I WONDER whether the comments by Plaid Cymru’s Cllr Colin Mann in last week’s press, trying to link the pay award to the setting of council tax, were designed to mislead the public?

Cllr Mann suggests that the recent compromise for chief officer pay will cost taxpayers £1.1m. The reality is a little different. Cllr Mann is well aware that the number of the council’s most senior officer s has reduced from 30 to 20, with the remaining 20 helping to cover the work of those officers who were not replaced. This saves the council more than £1million each year. It seems very clear; Plaid Cymru did not want this issue resolved at the Special Council Meeting they called on January 17. They would probably have liked this issue to drag on and on. Labour has apologised and offered a compromise with the voluntary agreement of the officers. Plaid Cymru’s deputy leader was part of the original decision and as yet Plaid has failed to make an apology.

Plaid Cymru are a party retreating to the sidelines of politics, their comfort zone, from where they can snipe and sneer.

Cllr Nigel Dix Blackwood