Caerphilly County Borough Council has agreed to loan Bedwas Rugby Club an undisclosed amount of money to help the rugby club.
According to council papers, the rugby club now has a loan facility “to a maximum £200,000” with the loan repayable in monthly instalments for the next 15 years.
Bedwas RFC is now in the Welsh Premiership and the club needs to improve their facilities in line with the WRU requirements.
The club approached the council for help so that they can purchase the freehold of the ground and satisfy the requirements of Premiership status – including the building of a new stand.
Cllr Colin Mann, deputy leader of council said: “We are delighted to support Bedwas RFC as we recognise the club’s important role in the community and we look forward to the club progressing thanks to this investment. The council has provided financial support to other local rugby clubs in the past and we have seen positive results from this arrangement.”
Local ward councillor and cabinet member Cllr Ron Davies added: “Bedwas RFC is enjoying success on and off the field at the moment so we are keen to support the club to secure the future of top class rugby in the Rhymney Valley.”
Dave Cousins, Secretery of Bedwas RFC also welcomed the news and said: “We would like to thank the council for their ongoing support. We can now look to the future and build on our successes to date, whilst working to promote rugby in the local community and encourage participation through all our age groups.”
The authority agreed to provide the financial support at a meeting of Full Council on Thursday November 3.
Caerphilly council showed a complete disregard to the feelings of residents and switched off thousands of streetlights to save £180,000 a year.
Pensioners throughout the borough are terrified to go out at night because of this and for what? So the council can lend £200,000 to Bedwas’ failing rugby business. When did the council become a bank?
It’s perfectly clear the financial chiefs at the council have little regard for the public purse having lost millions of our money in Icelandic banks. At the start of the year, the council was telling residents it was facing £17million of cuts and the possibility of making up to 300 people redundant.
What kind of morally inept people are running our council? At a time when the council is cutting back on services and desperately trying to off-load all its social housing because it can’t afford to meet statutory standards, how does the council justify this? Of course, we don’t know – it wouldn’t let the press or public into the meeting. So much for clear and transparent decision-making. What are the councillors scared of? Why would a decision on such a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money be made behind closed doors?
If this was an historic sporting institution that brought investment in an area, it could possibility be justified. But if home support against Cross Keys recently is anything to go by, this decision will only benefit a very small handful people.
Remember this grotesque waste of taxpayers’ money in May.