Powys County Council opinion column

Earlier this month, residents across the county came together to honour those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives for our freedom. Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day are always poignant occasions where communities can remember those who have served our country at home and abroad.

I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal this year. Your donations will provide vital support to serving and ex-serving personnel and their families.

White Ribbon Day is on Monday, November 25 and is annually recognised as the day men show their year-long commitment to ending violence against women and girls. To support this day, the council has organised three walks.

The walks will start at 12:30pm from Dinas Road car park in Brecon, the Lakeside Boathouse in Llandrindod Wells and the Newtown Integrated Family Centre. I would urge our residents to join one of these walks to show their support for ending violence against women and girls.

Our work on Sustainable Powys, a major project to redesign services so we can sustain quality public services now and into the future, continues.  One of the areas that we have been looking at is our leisure services, which will need a rethink over the coming years to safeguard this provision for future generations.

We have reviewed these services, which we know our important to our residents. But our review has shown that the existing facilities are not fit-for-purpose and cannot deliver our aspirations for a health and active county without significant investment.

We have developed four options and are proposing to put these out for public consultation. If this is given the go-ahead, we will consult next year.

Our efforts to build new council homes to help tackle the housing emergency have continued to progress. We have begun to demolish blocks of flats in Ystradgynlais and a former school in Welshpool ready for new council homes to be built. We’re also asking residents in Llanfyllin to have their say on plans to build 16 council homes in the town. These exciting projects will help us build a stronger, fairer, greener future for our communities.

As the weather turns colder, we ask residents to look out for anyone rough sleeping in the county. We will investigate and work with individuals to resolve their homelessness. If you feel your housing is at risk or to report rough sleeping, contact our Housing Service at 01597 827464 or email housing@powys.gov.uk

Cllr Matthew Dorrance, Powys County Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for a Fairer Powys