Police called ahead of council open forum with room for just six people

Dale Spridgeon, Local Democracy Reporter

Police were called after a crowd gathered ahead of a north Wales town council meeting.

An argument is understood to have broken out ahead of a meeting of Beaumaris Town Council on March 2 at the Anglesey resort’s town hall.

A crowd turned up after the council agenda advertised a 15-minute open forum “at the discretion of the Mayor (Stan Zalot)” who was absent that evening.

Members of the public were advised to arrive early with “admittance on a first come first served basis” due to limited space at the council chambers.

But many who turned up were turned away. Deputy Mayor Rhian Jones explained that they could only accommodate six people in the 18th century council chamber, due to fire regulations and a lack of room.

North Wales Police confirmed they attended following reports of an argument.

A force spokesperson said: “Officers attended Beaumaris Town Hall shortly after 7.30pm on Monday, March 2, following reports of an argument…

“No offences had been committed, and the involved parties were given advice.”

Beaumaris Town council was approached for comment. The cause of the row is unknown.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service spoke to some members of the public who attended that evening but did not want to be named.

One said they had wanted to air grievances whilst those who had wanted to ask questions were disappointed after being told they must submit a question 72 hours in advance.

Others had queried why the meeting could not be transferred from the chamber to the much larger main town hall room.

They had wanted to raise issues such as the rising costs of town hall room rental and the fallout from the decision by Anglesey County Council to take back control of the resort’s Castle Car and Coach park and its impact on Beaumaris Gaol and Courthouse.

One local said: “People in the town are fuming over what happens in this town council and people are infuriated by the clerk’s decisions. We need to have a public meeting.”

Another said: “They should have moved the meeting to the big hall, there is plenty of room there.”

The meeting was streamed so some managed to watch proceedings.

A week later, issues emerged again at an extraordinary special meeting of the town council, on Monday, March 9, where a member of the local business community left the meeting after Mayor Stan Zalot said there were one too many people in the public gallery.

In a comment on Facebook, Beaumaris Town councillor DT Evans put forward this suggestion: “I ask that serious consideration be given to move the meeting from the council chamber to the main hall, as happens when bingo nights are taking place. I would appreciate an appropriate reply as soon as practicable.”