Council Meeting Part Three -

Next the Council came on to a more contentious issue - an update on the School/Supermarket proposals.
Fiona Howard wants the man in charge of Education in the County Council, Paul Griffiths, to come down to Hay in person to speak to the Council here, as soon as possible after the County Council meeting on the 11th September. It was suggested that questions were prepared before the meeting so that he would have an idea of what he was supposed to be answering when he got here, and could have the information at his fingertips. Apparently the County Council Cabinet will want to visit Hay after their decision - but last year there was a meeting in the Swan, and the school and the town council were not invited!
Rhona Muirhead had brought along a copy of the Plan B document which has been compiled out of all five of the surveys that were held around Hay about the school and proposed development of the site. There is a copy of this in the Library for anyone to consult (and I'll be going along when I have a moment!) Copies of this booklet have been sent to all of the Cabinet members who will be making the decision.

On Saturday 29th September, Hay Together will be having a fair at the Castle for all the different organisations in Hay to show what they do. Several councillors will be there, manning different stalls such as the Cheesemarket development, and there was a suggestion that they should have a badge to show they are also Councillors so that members of the public can approach them. It was thought that a board showing all the things that the Town Council is responsible for would be a good idea (and of course this would also give an idea of what the Town Council can't do anything about as well).

On September 11th, at 6pm at the Swan, there will be a big party to welcome Josie Pearson home from the Paralympics. At the time of the meeting, she had only done one of her two events - but now we all know that she not only got a gold medal in the discus, but broke the world record as well! It was quite hard to find a suitable venue for the celebration, as disabled access in Hay is very poor generally - and something like this means that people start to think about it and what can be done about it.

Looking forward to the future, there is going to be a Herefordshire River Festival along the Wye in May 2014. For a big event like this, they have to start planning well in advance, and councillors were keen that Hay should be included, as the point where the Wye crosses from Wales to Herefordshire.

A debate followed about what a Town Council could do if the County Council isn't doing its job. There are several issues here, such as parking and a zebra crossing which was requested several years ago, and the County Council just keep putting off doing anything. Many other towns across Wales are in a similar position, and someone said that Anglesey is now run directly from the Welsh Assembly because the County Council were failing so badly. It could be that approaching the Welsh Assembly with complaints is the next step for Hay.