Reservations that litter volunteers are doing Powys council’s work

With Council Tax continuing to spiral year-on-year, concerns have been raised that a new volunteer initiative is doing work that Powys County Council should be carrying out.

Another whopping amount has been lumped on to our annual bills this month, with Welshpool still paying the second highest Council Tax in Powys.

And at last night’s monthly Full Council meeting, questions were raised after councillors were asked to support a new Litter Champions initiative to help stay on top of litter and overgrown landscape issues.

The proposal was tabled by Cllr Bill Rowell who said the initiative would: “Establish a network of volunteers to look after their own area – not just litter picking. It would identify areas that need attention and reporting those to us and Powys County Council."

But Cllr Phil Pritchard led the concerns, saying: “I have seen these in the past. If you get a volunteer army tidying the streets, then Powys forget about Welshpool.”

Cllr Nick Howells, who led his own ground force volunteer group three years back when he was Mayor, added: “Council Tax is going up year-on-year and yet the public is being asked to volunteer more and more, and they are getting fed up of it.”

The Mayor, Cllr Phil Owen, said that Powys still had a statutory obligation to perform their duties, and urged councillors to support by adding: “It shouldn’t prevent us from trying.”

Councillors voted to support the idea in principle, and it will be discussed at the annual general meeting next month.