An Aberystwyth campaigner has quit a town improvement scheme while accusing Ceredigion County Council of being its ‘biggest hurdle and frustration’.

Businessman Jeff Jones volunteered to help run the Aberystwyth Leader Funding Group which aims to improve the town and support small businesses.

Last week (27 October) he announced on Facebook he was stepping down from the group which recommends projects to receive grant funding from the county council.

Mr Jones, who runs a property management company based in Bow Street, is also an administrator of the Caru Aber (Love Aber) Facebook group — followed by more than 2,000 people — which encourages volunteers to make the town ‘a nicer place for locals and visitors’.

It stages litter-picks and arranges community art projects, like mural paintings.

On Caru Aber’s publicly accessible Facebook page, he posted: “I have never been involved in such a frustrating and pointless group.

“Ceredigion County Council contacted myself and another (person) back in January asking how we could spend a grant for marketing support for independent businesses.

“We fed through our ideas and then our frustration that it couldn’t be spent the way we would like it spent – and that it had to meet certain criteria.

“The council said it ‘has also had discussions regarding other ideas on how to spend it’ of which they haven’t shared (with us) and then have the audacity to say‘ (things are) moving on at a pace so it would be timely for us to have a meeting’ when it takes them weeks to reply to our emails.

“Caru Aber started with all good intentions to help our beloved town.

“This was by way of working with Advancing Aberystwyth (a business improvement district (BID) organisation), the town council and the county council.

“Advancing Aberystwyth, in my opinion, did a lot for Aberystwyth but was slated by certain individuals and voted out by the local businesses.

“We can all see the hole created now they are no longer operating.

The town council has really stepped up by adopting the neglected town flower beds, pressure washing and employing litter pickers to clean our dirty streets.

“Some of the new town councillors are doing littler-picks in their wards and are really listening to the community and hope to work more with them.

“Ceredigion County Council has been our biggest hurdle and frustration.

“We forwarded all your ideas and proposals and all but one were rejected.

“I’m not sure how moving forward we can achieve our goals and make our town a better place with the help of our county council.

“Caru Aber will continue with our monthly litter picks and mural projects along with any other ideas that get sent in.

“Caru Aber is still very much committed to enhancing Aberystwyth and would still welcome any ideas, and we may still be able to find ways to fund them elsewhere.”

The Cambrian News contacted Mr Jones who refused to go into further detail about his post.

In response to Mr Jones’ post, another of the three volunteers involved with the group, Kerry Ferguson – the deputy mayor of Aberystwyth – thanked him for his service.

She said: “It’s amazing how much money is earmarked yet can’t be used for what the town, its businesses and people want to see. We’ll get there eventually!”

Other commenters bemoaned the county council’s ‘neanderthal’ vision and Mr Jones suggested Aberystwyth could be the ‘centre of the Welsh holidaymakers universe with the right leadership’.

Ceredigion County Council told the Cambrian News it is “committed to working with stakeholders in Aberystwyth to develop a vision for the future of the town, and to invest in projects that help deliver the vision”.

“To attract the funding required to do so, it is essential to demonstrate a shared vision, involving stakeholders from all sectors. This is difficult to achieve in practice,” the council said.

“There have been numerous attempts to meet with stakeholders that represent people with the interests of the future of Aberystwyth at heart, with varying levels of success.”

The council said it acknowledged that ideas have been put forward, but they are not all aligned with the objectives of the funding streams available.

“Projects often also require a local partner to take responsibility for delivery to ensure long-term sustainability, as the county council is not in a position to deliver the project ideas that come forward, although it can facilitate the funding for those projects that may be eligible for support,” it said.

“Whilst this leads to frustration, the council remains committed to establishing the vision, and to continue to work with stakeholders in Aberystwyth, as it does in all towns in Ceredigion, to support the development of viable and vibrant towns in the county, and it looks forward to building on partnership working in future to achieve collectively-agreed aims,” the state said.