The Town Council has thirteen Members, nine representing the Ward of Presteigne and four representing the Ward of Norton. Brief details on each Councillor are included below.
There are currently two vacancies on the Town Council. Both for the Presteigne Ward.
2025/26 Mayor, Cllr. Deb Edwards (NORTON WARD) (ELECTED MAY 2022)
Telephone: 01544 260074 or 07794 351569 Email: cllr.deborah.edwards@powys.gov.uk
Joined Council May 2017.
Deb says 'I have had the privilege to have been raised in this beautiful part of the world and have been lucky enough to gain employment locally and so to be able to stay and live here.' She worked for many years for the Royal Mail and so physically knows Presteigne and Norton well. She previously trained and engaged in the hospitality industry within the area. She hopes that residents will find her approachable, friendly and helpful.
Deb was also elected as County Councillor for the newly formed Llangunllo with Norton Ward in May 2022.
2025/26 Deputy Mayor, Cllr. Curtis Ross (NORTON WARD) (CO-OPTED JUNE 2024)
Telephone 07515 915218 Email: curtisr.pntc@gmail.com
Cllr. Ross moved to Presteigne just as the Uk entered the first COVID lockdown. He says - Despite the social restrictions, I was welcomed and supported into the community so wholeheartedly that I fell wholly in love with the place. I’m passionate about the environment and public service, and have worked for Powys County Council’s Waste and Recycling team for over 8 years. I’ve also had the privilege of being a trustee for Sheep Music and volunteering with establishing and maintaining the Coed Llanandras Nature Reserve. I joined the Town Council to give back further to this wonderful community and to champion environmental causes in the area.
Cllr. Beverley Baynham (PRESTEIGNE WARD) (ELECTED MAY 2022)
Email: cllr.beverley.baynham@powys.gov.uk Telephone: 07976 928039 (PCC).
Cllr. Beverley Baynham has been a councillor since 2008 and was Mayor for the first time in 2013. She is a traditional local farmers daughter who grew up in the area and attended school in Presteigne. She originally joined the council as she wished to put something back into the local community, and over time has worked on numerous community projects. She has two children and works as the Chief Officer for a local charitable organisation in the private care sector. She has particular interests in facilities for children, affordable housing, the community and financial issues.
She is presently an LEA Governor of Presteigne Primary School and Newtown High School, representing the interests of the John Beddoes Campus.
In January 2014 Beverley resurrected Presteigne Carnival which ceased almost 20 years before, it turned out to be a huge success and has continued as a wonderful annual community event. Happy that the Carnival was once again established Beverley relinquished her role on the committee.
Beverley is qualified to Level 5 in NVQ's and Level 3 in the Association of Accounting Technicians. She considers herself to be a hard working, enthusiastic and approachable Councillor.
In May 2017 Beverley was elected as County Councillor for Presteigne and Norton. During the term of office, she was Chairman of Powys County Council. Beverley stood again at the 2022 elections, and was re-elected for the new Presteigne Ward.
Cllr. Deb Edwards (NORTON WARD) (ELECTED MAY 2022)
Telephone: 01544 260074 or 07794 351569 Email: cllr.deborah.edwards@powys.gov.uk
Joined Council May 2017.
Deb says 'I have had the privilege to have been raised in this beautiful part of the world and have been lucky enough to gain employment locally and so to be able to stay and live here.' She worked for many years for the Royal Mail and so physically knows Presteigne and Norton well. She previously trained and engaged in the hospitality industry within the area. She hopes that residents will find her approachable, friendly and helpful.
Deb was also elected as County Councillor for the newly formed Llangunllo with Norton Ward in May 2022.
Cllr. Leigh Harling-Bowen (PRESTEIGNE WARD)(CO-OPTED SEPTEMBER 2024)
Address: Wychwood Cottage, Canon's Lane, Presteigne, LD8 2HE. Email: leighharlingbowenpntc@gmail.com
Leigh has been a resident of Presteigne and Norton since 1996 and has participated in several local initiatives. He was instrumental in Presteigne and Norton becoming the first International Dark Sky Community in England and Wales and continues to promote dark skies within Powys. Leigh volunteers with the charity Caring for God’s Acre, as a member of the churchyard task team and regularly helps maintain St. Andrews churchyard in Norton (The Hub) as a wildflower meadow. He has organised bat surveys in the churchyard and has organised bat walks at the Withybeds, with the help of Radnorshire Wildlife Trust, with whom he is a Trustee. He is also a volunteer with Presteigne Carnival and with the Warden Guardians. Leigh is a scientist with a background in environmental management. He hopes that his experience will help make Presteigne and Norton become a more sustainable and environmentally responsible community.
Cllr. Colin Kirkby (PRESTEIGNE WARD)(CO-OPTED JANUARY 2024)
Email: colinkirkbymbe@gmail.com Telephone: 01544 267811. Address: Castle Barn, 40a High Street, Presteigne, LD8 2BE.
Cllr. Kirkby first joined the Town Councillor in 1987 and has been Mayor on eight occasions. He stood down from the council in 2022 whilst he moved house and was co-opted back onto the council in 2024. He has been responsible for a number of hands on projects including the setting up of the Withy Beds nature reserve; the purchase of Lower Wents Meadow - three acres of ground for recreational use by the river Lugg on which the allotments were added; purchase of Silia Woods an important arboretum and backdrop to the community, which was gifted to the Woodland Trust; the setting up and running for 20 years of the Presteigne recycling centre which won 6 National Awards and put over £40,000 back into the community; obtaining grants for and leading the volunteers in the development of the Upper Wents Meadow after purchase by the Town Council, which included the refurbishment of an old barn, a community physic garden, footpath infrastructure, community orchards and the building of a skateboard and mountain bike track. He chaired the steering group and helped raise funding for the Welsh Assembly Funded Zero Waste Project which ran for three years from 2010 and achieved the highest recycling rate at that time in the UK of 74%. In 2013 he acquired an area of ground on the side of the Warden which has been dedicated to Cllr Eddie Taylor MBE and is managed as a hibernaculum. This was followed by persuading Welsh Water to gift the old reservoir on the Warden to the Town.
Other community interests have included being a Retained Fireman for 10 years, a board member of the Presteigne Festival of Music and the Arts for 15 years, Chairman of the Board of Governors at John Beddoes School for 10 years and a member of the Board of Trustees for the Judges Lodging Trust for 10 years and the internal auditor to Stapleton Group Parish for 15 years. In 2013 he was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to the Environment and to the Community of Powys (Presteigne).
Cllr. Fiona Preece (PRESTEIGNE WARD) ( ELECTED MAY 2022)
Email: fiona.preecepntc@gmail.com Address: 6 Greenfield Road, Presteigne, LD8 2AY.
Joined Council July 2017.
Cllr Fiona Preece has lived in Norton and Presteigne all her life. Cllr Fiona Preece has lived in Norton and Presteigne all her life. She joined the Town Council because she would like to work to help all clubs and organisations in the area. She currently helps to run Presteigne Cubs, and she is also involved at district level for Scouting in Radnor. She considers herself a hard worker and tries to be an approachable councillor. She currently works for Powys County Council. Since the Radnorshire Arms closed she has been liaising with the VSCC to help with their visits to Presteigne each October and in particular with the anniversary celebrations in 2019 .She considers herself a hard worker and tries to be an approachable councillor.
Cllr. Trevor Owens (PRESTEIGNE WARD) (ELECTED MAY 2022)
Email: t.owens.pntc@gmail.com Telephone: 07910 072825
Joined Council May 2017.
Trevor has lived in or around Presteigne and Norton all his llife. He has enjoyed long associations with the football, cricket and Young Farmers Clubs and has also been MC at the Town Carnival. He works for the BBC and has been in the media world for over 30 years.
Cllr. Mark Price (PRESTEIGNE WARD) (CO-OPTED JULY 2022)
Telephone: 07831 670960 Email: markp2250@gmail.com
Mark was born and raised in Discoyd and has spent his entire life within 3 miles of Presteigne. He went to the Dame Anna Childe Primary School at Whitton, followed by John Beddoes High School. He worked alongside his father in the family agricultural contracting business, supporting farmers both locally and further afield. Being directly involved with the agricultural community has enabled him to see the protection and support needed for our community, covering both planning issues, pollution and the environment
Cllr. Alex Ramsay (PRESTEIGNE WARD)(CO-OPTED JUNE 2024)
Clatterbrune Farmhouse, Greenfield Road, Presteigne, 8 2LB. Telephone: 01544 267461
Alex and his family moved from over the border in Shropshire to Presteigne in 1996, having long admired the town. Our children grew up happily here and he has never regretted moving to Radnorshire. He has been involved in volunteering for many events over the years, both as a long staning trustee of Sheep Music and in his professional capacity as a photographer, recording both people and events to build a small archive which he hopes will be of interest and value to future inhabitants of the community.
Cllr. James Ramsay (PRESTEIGNE WARD)(CO-OPTED JANUARY 2024)
Email: jramsay.pntc@gmail.com
James moved to Presteigne in 2016 to join other family members long resident in the town. Since then he has become involved in various community activities such as covid and events stewarding, Presteigne Screen, volunteer driving, refugee support and, inevitably, the panto. He has found his technical background as an environmentalist and agricultural engineer on international aid projects to be directly relevant to local issues such as establishing the ponds at the new nature reserve and monitoring river water quality in the Lugg and Hindwell, and hopes that his experience in rural development and consultation will be useful in the drive to make Presteigne a more sustainable community.
Cllr. Nick Rogers (PRESTEIGNE WARD)(CO-OPTED SEPTEMBER 2024)
Information to follow.
Cllr. Curtis Ross (NORTON WARD) (CO-OPTED JUNE 2024)
Telephone 07515 915218 Email: curtisr.pntc@gmail.com
Cllr. Ross moved to Presteigne just as the Uk entered the first COVID lockdown. He says - Despite the social restrictions, I was welcomed and supported into the community so wholeheartedly that I fell wholly in love with the place. I’m passionate about the environment and public service, and have worked for Powys County Council’s Waste and Recycling team for over 8 years. I’ve also had the privilege of being a trustee for Sheep Music and volunteering with establishing and maintaining the Coed Llanandras Nature Reserve. I joined the Town Council to give back further to this wonderful community and to champion environmental causes in the area.
Cllr. Andre Vanhuls (NORTON WARD) (CO-OPTED SEPTEMBER 2022)
Telephone: 07528 579940 Email: andretowncouncil@outlook.com
Andre has a background as a chef but now works as a telephone engineer. He is married with two children and moved to Norton from Stonewall Hill in April 2020 when he purchased his first home. He loves Norton and wants to be a part of the local progression.
Vacancy (NORTON WARD)