Madam,

I would like to address some misunderstandings in Nigel Bird’s letter (Cambrian News, 12 November) and his estimation of Lampeter Town Council’s response to the idea of a jazz music festival in Lampeter. I for one would be delighted if this idea did become a reality.

In fact, there were no objections. Lampeter Town Council simply asked for some practical details. Every funding request has to demonstrate that it is viable. For example, the Trega-roc music event in Tregaron, quoted by Mr Bird, has nine named sponsors for the 2015 event, which demonstrates that the organisers have put together a viable plan and that plan has been used to apply for a package of grant funding bids. That’s the way it works.

Lampeter Town Council does support a whole raft of community and cultural activities. Lampeter is not short of ideas (though like most places, sometimes struggles to have enough volunteers to put the ideas into practice). Our cultural year includes, in chronological order: a new in 2015 beer festival; a thriving food festival; the carnival; Lampeter Agricultural Show; a prestigious three-day eisteddfod; Gwyl Golwg, a town firework display and Christmas late-night opening entertainment, all of which Lampeter Town Council supports. We would be delighted if a jazz festival could be slotted into our cultural calendar.Our precept is collected from Lampeter domestic rate payers and we are accountable to them, as well as having legal restrictions on how we spend the precept.

Many local events are self-financing. A group of innovative people raised money by holding benefit gigs, in order to hold the Drovers Arts Festival. We’re not short of ideas here in Lampeter. If you turned up in Lampeter on Remembrance Sunday, you would witness around 50 Lampeter voluntary organisations laying wreaths at the War Memorial. This, to me, illustrates that Lampeter is a vibrant community with a good heart and a high level of participation; the reasons why many people move here. I’m looking forward to a bit of jazz in summer 2016.

Yours etc,Cllr Elsie Dafis,Lampeter.