Council Meeting - Burial Ground and Refugees

Powys County Council are offering money towards new burial grounds, but with the proviso that Town Councils that take the money should then take over responsibility for maintenance. The councillors were actually rather glad that they'd got rid of responsibility onto the County Council, so they weren't keen to get it back. However, the present burial ground only has about three more years' capacity (more if more people are cremated). The field behind the present burial ground is owned by a lady who will not negotiate with the Councty Council, so the councillors thought it was probably worth going to see her in person to see if she would negotiate with them.
Fiona Howard pointed out that the burial ground is an important part of the history of the town, and Rob Golesworthy said that he'd want a grave to visit if a family member died, so this was an important thing to think about.

Another important thing to think about is the refugee crisis across Europe.
Mike Gatehouse collected 130 signatures on a petition to make the Hay and Talgarth area a welcoming one for refugees. All of the councillors were sympathetic to this (in fact Rob said that he is the son of a refugee, so the problem has particular resonance for him). However, there is very little that they can practically do. There is nowhere that the Council owns which could be used to house refugees. Also, the County Council voted against giving assistance to refugees, apart from the most vulnerable. They said it would be nice to think that Hay would help anyone who comes here and needs help (Rob mentioned a homeless young man who he helped out in the past) but this problem is too big for Hay - Central Government needs to act.