Pontardawe Town Council Congratulated by Dai Lloyd AM

Pontardawe Town Council have been sent a letter of congratulations from Plaid Cymru Assembly Member, Dr Dai Lloyd, after they received the One Voice Wales “Best Youth Engagement Award”.

“The Plaid Cymru-led Town Council has been a pioneer in engaging and acting upon the concerns and views of young people in the community.” said Dr Lloyd.

“I am delighted to see the impressive impact that this young team of councillors have had on Pontardawe.”

The Council has sought to involve young people in its decision making by appointing Youth Representatives who are asked for their opinions during Council meetings to ensure that the views of young people are fully appreciated.

The youth representatives have taken a lead in creating an ‘Out of School’ Activities Brochure; this also included gathering feedback from the local school and designing a dedicated website. All of which was undertaken by then Youth Representative Harri Mason.

“The Town Council has a young average age with many members under 30, including myself, Charlotte Ford, Christian Morgan and Geraint Nicholson who is 18.” said Councillor William Thomas.

“We have bucked the trend in Local Government which has historically been dominated by retired male members. Since the 2017 local elections, our younger members have led the way on many projects which include creating a social media presence for the council, revamping the Council website, and working with the community to tackle crime issues.

“The election of younger Councillors has resulted in a much more diverse council membership which is a fair representation of the local demographic.”