Bank Holiday idea for St David's Day rejected over cost

Members attending the full meeting of the council were told by officers that creating the new Bank Holiday would cost the authority about £600,000 as a minimum.

Councillors were told the total would come from covering staff wages and other costs.

Plaid Cymru Councillor Elwyn Vaughan, who represents Glantwymyn, had proposed that the council supported a cross-party call for the creation of a bank holiday to mark the importance of St David’s Day – which celebrates the patron saint of Wales.

Councillor Vaughan also proposed that in the meantime, the council should move to recognise the importance of the day by raising the flag of St David on its sites, together with the Welsh flag during the week of March 1, and the Glyndwr flag during the week including September 16.

While some councillors voiced their support for the idea of marking St David’s Day with a Bank Holiday, councillor Roger Williams, the former Brecon and Radnorshire MP, said schools would miss out on celebrating the occasion if it became a bank holiday.

He called for it to remain a working day so children could take part in concerts and dress in Welsh costume at school, also allowing their parents to attend the concerts.

Members also raised the question of how much the idea would cost.

Deputy leader councillor Aled Davies suggested splitting the motion into two parts, with the the bank holiday proposal as one idea, and the raising of flags as a second.

The motion on St David’s Day becoming a Bank Holiday was ultimately defeated by 25 votes to 12, with one abstention.

Members were told the council currently flies flags at four of its sites including County Hall and the Gwalia in Llandrindod Wells, at Neuadd Brycheiniog in Brecon and at Neuadd Maldwyn in Welshpool.

The councillors voted in favour of flying the flags at the four authority sites by 36 votes to one.