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Plans for a new community hall in Ty Sign, Risca have been rejected by Caerphilly County Borough Council’s cabinet following opposition from residents.
What is Caerphilly County Borough Council’s cabinet?
A council’s cabinet is made up of councillors in charge of different policy areas – such as education, environment, local economy, etc – and a leader.
It is separate to the council’s corporate management structure, which is headed up by its chief executive and various directors. Cabinet is made up of councillors, who are elected and have the ultimate say.
Typically, cabinet members are councillors from the party with the most elected council members.
Caerphilly County Borough Council’s cabinet is made up of:
- Cllr Sean Morgan (Nelson) – Leader
- Cllr Jamie Pritchard (Morgan Jones) – Deputy Leader; Prosperity, Regeneration and Climate Change
- Cllr Nigel George (Risca East) – Corporate Services and Property
- Cllr Eluned Stenner (New Tredegar) – Finance and Performance
- Cllr Carol Andrews (Gilfach) – Education and Communities
- Cllr Shayne Cook (Morgan Jones) – Housing
- Cllr Julian Simmonds (Crosskeys) – Highways and Transportation
- Cllr Elaine Forehead (Van) – Social Care
- Cllr Philippa Leonard (Risca East) – Planning and Public Protection
- Cllr Chris Morgan (Machen and Rudry) – Waste, Leisure and Green Spaces
Corporate management is made up of unelected employees of the council and has responsibility for day-to-day management of services, such as making sure the bins are collected. Corporate directors work with cabinet members to come up with policy which is then agreed upon by the cabinet.
Last updated June 29, 2022
Agape Community Church Ty Sign (ACCTS) requested to lease land on Holly Road to build the new community hall, but residents overwhelmingly objected to the proposals during a public consultation.
ACCTS wanted to use an area of Spar Field to build the new community hall. However, the public consultation received 1,285 responses from residents – of which 91% opposed the land being leased.
Residents highlighted the loss of green space as the main reason for their objections.
The public consultation took place between August 9 and September 19.
In a cabinet meeting held on Wednesday October 13, Councillor Philippa Leonard, who represents the Risca East ward, spoke on behalf of residents and said the “field had been enjoyed by many in the past”.
Labour councillor Leonard also said residents in the Ty Sign area have a “vision” to develop the green space by planting flowers and creating a walkway around the site.
To secure funding for this vision, an application would be made to the council’s Community Empowerment Fund, while Risca East Community Council has offered to pay for the flower beds.
One respondent who was against ACCTS’s proposal said: “Ty Sign already has two community halls that are fully booked, another hall would destroy their revenue.
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“Ty Sign does not have much green space so to lose what little we have would be of great detriment to the whole community. This will not be a community hall this will be a church.”
ACCTS has been based at Channel View Hall in Ty Sign for the last 18 years.
It secured £250,000 from the Welsh Government’s Community Facilities Fund and additional funding from the National Lottery’s People and Communities programme towards the proposal.
Prior to the council’s decision, ACCTS said the development “would complement the existing spaces at the TLC café and St David’s church; providing a breadth of resources to the various groups that require community space”.
One respondent, who supported the proposal, said the plans “will allow more opportunities for the area, and the plans also show that there will still be plenty of green left.”
The consultation was primarily an online questionnaire, but paper copies were also circulated in the Ty Sign area – 1,012 respondents completed the questionnaire online, while 273 completed paper copies.
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