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Council to seek public’s opinion before deciding Pontllanfraith Leisure Centre’s fate

News | Nicholas Thomas - Local Democracy Reporting Service | Published: 15:32, Wednesday November 15th, 2023.
Last updated: 17:40, Friday November 17th, 2023

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Campaigners outside Pontllanfraith Leisure Centre
Campaigners outside Pontllanfraith Leisure Centre

Councillors will seek the public’s opinions before deciding the fate of Pontllanfraith Leisure Centre.

Cabinet members met on Wednesday (November 15) to discuss the planned closure of the mothballed facility.

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 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 October 13, 2023

Despite serving as a vaccine centre during the Covid-19 pandemic, the centre is no longer in use for sports and the council’s desire is to move services to more modern facilities elsewhere in the county borough.

Addressing a backlog of repairs alone would cost an estimated £500,000, and buying new equipment and an all-weather sports pitch would also mean six-figure spending, according to a council report.

Pontllanfraith leisure centre
Pontllanfraith leisure centre

Caerphilly County Borough Council’s leadership expects the local authority will have to save £50 million over the next two years, owing to inflation and shrinking local government settlements.

And with those costs in mind, the cabinet is pursuing the closure of Pontllanfraith leisure centre – with a public consultation on the proposal running from late November until early January.

Consultees will be asked how often they used the old centre, whether they have used facilities elsewhere, and how they travel to their current leisure centre.

The future of the leisure centre has long been a controversial issue in the Pontllanfraith area, sparking a grassroots campaign to save the site.

Building work has begun on a nearby Centre for Vulnerable Learners, and the council plans to open that centre’s sports facilities to the public outside of its opening hours.

An artist's impression of how sports facilities at the proposed Centre for Vulnerable Learners in Pontllanfraith could look
An artist’s impression of how sports facilities at the proposed Centre for Vulnerable Learners in Pontllanfraith could look

Council leader Sean Morgan previously acknowledged the proposed closure of the leisure centre was a “difficult” decision but said the local authority had “plenty of other modern, fit-for-purpose facilities available”.

But Shane Williams, vice chairman of the council’s housing and environment scrutiny committee, urged the local authority to reconsider its proposal to close the leisure centre.

Cllr Shane Williams, Labour councillor for the Cefn Fforest and Pengam ward
Cllr Shane Williams, Labour councillor for the Cefn Fforest and Pengam ward

He said “many other users of the sports hall have not been accommodated anywhere else and have been left with the choice to give up sport or travel outside the borough”, and to “continue to suggest they have all been relocated within the county is just wrong”.

Cllr Williams also challenged the plan to use the Centre for Vulnerable Learners as a replacement leisure centre for the community and local sports teams.

“Such a reduced facility is totally unsuitable for so many teams that currently use Pontllanfraith and cannot act as a replacement,” he said.

In the Senedd, meanwhile, South Wales East representative Delyth Jewell told Welsh Parliament colleagues on Wednesday she was concerned about the implications for vulnerable people if leisure centres closed.

Noting the council cabinet’s meeting that same day, she asked how vulnerable people could be protected.

Welsh Government counsel-general Mick Antoniw said councils were “best-placed to manage” the organisation of their leisure centres, but should be “mindful” of their public sector responsibilities, of people with protected characteristics, and of the national Wellbeing of Future Generations legislation.

The council’s online survey on the leisure centre opens on Monday November 20.

and can be found on a web page set up by the local authority.


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