Green Light for Withybeds

Welshpool Town Council has approved plans for a £1.3 million facelift for the Withybeds travellers camp.

 

Plans to overhaul the site, located on the banks of the River Severn, drew criticism earlier this year from local residents, with the renovation costs to be met by the Welsh Assembly and increased rents from the site.

 

But last night the Town Council expressed their desire for the money to be spent in improving the site’s ‘transit facility’ and not for full-time residence. The application is now subject to a public consultation period which ends on August 13^th.

 

Last year, a report found the Powys County Council-owned site was “vermin infested” and unsafe for children stating that “there is clearly only one solution to address the numerous inadequacies within the existing site, and this is redevelopment”.

 

In May, the Council’s Board agreed that the additional income from increased rents at the site will be used to fund the council's 25% contribution towards the project. The remaining £970,696 will come from the Welsh Assembly Government Gypsy and Traveller Refurbishment Grant which improves accommodation facilities at Gypsy and Traveller sites across Wales.