Councillors demand answers over Tourist Centre debacle

There was a fiery exchange of opinions in the Welshpool Town Council chambers last night as councillors once again demanded answers over the handling and budget of the controversial ongoing work at the Tourist Information Centre.

As previously reported, work to transform the building so that it can house the Town Council staff, as well as new all-inclusive toilets has ballooned towards £300,000, with one councillor last night claiming that the original budget agreed 18 months back was as low as £90,000. It was due to be completed by Christmas 2023.

Accusations flew across the chamber last night as councillors claimed they were being kept in the dark with Cllr Phil Pritchard even stating that he wanted the police involved.

There was criticism too for the contractors who Services and Property Committee Chair, Cllr Nick Howells, accused of being “dreadful”.

He updated that he had no problem with the quality of the work taking shape, even saying the finished gents toilets were “like a plush hotel”, but he said he was “disappointed and frustrated from the service received” as the work drags on.

Cllr Billy Spencer claimed that just one worker was on the job, reiterating that: “This contract has been dreadful.”

But it was Cllr Pritchard who led the most scathing criticism with his anger directed in-house at the Town Council.

“In the last 18 months on 11 finance committees I have asked, and others, the question why are we spending all this money on this building and what’s going on,” he said.

“It was actually arranged on a £90,000 budget, and I asked the question and was continually told, and the committee were told, that it was alright and all clear, and then we got the mess we have now.

“We were told, and I stand by this, that everything was alright, but it has transpired that we are not alright. We have spent over a quarter-of-a-million quid on something that should have cost us £90,000, and I want some answers to give to my constituents.”

Acting Town Clerk, Vanessa Voysey, deflected blame from previous Town Council employees by pointing out that an internal auditor had said the project had become shambolic due to a governance issue.

“The public will know (how the money has been spent) because we will have accounts that display it, but, if you don’t mind me saying, these questions should have been asked a lot earlier,” she said. “It’s a bit late in the day. Your internal auditor, in their words, said there is a governance issue, and governance is you, the council, and not us, the staff.”

Comments continued to fly back and forth until committee chair, Cllr Nick Howells, called order by saying: “Unfortunately, it is what it is, we are where we are (and) we are pushing as hard as we can now to get this project finished and out of the way. I personally am extremely frustrated with the whole thing. I want to draw this issue to a close and keep pushing to get the project finished and the toilets opened.”

But councillors are determined to get to the bottom of how this spiralled out of control. The Mayor, Cllr Phil Owen, highlighted that lessons had been learned with the formation of a dedicated project management committee, and Ms Voysey said that external auditors were currently going through the paperwork from the past year.