Powys street lights at risk in £9m council cuts

Streets in towns like Llanidloes could go dark unless community councils can step in

Street lights could be turned off and arts provision slashed by a council facing a £14m funding shortfall.

Powys County Council's draft budget outlines plans for more than £9m in cuts to help plug the gap.

Residents have already been warned to expect a council tax rise of as much as 12% as Welsh Government grant aid is being cut by 0.3%.

Deputy leader Aled Davies said: "We are facing some of the most challenging decisions of our political lives."

Another £20m of savings will be needed over the next three years, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The proposed cuts and savings package for 2019-20 includes:

• A review of street lighting, with the hope that town and community councils can pay, to save £150,000

• Increased car parking charges, which could raise an extra £100,000

• The introduction of car parking charges for blue badge users in a bid to raise £50,000

• Closing the arts and culture service to save £139,000

• Closing Neaudd Maldwyn in Welshpool to save £165,000

Mr Davies, cabinet member for finance in the ruling Independent/Conservative coalition, said with education and social care taking up 70% of spending, all other services would come under pressure.

He said: "We will have to ask ourselves, can we afford the branch libraries we operate, the number of offices and buildings we fund?"

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"Will we have to reduce the length of roads we repair, the number of street lights we power and the number of open spaces we maintain?

"As a council we are facing some of the most challenging decisions of our political lives, decisions that I am sure will be unpopular.

"But we have to set a balanced budget and the continued reduction in our external funding means we have little choice."

Liberal Democrat and Green group leader James Gibson-Watt claimed council leaders had "failed to control persistent overspending" by some departments.