Town’s £10k Tour de France budget labelled “woefully inadequate”

The former Mayor has called on Welshpool Town Council to rethink its £10,000 budget set aside for the town’s Tour de France bonanza next summer, calling on the local authority to invest more to make the most of its moment in the spotlight.

Cllr Phil Owen said that the figure is “woefully inadequate” during last night’s Events and Planning Committee meeting, and said the figure must be increased considerably if Welshpool as a whole is to cash in.

“My concern is that £10,000 in the budget for the Tour de France is woefully inadequate,” he said.

“Of course, other funding will be available so the £10k is more of a contingency, but if we don’t get the kind of funds that we want either from Powys or another source and we are having to put events with a budget of £10k, then we are going to be well short.

“Given that the whole town benefits, traders and everyone else will profit hugely from it then I just think £10k is a bit mean.”

The current Mayor, Cllr Bill Rowell, shared the concerns and added: “We have got to be sure that we have enough money to ensure Welshpool is really seen as what we know it to be – a place worth visiting.”

Cllr Owen aid that estimates forecast up to 250,000 people will visit Welshpool on the back of hosting a leg of the event next summer, and urged councillors to consider any budget amount as “an investment and not expenditure”.

Welshpool will be hosting day three of the Tour de France on July 4, 2027, with worldwide coverage of the event expected to reach hundreds of millions of homes.