Council Meeting - Town Plan, Rubbish, Buses and Tourists

Here's a good idea for getting younger people involved with formulating a Town Plan - get them to do it via the world of Minecraft! This is a serious suggestion, to get younger people "building" what they want to see in their area on the computer screen.

Meanwhile, problems with dog poo are continuing. The vets are keen to get involved, by providing poo bags, and more poo bins are needed too. They cost £138 each, apparently, but might be cheaper if the councillors provide posts to screw them too and do the work themselves (it's not all sitting around at meetings, being a councillor!)

Down on the Warren there's a problem with human litter - people having late night campfires, beer and (judging from the litter left behind) sex, on the riverbank. Which would be fine if they cleared up after themselves afterwards. The police are sending more patrols down to the Warren.

And just up from Lion Gallery, rubbish bags seem to be left outside more or less continuously, not just on rubbish day, which doesn't look very good in the middle of town. The Powys waste team are dealing with the problem though, partly by contacting the nearby residents. No-one was sure if the flats were holiday lets or not, in which case, holiday makers wouldn't be aware of which day to put rubbish out unless the landlord had told them.

Powys County Council are cutting £500,000 from the transport budget, but there will be no change to the 39 service to Hay. The councillors want more pensioners to apply for the bus passes they're entitled to, to show that there's a need for the bus services.

A recent survey showed that the patterns of tourism locally are changing. More people are staying overnight, which means a greater need for places to eat which are open in the evenings. There was agreement that there seems to be far too many cafes in town at the moment - but they all open in the day, and it would be better if some opened in the evenings. There was doubt, too, that all the cafes in town would be able to survive the winter when there are fewer tourists about.