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Islwyn Senedd Member Rhianon Passmore is the latest Labour figure to voice her concerns over the planned closure of Blackwood Miners’ Institute and the council’s Meals Direct service.

In a letter to the council’s deputy chief executive Dave Street, who is standing in for the absent Christina Harrhy, Ms Passmore wrote: “Blackwood Miners’ Institute is a much loved community venue. It speaks to the very fabric of the Welsh way of life. It links our past with our present and must be maintained for future generations.

“Islwyn’s proud mining and industrial heritage is represented by the Blackwood Miners’ Institute. The cultural imperative of such a facility can be seen by similar Islwyn institutions that have been saved for the nation. My constituency office sits proudly in the restored Newbridge Memorial Hall. Whilst at the St Fagan’s National History Museum the Oakdale Working Men’s Institute is located to celebrate the importance of ‘Stutes’ as they were known throughout South Wales.

“I urge Caerphilly County Borough Council to maintain the subsidy and begin the exploration of detailed discussions with interested parties about how the facility could be run in the future.

“I urge Caerphilly County Borough Council to instigate urgent discussions with Welsh Government cultural officials and with the Arts Council of Wales to seek a way forward.”

Her intervention follows that of former Islwyn MP and Labour leader Lord Kinnock who earlier this year wrote to Labour council leader Sean Morgan stating his opposition.

In his letter he said: “The Greater Blackwood Masterplan of April 2024 appears to appreciate the value of the Institute to the community and proposes expansion and diversification of the uses of the building in ways that would guarantee its future as a vital facility.

“That, surely, is a rational and productive approach to this irreplaceable local asset, especially at a time when feelings of neglect and abandonment are not uncommon among the people of industrial South Wales.”

Newport West and Islwyn MP Ruth Jones, who was elected in July, has also expressed her views on the proposals to “mothball”.

In a letter to Cllr Morgan, penned in August, she wrote: “I hope the council will really listen to the community on this issue and give time to process the feedback.”

Consultation on the planned closure ended on September 10.

Tudor manor Llancaiach Fawr, near Nelson, is also facing the axe. It currently receives a £485,000 council subsidy each year, and employs 20 members of staff and another 14 “casual officers”.

Blackwood Miners’ Institute, a cultural venue, is subsidised to the tune of £347,000 a year by the council, and employs 12 members of staff and 19 “casual officers”.

Both will close at the end of December 2024 if the council’s cost-cutting proposals are approved.

Meals Direct “a fundamental service for many”

In a separate letter opposing the scrapping of the council’s ‘Meals on Wheels’ service – which costs the authority £444,000, Senedd member Ms Passmore said: “Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Meals on Wheels Direct Service is a fundamental service for many. It also has wide scale public support. For the people of Islwyn the service graphically demonstrates the values and beliefs we want to see from a Labour-run council.”

“We need to explore all options and consider ways of doing things differently”

Speaking when the cuts were first announced, Cllr Sean Morgan, the leader of Caerphilly Council, said: “We can’t continue to run our services in the way we always have. We need to explore all options and consider ways of doing things differently.”

The council said it has to make another £45 million in savings over the next two years, on top of what it has been forced to save this year.

“I want to be honest with the community, because it is clear that the scale of savings means we need to make some very difficult decisions over the coming months,” Cllr Morgan added.