Conwy Council's spending on marketing is slammed

Jun 17 2010 by Judith Phillips, North Wales Weekly News

COUNCIL money is being spent on items like corporate marketing rather than essentials like street lighting and traffic calming, it has been claimed.

Conwy county councillor Janet Finch-Saunders says that when she made a request for better lighting and measures to slow down speeding cars on a street in her Craig-y-Don ward, she was told there was no money available to do the work.

“These are things that are important to the community and we should be giving them priority. It’s what people pay their rates for,” she said.

“We spend a great deal of money on corporate marketing yet we’re told we can’t afford better street lighting. It’s very frustrating.”

She has received requests from residents in Nant-y-Gamar Road for better lighting because there has been a spate of vandalism to cars there.

A resident who asked not to be named said: “A number of cars have been damaged by vandals late at night and we feel that more street lights are needed to deter them from doing this.

“Between Roumania Drive and Tan-y-Bryn Road there are only two lights, it’s not enough. We also have a problem with cars speeding on the road which is very worrying as Ysgol y Gogarth is on it and it puts pupils at risk.

“The problem has got worse since speed bumps were put in Roumania Drive which mean people use Tan-y-Bryn and Nant-y-Gamar Road as an alternative route,” he said.