AS PART of our Keep Aber Tidy campaign, Cambrian News reporter Caleb Spencer interviews Ceredigion County Council’s Cabinet Member for Waste, Cllr Alun Williams, who is also an Aberystwyth councillor.

In a discussion focused on problems of waste collection in Aberystwyth, Cllr Williams, who is a regular litter picker and councillor for Bronglais ward at town and county council, said it needed “everyone taking responsibility” in such difficult economic times.

Asked whose responsibility it should be to keep the town tidy, the council or the town’s residents, Cllr Williams said: “It’s very much a partnership approach.

“These issues have been with every town in the country for many years, and nowadays councils have been subject to such devastating cuts from central government — £34m in Ceredigion’s case — that it’s unrealistic to think they can significantly increase staff and resources.

“The answer has to lie in new approaches and everyone taking responsibility for playing their part.”

Cllr Williams was asked about the environmental challenges of Aberystwyth being both a student and tourist town.

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• Join our campaign to Keep Aber Tidy and send us your pictures, including details of where and when they were taken.

These can be sent by email to: [email protected], with ‘Keep Aber Tidy’ in the subject field; or they can be sent by post to: Caleb Spencer, Cambrian News, 7 Aberystwyth Science Park, Aberystwyth SY23 3AH. Or tweet us your pictures via Twitter, using the hashtag #KeepAberTidy with the location included either in the text of the Tweet, or using the geolocation facility.