A Caerphilly councillor has been nominated to represent the authority on the body responsible for scrutinising the £1.2 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal.
Cllr John Ridgewell, who represents the Ynysddu ward for Labour, will sit on the regional joint overview and scrutiny committee, which will be hosted by Bridgend council.
The City Deal is made up of ten local authorities in the South East Wales area, the Welsh Government and UK Government. It aims to deliver greater economic growth in the region through developing skills and employment opportunities, technological innovation, greater connections within regional authorities, and improved regeneration and infrastructure.
A meeting of Caerphilly’s full council heard from its leader, Cllr David Poole, that progress was being made between the partnering authorities.
Cllr Poole said: “Since this authority and the other nine authorities agreed an outline business case, a momentum is starting in the activities of the City Deal.
“More and more decisions are being made that has effects on this council and this county.”
Cllr Poole confirmed the nomination of Cllr Ridgewell along with the selection of Plaid Cymru councillor Colin Elsbury as a substitute representative.
The decision to nominate two candidates from different parties was made despite there being no requirement for political balance on the joint overview and scrutiny committee.
Cllr Robert Gough, who represents the Llanbradach ward for Plaid Cymru, argued that the lack of such a requirement caused a “missed opportunity” for the council.
Cllr Gough said: “This is a major project that covers the whole of the south east Wales region.
“It’s a bit sad really. We’ve got a Plaid [representative] as a standby but there was an opportunity here to make sure everybody would have been included in the process at some level and that would encourage them to buy-in and be supportive of the project.”
The meeting also heard that the council would not be paying a senior salary to Cllr Ridgewell should he be made chair of the joint committee.