Parking and Litter and Police Helicopters

Our local councillors are getting the distinct impression that the County Council is dragging its feet when it comes to sorting out local parking problems (amongst other things).
At the moment there is a moratorium on parking orders, which basically means that nothing is going to change. However, the County Council says that new parking orders can be made - as soon as funding is available. A figure of £40,000 was mentioned to fund new parking regulations. However, Hay car park generates income of £140,000 a year, which would seem to be more than ample for the task.
There was a pilot scheme, which was supposed to be followed by a review - which has never happened. When the Council sent a letter asking what was happening, they got a reply which did not answer the points they had made - so they are inviting a chap from the County Council down to Hay to walk round with them and look at the problems on the ground. They want a full review (as promised) of the parking orders, with a possible re-lining of the car park to fit more cars in, and a look at whether the double yellow lines are in the right places. They also want a resident's parking scheme to be considered.
On the plus side (with Gareth looking, it has to be said, rather smug!) the £47,000 that the County Council is saving because the members of the Cabinet did not take their pay rise is being spent on providing free car parking in the run up to Christmas to give a boost to local shops. Gareth said that the present Cabinet want to give back to the community, unlike the previous Cabinet which was more interested in lining their own pockets!

Meanwhile, there are plans for a Grand Tidy-Up along the railway line, with a letter to go to all the houses whose gardens back onto the line. They're hoping for lots of volunteers to help out, and want to involve the school and the cubs and so on. They are looking at the possibility of funding from the Keep Wales Tidy scheme so they can provide protective gloves to volunteers.
There's also a scheme called Tidy Towns, which is concerned with recycling facilities, and it was agreed that Hay ought to give the impression that it is the sort of place that supports re-cycling rubbish. It would also generate more income for the Council. Someone has complained that the present litter bins are not very visible, being black, and there are some quite smart colour coded litter bins available. The County Council has been contacted about this, but hasn't replied yet (which seems to be a recurring theme with the County Council). Apparently there was a document about recycling in Hay which went up to the County Council six years ago, which was ignored - and maybe it's time they got reminded about that. At the moment 47% of rubbish is being recycled locally, and to avoid fines from central government, it needs to be 53%. There is, however, a new cardboard bank on the car park.

There has been more graffiti under the Bridge, which the County Council should clean off. In the cemetery, the empty house which is for sale there has been attacked with spray cans.
At the same time, Hay is about to see the number of police assigned to the town cut to one PC and a PCSO! (according to "impeccable sources", said one councillor). Inspector Reed, who had previously spoken to the Council, is being asked to return to explain what is going on. Something else he could tell them about is what's happening with the Dyfyd-Powys police helicopter - the arrangements are changing to a national system, and local councillors want to know what that means for our local helicopter, as they haven't been informed by the relevant police bodies.