From Dog Poo to Timbuktu, and Swimming Pools

No-one can say that Council meetings are predictable! They covered all sorts of different topics last night, and I only rolled home at 10.30pm!
Often, they have a visiting speaker for the first part of the meeting, and this month it was a chap from Ross explaining how their community dog warden scheme works. It's been so successful they've had enquiries about it as far afield as Glossop. In Hay, we would have to liase with the Powys Dog Wardens, and it might also be possible to get the traffic wardens to issue fixed penalty notices for dog fouling and littering (fly tipping is also one of the things the community dog wardens look out for). It would also be worth getting in touch with the Cusop Council, over the border in Herefordshire, as people walk their dogs in both Hay and Cusop.
Rhona had heard of a churchyard where they stuck little coloured flags in every patch of dog poo - and embarrassed dog owners into clearing up the mess. She sat and designed her own little flag during the meeting. The man from Ross said that some places have had similar success with the florescent paint that they use to mark pot holes in the road - the poo becomes more visible, and people start clearing up after their dogs.

Meanwhile in Timbuktu, the schools have re-opened, but there are no books or pencils or any supplies at all. They have water, but mostly no electricity, and food is very expensive and in short supply.
The Tuareg quarter of the city is empty - they have fled for fear of reprisals from the non-Tuareg population after what the rebels did.
A second speaker was Ann from the Two Towns One World project, who had come to give the Council an update on what they are doing. She was confident that they would be able to deliver all the projects that they had planned, though she didn't have time to go into any detail about what those projects are. They did talk a little, though, about making the project more visible in Hay, for instance by taking over one of the empty shops for an exhibition, or having a display in the Library. The project comes to an end at the end of this year.

It seems a cloud is hanging over the future of the school swimming pool, which usually re-opens for the summer at Easter. This year it may remain closed. However, there is a statutory duty on the school to teach the children from Year 3 to swim. This would mean bussing them to Brecon to the pool there - but there are no free time slots for this to happen at the moment, and it would cost quite a bit of money.
Apparently, Hay and Sennybridge got swimming pools some years ago as part of an experiment - the idea being that every small rural community would be able to have their own pool. In fact, this never happened, and a while ago the Council stopped funding Sennybridge pool. The community took it over, but were unable to keep it open for more than three years. During this time, they even ran the heating and lighting by using a steam engine which they fuelled with scrap wood!
There is another swimming pool in Hay, at the Seven Stars B&B, and there was a suggestion that people should be encouraged to swim at the school pool instead when it was open, as it is quite close to breaking even economically. Of course, this would take customers away from the Seven Stars.

And finally for today, there is a new list out from the County Council, of buildings that have architectural merit, and which should be preserved as they appear now in case of any planning applications. Strangely, this includes the Community Centre, which is not in the best state of repairs and needs to be replaced. They don't seem to be listed buildings (though there are quite a few Grade 2 listed buildings in Hay). The Town Council are going to ask someone from the County Council to come down and explain the list to them.