Madam,

“Callous council turns down cash from grieving residents”. Would that have been the headline if Machynlleth Town Council had followed the government auditor’s recommendation for the April fund donations?

The detailed report says: “…they did not intend or try to collect money. When people came into the office and gave them money, they should not have accepted it.”

It also says: “…within a week, more than £6,000 had been donated …” and “… the council, who did not want to leave cash on their premises, opened a separate bank account for it.” Apparently, this common sense reaction breached regulations that they should have been aware of.

How sad that the auditor was unable to offer any positive advice. There is no suggestion of any other “wrongdoing”, and the report confirms that the council transferred the monies collected (over £70,000) to a fund established by the family and others.

How many of us are willing to serve as a town councillor? No specialist knowledge is required, and Machynlleth councillors take no remuneration for the significant time they devote to trying to serve the needs of their residents.

Much of this involves trying to persuade Powys county councillors to address service failures, which many residents wrongly believe are town council failures.

Yours etc,

Name and address supplied.

Have your say on the local issues affecting you - email [email protected] or join in the conversation on our Facebook page