A Powys councillor has been left “frustrated” with Powys Council removing flagpoles from public buildings as part of a money saving effort. 

Cllr Elwyn Vaughan of Llanbrynmair has criticised the “vanishing” of flagpoles and banners in the Powys village, with Powys County Council removing them from buildings in a bid to save money but doing so before the community was informed or offered to retain them. 

In January the council proposed removing flagpoles from some buildings within the county as one of a string of money-saving measures in its draft budget.

READ MORE: Powys County council mulls removing flagpoles to save money

The flagpoles disappeared from both the community centre and Ysgol Llanbrynmair, with Cllr Vaughan saying a community councillor was approached over the issue at Llanbrynmair Show.

He said: “A few buildings in the community seem to have had their flagpoles taken down with no prior warning.

"As far as I can tell people were not told that this was going to happen. Many are frustrated at the vanishing flagpoles and banners.

MORE NEWS:

“I think the proposals from January give context over why they have been taken down, which would show a lack of thought into what the community values.

“It’s a shame Powys Council didn't have common sense to discuss with schools and community councils first. At the very least people should have been given the option to take these flagpoles on themselves if there wasn’t enough money for them but the community wanted to keep them.

“They should be given the opportunity to take responsibility as many are proud of this unifying symbol of Wales.”

In the budget the council said the proposal "to remove flagpoles from some council buildings" would save it around £20,000 as it will reduce their compliance budget.

A spokesperson for Powys County Council said: “As part of this year’s annual budget setting process full council agreed to remove flag poles from some council buildings to reduce the compliance budget by £20,000 per year.

“Unfortunately work to remove the flagpoles started before affected schools were informed of the process and offered the opportunity of retaining the structures at their own cost. We have apologised for the misunderstanding.”