds in Welshpool this week.