Anonymous donation saves Machynlleth’s Christmas lights after cost row

An anonymous donation, along with matched funding from the mayor’s fund, has “saved” Machynlleth’s Christmas lights.

Machynlleth Rotary Club, which has been responsible for putting the lights up for many years, had initially said that Powys Council’s fee to install them this year was too high.

They said that in recent years the cost of installing the lights by Powys Council had “quadrupled” and that they had taken the decision not to install them.

But, Machynlleth Town Council announced on Monday that the Christmas lights have been installed after all, with a tree lighting ceremony held over the weekend.

The rotary club said in a statement, during the row, it had “reluctantly” decided not to provide Christmas lights in the town this year.

It added the council proposed an “unacceptably high cost of installation”, adding several lamp posts “failed” to illuminate the Christmas lights last year.

The town’s Christmas lights are owned by the club which says it believes they have been “a welcome feature in Machynlleth for many years”.

Jeremy Miles, Mayor of Machynlleth, said they were able to hire a private company to install the lights “at short notice last night” thanks to a donation received from an anonymous member of the public which was then matched with funds from the local mayor.

“We are very grateful to the anonymous donator. I’m hoping we can build on this, and make them even better, year on year,” he said.

“Christmas was never cancelled. This town is known if anything, for its resilience, and we are problem solvers so are very happy that this issue has been resolved.”

The mayor added that the level of Christmas lights they are able to provide has always been “problematic”, because of the one trunk road that runs through the town.

He said the fund can be used “for anything that might benefit the town”, and the lights were installed after using another operator.

Powys Council has been asked to comment.