Clair Powell

I had a day in Cardiff today. My children have enjoyed the Olympics so much (there was even huge amounts of tears during the closing Ceremony) I decided to take them to Cardiff to the Home Coming of the Welsh Olympians. I must say that it was a great experience and the atmosphere was fantastic. Well done to the Welsh Assembly Government for deciding to put this celebration on.

 I would also like to wish Rob Davies who lives in Crickadarn all the very best for the Para-Olympics which are due to start next week. Rob will be competing for Great Britain in the Table Tennis. Good Luck Rob!!

I had a great time today. I had the honour of attending the Bronllys Hospital League of Friends Summer Fete where I was asked to draw the raffle.

 Thankfully the weather stayed dry and was well attended. The League of Friends work hard all year round to raise vital funds for the hospital. Their hard work and continuous support for the hospital is very much appreciated by both staff and patients and their families.

Well done to them all for their hard work. Lets hope the fete raised lots of money for the hospital which so important to all of our community.

 Photo: Drawing the Grand Raffle at Bronllys Hospital Summer Fete. 

The Welsh Assembly Government have announced a grant that will be available to County Councils to assist local business, in the form of a rate relief, if they agree to make their toilet facilities available for use by the general public.
However I strongly believe that this grant, which will only amount to some £18,000 per local authority, would be better spent in upgrading and maintaining the existing facilities. This grant should not be used to provide alternative facilities to those that are already in place, such as the toilets in Erwood.
In particular the facilities that are available in Erwood are situated on the A470, the main road linking North and South Wales, they are open 24 hours a day and are easily accessible. If these facilities were to close and local business were to make their facilities available they would most definitely not be open 24 hours a day. Local business have also expressed concern that the money that could be available would be no where near enough to cover the costs they would incur in water bills, cleaning and sanitation products.
I feel that the Welsh Assembly Government and the Trunk Road Agency MUST take responsibility for the toilets that are situated on the trunk road network. I have already written to the Minister, Ieuan Wyn Jones AM, to ask that the Welsh Assembly Government take control of this situation before we see further closures.

Photo: Local residents were joined by County Councillor Clair Powell and Brecon and Radnorshire AM, Kirsty Williams to raise awareness of the importance of retaining the public toilets in Erwood.

I have this morning received notification from Powys County Council that the Kerb Side Recycling scheme will start in Pontywal Lane, Bronllys next week.

Residents of Pontywal should have received their recycling bags this week in time for the first collection which will begin next week, on the usual refuse collection day.

 I am delighted that the Council have been able to extend this service to Pontywal and I hope that it will encourage more recycling in this area.

I shall also be talking to the council about piloting a scheme for the more rural parts of the ward.

Last week I was joined by Roger Williams MP, parents and pupils of Gwernyfed High School on the walk from Bronllys to Gwernyfed High School.

This followed being contacted by parents who have been told they will need to pay £105 per pupil for school transport in the new term because they live under the three mile current limit. (2.917 miles away)

You may recall that I mentioned earlier that the guidance actually actually states that the LEA must provide free transport for pupils, regardless of the distance they live from the school, if there is no safe route.

 Well, that was what we were setting out to prove, that the route, along the main road, is not safe. In places there is no verge, there are blind bends and dips in the road that cause traffic serious vision problems. Not only that but if children would be forced to walk they would be faced with doing so, in the dark during the winter months as there are no street lights.

I would not care to walk this route again. The speed and amount of traffic, not forgetting the size of some of the vehicles, passing us at 60mph was an extremely dangerous one.

We have a video of our journey and I hope to get it posted on here shortly. 

 Please let me know if your children are experiencing the same problem. It would be great to hear your views.

On Monday I attended two meetings in respect of the new Integrated Health and Social Care Unit.

Firstly I attended a meeting at the NFU Office in Builth Wells where a lively discussion took place and concerns were raised in respect of the proposed site of the Builth Livestock Market. The impact on both the farming community and the town, should the market close was the main topic of concern. Both farming unions and the YFC took the stance that Builth must have both a Livestock Market and the new Health Centre.

That evening I attended a packed Wyeside Arts Centre for the 4th Stakeholder meeting. The joint Chairmen of the Builth Project Board were in attendance along with Powys County Council and LHB officers.

The “Stakeholders” are residents from all different parts of the community. We took part in an ‘Open Space’ event whereby everyone was able to put their views anonymously onto ‘graffiti boards’.

The overwhelming outcome was that people, as I first said in my original post on this matter, want both - a market and the new Integrated Health and Social Care Centre.

Following the meeting all the issues and concerns raised in respect of the market site will be discussed at the next Project Board meeting. What will happen from there, we will wait to see. Watch this space.