Hay Town Council
HayTown Council has 11 councillors (when there are no vacancies) and one member of administrative staff. The Mayor, who is also the leader of the council, is chosen by the councillors.
The full council meets monthly, usually on the first Monday of the month, unless this falls on a Bank Holiday. The council also has five sub committees who meet ever y 1-2 months depending on requirements.Where possible we allocate councillors to sub committees that make the best use of their knowledge and experience.
The operation of the council is governed by a set of Standing Orders that cover, for example, how often the council meets and the conduct of meetings. Councillors are also governed by a set of Financial Regulations which provide guidance on accounting procedures and how councils may spend their money.
The Council employs one member of part time staff, our Town Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer.You can contact our Clerk on townclerk@ haytowncouncil.gov.uk or 01497 808 109.
All Hay Town Council Full Council meetings are held at the Council Offices, Brecon Road unless otherwise stated on our website and on the noticeboard outside Council Offices.
Members of the public are welcome to attend these meetings. Agendas are available on our website at three clear days prior to meetings.
Sub Committees - Our 5 Sub Committees are Finance; Premises, Estates, Communications, and Town Events.
Minutes of all our Full Council meetings can be found on our website: www.haytowncouncil.gov.uk
Current Councillors:
• Fiona Howard
• Robert Goldsworthy • Phoebe Jenkins
• Jeff Morgan
• Jade Hall
• Simon Morris
• James Prothero • Alex Bielski
• Gethin Williams • Alan Powell
• Wendy Bielski
Chair’s report
By Councillor Fiona Howard
The council year began last May with Cllr Debbie Landy more becoming Mayor. Debbie was very excited about her new role and had many plans for the council. Initially, this also included taking on all the work of the Town Clerk who had resigned in May due to ill health. This extra work continued until our present Clerk, Claire Bunton, was appointed in September.
One of Debbie’s first projects was planning for the Queen’s jubilee.This was a mammoth task, involving many different groups in the town, and culminated in afternoon tea for the senior citizens of Hay followed by the lighting of the beacon at the castle, watched by a large crowd in the memorial square.
Amongst Debbie’s other projects was facilitating better access for the pavilion including now weekly visits from Brecon food bank.
Sadly, Debbie’s health deteriorated until, in October she was rushed into hospital where she stayed until April. To help her to recover, with no extra distractions, Debbie resigned in January.We all miss her and her dedication to the council and the town, and we all wish her the very best for the future.
There have also been a number of other changes to the council this year. We now have a full complement of councillors, a first for a long time! As stated previously, we have a new Clerk, Claire Bunton, who has also taken on the role of Financial Officer. Claire is, at present, studying for a CiLCA qualification, which is designed to help understand the legal framework of the council and manage council activities and finances.
Throughout the year the council have continued working with the community and its partners on a number of projects and activities to improve the well-being of the people of Hay.
We have regular meetings with the Chamber of Commerce, Hay Markets, the Castle and the Festival. This is to help ensure events such as the Festival and the Turning on of the Lights run as smoothly and successfully as possible.
We have introduced permanent parking spaces at the pavilion car park which allows car owners to have their own car parking space that can be locked when not in use. If you wish to purchase one of these spaces please contact our Clerk.
This is just a small view of what goes on in the council. Most of the work is undertaken by the very active sub-committees we have, all of which have outlined the work they have undertaken this year and their future plans in their own reports.
Over the year we as councillors have all come to recognise the hard work done by all councillors, particularly when working in sub committees. For this reason, we have agreed to trial not having a Mayor for the coming year.There will be an overall chair for council meetings who will attend sub committees. At full council subcommittee chairs will report on their progress in achieving their goals and on their budgets. Council will agree which councillor should represent the town council at events.
If you would like to read our full annual report it will be available on our website, via our Facebook page or please contact our Town Clerk for a hard copy.