Madam,

The Machynlleth edition of the Cambrian News has understandably covered the circumstances leading to closure of Bwyty Y Plas for two weeks running. I suspect, though, the finer details will remain under wraps for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

However, the announcement by Machynlleth Town Council that it intends to run the café itself, instead of advertising for tenders, does beg the wider question of what the purpose of a town council actually is.

Many of us would opine that the whole point of councils and councillors is to support individuals and businesses in their constituency. Not to compete against them.

Machynlleth currently has seven cafés, four takeaways, an Indian restaurant and six licensed premises which make food; this in a town with a population of barely 2,000, and that is before the town council reopens the café in Y Plas.

Shouldn’t the town council’s focus be on supporting those businesses and where possible, utilising them in providing refreshments for conferences and events at Y Plas?

Wouldn’t it be better for it to spend its time enticing new tenants to the space vacated by Y Bwyty? Maybe if no new caterers can be found perhaps they could consider contacting NatWest and HSBC and offer them a joint tenancy so that they have a presence in the town again?

And if not them, what about trying to reintroduce other much-needed services which the town has lost recently? Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Surely that’s what a town council should be doing. Working with and for the town it represents, instead of competing against it.

Yours etc,

Gareth Jones, Trem yr Allt, Machynlleth.

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