Councillors have discussed closing leisure centres and civic amenity sites as part of at least £13m of cuts.
Further reductions in funding from the Welsh Government could mean Caerphilly County Borough Council has to save up to £30m between 2015 and 2017.
Members of the Regeneration and Environment Scrutiny Committee met on July 30 to discuss a report written by council officers outlining where cuts could be made.
Rhymney Civic Amenity Site was saved last year but could be one of five to close, as the council legally only has to provide one site for residents.
But councillors warned closing any civic amenity site would lead to an increase in fly tipping, with Cllr Carl Cuss saying Rhymney residents would not travel all the way to Aberbargoed to dump their rubbish.
Cllr John Bevan, who represents Moriah ward, said: “The complete closure of Rhymney Civic Amenity Site would be a complete disaster for the top of the valley.”
Llanbradach councillor Rob Gough said: “When we start closing these civic amenity sites we are going to cause all sorts of problems.
“I’ve seen in the last two months a serious increase in fly tipping.”
There were warnings that leisure centres could be closed or transferred to schools, with officers claiming the old buildings needed “millions” spent on them to get them up to standard.
Leisure centre provision is totally discretionary meaning the council do not have to provide any services by law – meaning all options are on the table.
They could be closed or transferred to the care of schools.
Head of Leisure Services, Mark Williams said: “As an authority we can’t go on providing the amount of services we currently provide.”
One option is to close Cefn Fforest Leisure Centre, saving almost £250,000 a year. The report says “hopefully some swimmers would relocate to other pools but capacity for school swimming would be a sever challenge”.
Meanwhile should Caerphilly Leisure Centre be closed swimmers would be expected to use pools in Cardiff, Newport, Merthyr and Rhondda Cynon Taff.
Cllr Janet Jones, of Heolddu ward, said: “If you close any swimming pool you can offer other pools for people but they wont be able to use them properly because they will be so busy.
“If you want to encourage sport you need the facillities.”
Councillors also discussed closing bowling greens, cutting street cleaning and provision of flower beds and hanging baskets as well as reducing park rangers and increasing the charges paid to hire sport pitches and facillities.
Mark Williams said closure of all public toilets was “on the table” despite councillors warning of public anger at this year’s closures.
Acting Deputy Chief Executive, Sandra Aspinall, warned it would be impossible to make this level of cuts without making redundancies and effecting workers’ terms and conditions.
The officers will report to the scrutiny committee again in the autumn when recommended cuts will be passed to the Cabinet.
Geraint williams says:
We call on the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to scrap Councillors’ salaries. With cuts to public services and increases in council tax it is right that councillors share the burden by having their salaries scrapped and replaced with payments of reimbursement only, much like magistrates. This will help to make savings in expensive local democracy.
please sign the petition:
https://www.assemblywales.org/epetition-list-of-signatories.htm?pet_id=1031
I call on people to get involved.
The squeeze on budgets will take its toll and I’ve read a great deal of response to the stories of cuts in the press.
This is why I call on members of the public to get involved in politics. I’m not suggesting that you should run for CLLR/AM/MP
(unless you want to) but instead of making your voice heard every election at the ballot box, make it heard from within the party of your choice every month.
Every month your ward should be holding meetings about issues that affect you. If not at ward level then there’s meetings held at a
constituency level for all political parties . So join the debate!
If you think politics doesn’t work for you, come and voice how it should. Google your political party of choice phone the secretary and get going. I’m sure whatever party you choose there will be a warm welcome for you.
http://www.blackwoodlabour.org.uk
Councillors need to feel the recession hence Geraint Williams petition.
I was hoping your link above would have been to the report discussed at the meeting. Disappointingly it only connects to the meeting announcement/agenda.
that should be published shortly Ian, you can come and observe any meeting you like at any time. Its open to the public.
Hi Ian
Apologies, I’ve only just seen this but have updated the link so it now links to the report discussed.
Thanks, Gareth
Thanks Gareth, have now read through the report.
It seems to me that there needs to be a serious discussion about reducing the salaries and perks of the Council’s senior management. Having been an Assistant County Treasurer in a US county of 4 million people I find the salaries paid to the Caerphilly County CEO etc. to be obscene. Why Wales needs more than 7 counties is also a question that needs answered. All these senior positions should see their salaries reduced as part of any reorganisation, if not before.
The squeeze on budgets will take its toll and I’ve read a great deal of response to the stories of cuts in the press.
This is why I call on members of the public to get involved in politics. I’m not suggesting that you should run for CLLR/AM/MP (unless you want to) but instead of making your voice heard every election at the ballot box, make it heard from within the party of your choice every month.
Every month your ward should be holding meetings about issues that affect you. If not at ward level then there’s meetings held at a constituency level for all political parties . So join the debate!
If you think politics doesn’t work for you, come and voice how it should.
Google your political party of choice phone the secretary and get going.
I’m sure whatever party you choose there will be a warm welcome for
you.
http://www.blackwoodlabour.org.uk
I agree with Cllr. Rees, there are less people involved in the democratic process than at any time during my lifetime. The comments to the Observer show that this is not because people do not care about their community and local government. They just feel that they cannot make a difference, which is not true.
There are several ways of making your mark, Cllr. Rees suggests joining a party which is certainly a way of making your voice heard. If you feel that ‘none of the above’ is your feeling about political parties why not attend council meetings? In the council to which I am elected, Caerffili Town Council, members of the public are welcome but most meetings have no members of the public present. The same applies to Borough Council meetings and Town Management meetings.
If you attend a meeting you will be better informed, as the press is selective of what they consider newsworthy, and you will be able to make a judgement on whether you agree or not with what the councillors say and how they vote. After the meeting you can talk directly with any elected member. Any councillor worth his or her salt will be willing to talk with you and, make no mistake on this, will have to consider what you have to say very carefully. This is because ultimately you, the voter, is the boss.
With the decline in turnout at elections to around 40% you, as an interested and active voter, effectively has more than two votes and councillors disregard your power at their peril. In my own short spell as an elected member of a council I have always held the view that it is the opinion of the majority of the people in my ward that counts and I always try and reflect their opinion when I vote on motions. If people do not engage with their councillors by talking with them, e-mailing them and so on, it forces the councillor to follow their own agenda, or that of their party which is not always what the majority of voters want.
Democracy is not just about elections, the mood music is set by a ballot but the process is a continuous one. Plese attend meetings, make your voice heard, join a party if you feel strongly that any of the parties correspond with your beliefs. Even better offer yourself for election, if sucessful you will definitely make a difference. Since election in 2012 I feel that my presence at council meetings, my phone calls and e-mails to the borough on behalf of residents have made a difference and I believe that this has ben positive. If this is not the case then I will be voted out next time; you, the voters, are the people in charge.
At least we agree on something Cllr Williams!
I can’t speak for my constituency meetings, however as branch secretary for Blackwood Labour I welcome non-members if you just want to come and see what’s going on. As long as you can engage in constructive dialogue you’re welcome. As councillors are there you are welcome to direct questions at us.
In our Blackwood Branch we only follow an agenda and read out minutes at the AGM. Throughout the year it’s just about getting together and having a debate, no minutes, no agenda’s! Just a mug of tea and maybe a biscuit if we’re lucky. Details are on our website: http://www.blackwoodlabour.org.uk .
I am sure we agree on many things, maybe not pay levels for council administrators, but I recollect we both welcomed the statement made by Nigel Dix, in
Caerphilly Observer, when he questioned his own party’s policy
regarding the cinema in Bargoed. It is unrealistic to expect any two individuals to agree on everything, let alone a party made up of thousands of people.
This is why I tend to listen more carefully to politicians, from any party, who are willing to sometimes criticise, or even occasionally vote against, party policy. It indicates to me that they have something between their ears. Those politicians who say that they agree with everything the party stands for are, in my opinion, either telling lies or are too stupid to hold office.
They got the cheek to announce this when last Saturday Caerphilly cbc had a dinner to celebrate the twinning with pizak.
With levels of obesity in Wales growing it seems bonkers to close leisure centres, not doing too well in the Commonwealth Games either, so what do councils do – they close down leisure centres and discourage people from taking part in sport and exercise – really forward thinking. I used to live in a large city just across the border and ever summer the local council ran a passport to leisure scheme where for a small payment a student could purchase a passport to leisure which would allow them to use leisure centres, swimming pools and sports activities for half price – a really good idea that got young people active, and stopped them from setting fire to every grassy hill around them.
Rather than cutting all these services why not get rid of some staff, and how can they find £7m for a cinema when they are claiming to have no money. Before too long the local council will cease to be a service provider it will be merely a regulatory body.
I am surprised that they are considering closing leisure centres, because as far as I can see they are generally quite busy so I cant believe that they are not a profit making entity – certainly caerphilly leisure centre generally seems quite busy – the classes are always packed so what’s happening to the money paid by users of the facilities?
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/caerphilly-borough-council-keep-all-day-centres-open?share_id=wnquWzlbkg&utm_campaign=friend_inviter_chat&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=permissions_dialog_false