Plans to award pay rises to senior staff at Ceredigion County Council have been met with anger from readers.

Commenting on the Cambrian News Facebook page, several residents spoke of their anger at the decision, passed by Plaid Cymru councillors on Thursday.

Louise Perch wrote: “While local services crumble, basic needs go unmet, and public concerns are ignored, this council has the audacity to reward itself financially.

“The area continues to suffer from neglect, with residents left voiceless and unsupported, and yet those responsible believe they are somehow entitled to more taxpayer money?

“The farcical nature of this pay rise is impossible to ignore.

“It reeks of arrogance and a complete disconnect from the realities faced by the people they are meant to serve.

“A council that cannot acknowledge its failures, cannot listen to its community, and cannot deliver even the most basic services has no business lining its own pockets. Looks like a slap in the face to the community its failed!”

George Holloway wrote: “The CEO, who has sometimes been less than completely frank with the people of Ceredigion, is now drawing his cronies around him, possibly to strengthen his own position and choose his own successor.

“The taste of power he had with Gold Command during the COVID pandemic has obviously turned his head. Ceredigion Gold command were the last to give up their powers.

“It’s not as if the argument ‘you have to pay top rates for the best people’ holds water.

“This is definitely a third division operation.

“The only people who shower them with praise are themselves. That’s one thing they are good at.”

Tim Davies said: “When will this ever stop? We keep complaining about another pay raise but do nothing to change it.”

Manon Mai Rhys-Jones said: “It’s grotesquely cynical: the public is forced to shoulder double-digit tax hikes and endure the dismantling of vital community services: libraries, leisure centres, planning departments, while senior staff and councillors pad their own pockets. A Scramble for Money 101- except it’s disguised as “governance”.

“The argument that pay hikes are needed to attract talent rings hollow when recruitment problems affect everyone- including roles now threatened by redundancy due to this same pay model overhaul.

“The juxtaposition- Council Tax up nearly 20% over two years, services cut to the bone, whilst the people who cut them award themselves tens of thousands in pay, is nothing short of a betrayal.

“Councillors calling this “out of our hands” (i.e., remuneration panel decisions) don’t explain why they rubber-stamped it now, coinciding with public austerity, rather than deferring until the statutory consultation later this year. It’s shameless timing.

“This isn’t cuts and pay restraint, it’s a divide-and-conquer approach. Taxpayers get the pain, staff lose jobs, and senior staff and councillors grab bonuses. All while watching silent as their worldview of “public service” is hollowed out.

“Not to mention how the treat volunteers (school council chairs for example!)

“We deserve transparency, fairness, and leadership accountable to the people- not to its pay scale.”