Welshpool stuck with £1,500 Buttington Cemetery cost

Welshpool tax payers are forking out £1,500 a year to maintain Buttington Cemetery, despite it being outside of the Town Council’s area of responsibility.

The annual cost was flagged up during budget discussions earlier this year when no-one appeared to know why it was being paid.

And, on investigation, Town Clerk Richard Williams has discovered that it was a deal signed way back in 1990, meaning that tens of thousands of pounds have been paid since. The fee is index linked so rises every year.

At this week’s Town Council Operations & Development Committee meeting, Mr Williams was asked by Cllr Sally Fitzgerald: “Did we ever get to the bottom of the Buttington Cemetery payment?”

To which Mr Williams replied: “Unfortunately, the Town Council signed a deed of delegation with Powys County Council back in 1990 and it commits to pay a sum yearly.

“We did discuss to see if we could break it. It’s one of those costs that the council signed up to. Buttington is not in our area now but it used to be when it was the borough and there is some stuff that goes back to the 50’s.”

It was not made clear at the meeting whether the Town Council would look into removing the cost from future budgets, but has committed to undertaking the work, or make the payment, this year.