Mayor calls for unity and addresses ‘Welshpool is bankrupt’ claim
The situation is grim, extremely grim, but he has taken his time to try and explain the current situation, so we have carried his information in full and unedited below.
Cllr Owen explained: “The bulk of the council meeting yesterday, and the Finance Committee meeting that preceded it, were taken up with discussions concerning the survey report recently received in relation to council owned buildings - and particularly the Town Hall.
“The news was not good, as the survey revealed that the state of the clock tower is rather worse than expected and will require some urgent work to the structure.
“Further works to this and other buildings will be required - some of it urgently and some that can be completed at a later date according to priority.
“The council’s current reserves would be insufficient to fund all of this work and so we are having to consider our various options.
“Welshpool, in common with most other towns, has public and civic buildings which are old and getting older, and there are only limited funds available to local authorities to tackle repairs and renovations.
“That is particularly so in cases like this, where the costs can be considerable. It is true that some of the costs might be absorbed in the secondary stage of development of the Town Hall, assuming those plans come to fruition and the necessary grant funding applications are successful. This will not, however, address the immediate need for urgent repairs to the structure.
“Priority has been given to some urgent work, which has either been completed or is in the course of being done. Funding for the remaining work will have to be found. To do this the council will need to be bold and resourceful in the action it takes.
“No final decisions have been made but it is likely, if not inevitable, that spending on some other projects might have to be curtailed or, at least, suspended. I would stress, however, that there are no plans currently to cut services and events in the town. The carnival, fireworks, flicks-in-the-sticks and other events will proceed as scheduled.
“I believe that one councillor has used the words “nearing bankruptcy”. I think the words are ill-chosen and unhelpful. The council is not bankrupt but, in common with many other councils, is having to manage its finances very carefully in difficult times.
“The council and its hard-working and committed staff are dedicated to finding an effective solution to the present difficulty and I am confident that they will do so.
“I am aware, too, that some people have sought to apportion blame. That is also unhelpful and wholly inappropriate. The state of the building is due to its age, the nature of its construction, the materials used, the foibles of the Victorian engineers who built it and, of course, the wind, rain and weather it has endured for more than 100 years.
“It is, perhaps, regrettable that, over the course of the last century, the council and its predecessors did not expend more funds on the upkeep of the building. The stark truth is that the money made available to town councils for such purposes is woefully inadequate.
“However, the present council has acted swiftly in response to the information revealed by the survey and will continue to take such steps as are necessary.
“The building is important to the town and a prominent feature of our townscape. I hope that Welshpool will have the benefit of an improved and redeveloped Town Hall for another 100 years - one that will provide facilities and resources to everybody.
“The Town Hall must be saved and I would urge the people of Welshpool to stand behind the Town Council and support us in the urgent and difficult task that now faces us.
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