Council to close four offices

County council offices in four Powys towns are to close in order to save money. Services are to be moved to other council-owned buildings.

Powys County Council's board decided at a meeting on Tuesday to close area offices in Machynlleth, Hay-on-Wye and Crickhowell, along with Strand Hall in Builth Wells.

Officers proposed services move to the youth centre in Hay-on-Wye, the Cric building in Crickhowell, the Plas building in Machynlleth and Antur Gwy in Builth Wells.

The closures were proposed to honour a decision to close unnecessary offices, made at the start of the year.

Geoff Petty, head of finances, said: "One way of doing that is to move away from bulk cash collection at these offices, which requires a lot of space for security, redirecting people to post offices and pay-points.

"We want to move away from this traditional cash-collecting role and into providing a wider range of services than we had previously offered."

Councillor Lil Jarman-Harris, member for Builth, pleaded with the board not to close Strand Hall, saying Antur Gwy was not suitable.

She said Antur Gwy was intended as a place for businesses, and the move from the Strand meant Builth's housing officer would be displaced to the Gwalia in Llandrindod Wells.

Councillor Gareth Morgan said the new system had already been introduced in his ward, Llanidloes.

"Cash receiving went into the post office at the Spar convenience store and it works admirably," he said.

Councillor James Gibson-Watt said: "Powys County Council cannot afford to keep running area offices in an inefficient way."