Machynlleth Town Council will consider raising the precept for residents to fund repairs for the town clock, if contractors working on the hospital cannot do the work for free.

The progress on fixing the town clock was discussed in a town council meeting on 26 July, during which the mayor, Cllr Tony Jones, said the contractor for the new Bro Ddyfi Hospital, Willmott Dixon, were “enthusiastic” to help the community by investigating whether they could complete part of the works free of charge.

The Willmott Dixon community benefits scheme means they can complete charity work for the area whilst completing the contracted work.

Willmott Dixon will now look into whether they could repair the rotten platform inside of the clock, free of charge. This particular aspect of the repair was previously estimated to cost around £12,000.

The total cost of repairing the clock has been estimated at around £20,000.

“They don’t know if they can build it [the platform] and take it up. They may have to build it inside the clock,” Cllr Tony Jones told councillors. If necessary they may have to take the face out and take things out that way.

“They can’t just go up there and do it. They’re going to see the architect and the Smith of Derby people to see what they can.”

Cllr Gareth Jones said: “This is the thing that most people have been stopping me on the street about in the past couple of months. Not just local people, but visitors as well.

“It’s not just the fact that the clock isn’t working, it’s the condition of the clock. The town’s residents are ashamed to see it like that. It’s the town council’s responsibility, therefore it should have been paid by the town council tax.

“It’s all well and good saying that tax payers shouldn’t have a hike in tax, but if we’re fundraising it’s the same people anyway.”

If it is not possible for Willmott Dixon to complete the works, councillors discussed the possibility of raising the precept.

Cllr Tony Jones said an extraordinary meeting would be held to discuss this, “depending on what the builders say”, prior to the next full council meeting which is due to be held after the recess in September.