“The vandalism in this town is an utter disgrace”
The council is set to spend a considerable amount of Welshpool tax payers’ money on vandal-proof steel doors at their public toilets located at the Tourist Information Centre and Maesydre recreation grounds, the Property and Services Committee was told at their latest meeting.
The Town Council is fed up after years of vandalism which one councillor, Cllr Julie Arnold, said had them “going around and around in circles” in discussing counter measures.
But Operations Manager, Paul McGrath, said the new doors would save the council a lot of money in the long run as the vandals “will not be getting in those doors”.
And it was Town Mayor, Cllr Alison Davies (pictured), who underlined just how fed-up the Town Council had become in dealing with the issues.
“I know that this is expensive but the vandalism in this town is an utter disgrace. And residents have to pay for the fact we have appalling vandalism from such a small community,” she said, without revealing the cost of the doors.
“We are spending so much money on Paul and his team’s time. They have had to replace the door frames, doors; its gone on and on and cost us thousands and this is a permanent solution.”
The same meeting also discussed installing CCTV but committee chair, Cllr Nick Howells warned: “From my experience working with the National Trust, we used to have a lot of anti-social behaviour and the trouble with CCTV is that unless it is actually monitored, all you’ve got is a video of someone vandalising your property.
“The cameras usually have to be high up for their own security, so it’s a downward picture and these kids, if they are kids, are wearing a hoody and scarf pulled up so it is very difficult to identify them.”
Councillors approve the cost of installing the new doors at both locations after being told that the money was already in the current budget to spend.
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