You must be joking?

The disgraceful treatment of residents across the Welshpool area these days can be highlighted by the fact that we didn’t run four stories yesterday because you could easily think they were April Fool’s jokes.

Powys County Council, Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB) and Hafren Dyfrdwy have taken absolutely no notice of public opinion from the people who ultimately pay their wages and whom they are supposed to serve by going ahead and introducing ludicrous hikes to bills and bringing in baffling new initiatives.

And here they are:

Longer waiting times for health treatment for Powys patients than English ones

That’s right, and it’s definitely not a laughing matter. Despite in January saying they wouldn’t, PTHB have gone ahead and brought in longer waiting times for people living on this side of the border receiving treatment in English hospitals.

That’s because they are skint, and our prolonged agony has to balance the books for them.

So, from yesterday, Welshpool patients are now on the shocking Welsh NHS waiting times, which are longer than the English, meaning a Welsh-based patient, needing the same non-emergency treatment as an English-based patient, will have to wait longer.

Tip-booking introduction and charges for certain waste

The Powys council PR machine was grinding out its own positive spin on the unpopular introduction yesterday of a booking system for its Household Recycling Centres, and charges for certain waste like home DIY. More on that with a separate story later.

Over 1,000 MyWelshpool readers reacted angrily to the plans with a resounding ‘NO’, but the council leadership said the silent majority wanted it so, yesterday, they claimed over 900 people had already booked to use the sites in in the first week. It’s Welshpool’s first day today.

Shropshire has already binned the system after it was deemed a disaster due to an increase in fly tipping, so we’ll see in six months when a review takes place what will happen here.

Hafren Dyfrdwy’s near 50% rise in water bills

This is the one that has really beggared belief. Our only water company has taken advantage of its monopoly by sticking a massive 50% extra on many of our bills. We have asked them to rethink with the backing of our MP and MS, and we hope that is why they have maintained a radio silence over the past two weeks. So, fingers crossed as their hikes go against industry guidance from OfWat. They are simply immoral.

They say the hike is to pay for their own incompetence of letting their infrastructure fall apart, with £260m needed ASAP. But they haven’t said whether our bills will come back down to last year’s prices once the work is done by 2030. Let’s see.

And finally – the 8.9% Council Tax rise

So, the final cherry on the top, is the 8.9% increase in council tax for the pleasure of having reduced services and boasting an education infrastructure that Estyn has labelled as a ‘concern’.

It quite simply isn’t good enough and the people of Powys deserve better. It certainly is not good enough to be expected to cough up an eye-popping extra amount in tax.

Our job, at MyWelshpool and MyNewtown, is to hold these decision makers, who are acting like dictatorships, to account and it is now beyond a joke. Collectively, they are treating us as second-class citizens, and charging us extraordinary amounts of extra money for the privilege.

What can we do?

That is the 8.9%-longer-waiting-times-tip-booking-50%-higher-water-bills question. Complaining doesn’t seem to matter anymore. Public opinion is ignored. Obviously, there is no accountability at these organisations as the sub-standard delivery of services continues. The PR machines will churn out the cut-and-paste releases from last year (are you reading Hafren Dyfrdwy?). And we will just sit and eventually take it by paying up. Many readers are saying they won’t pay, so does it have to come to that? Mass disobedience to make them listen? Let’s hope not. But our patience is running out.

And remember, it’s not April 1 so sadly all of the above is actually happening.