Welshpool to set-up Tour de France working group

Welshpool is going to do its best to benefit from the huge public interest that staging the third day of the Tour de France will bring next year, with the Town Council launching a working group to look at all possibilities.

The latest full council meeting agreed to set Terms of Reference before creating a committee that will comprise of councillors as well as members from the local tourism, hospitality, cycling and other sectors.

The big announcement was made last month, with the July 4 extravaganza set to start outside the Town Hall before the world’s best cyclists will pedal through Powis Park, past Powis Castle and onto the main road to Cardiff.

It will bring thousands of people into the area, providing a massive economic shot-in-the-arm as well as tourism benefits from the TV and online footage being broadcasted to hundreds of millions worldwide.

“We should really try to maximise the benefit to the town that we are undoubtedly going to get from this,” said Town Mayor, Cllr Phil Owen. "We need to get to work and try to put some stuff together as quickly as possible. It seems like it is a long way away, but it actually isn’t.”

However, the lack of local accommodation has already been flagged up as an issue, with Cllr Dr. Ben Gwalchmai saying: “There is an urgent need to discuss accommodation.”

Cllr Owen pondered whether the new hotel to be built by the fast food village on Buttington roundabout would be ready in time, and Town Clerk, Richard Williams, said that he was aware that Powys County Council had flagged this up already to the developers.

A budget of £5,000 has been set aside for the next financial year for the proposed committee to utilise.