Council urged to rethink heritage building closures
Emily Price
Two Senedd members have urged Caerphilly County Council to reconsider plans to withdraw support for two landmark heritage buildings.
Proposals by the local authority to help balance its budget could see Llancaiach Fawr Manor House and Blackwood Miners Institute mothballed by the end of the year.
Caerphilly Council says that in the face of huge financial challenges it’s had to make difficult decisions.
It currently provides a subsidy of £485,000 a year to run Llancaiach Fawr and £347,000 per year to the Miners Institute.
Llancaiach Fawr is a semi-fortified Tudor manor house on the outskirts of the village of Nelson.
The Grade 1 listed building – which is said to be haunted – has been restored and furnished as it would have been in 1645.
Visitors can step back in time as actors in 17th Century costume offer a window into the life of the Pritchard family who once lived there.
The house offers educational visits for school pupils and universities as well as ghost tours.
Vibrant
Blackwood Miners’ Institute is a multipurpose, professional performing arts centre said to be one of the busiest and most vibrant theatres in south Wales.
Caerphilly Council says it will explore options for both the facilities to be run in a different way in the future.
The authority also plans to axe its Meals Direct Service at the end of November, saving another £444,000 a year.
Plaid Cymru MSs Delyth Jewell and Peredur Owen Griffiths have written to Caerphilly Council Leader, Sean Morgan, asking him to rethink the proposed cuts.
The South Wales East MSs say the two cherished historical venues are cornerstones of the community that “simply must be saved.”
In a joint statement, Ms Jewell and Mr Griffiths said: “When it comes to Llancaiach Fawr, the council’s predecessor, Rhymney Valley District Council, had the foresight to save the manor house from possible oblivion.
“They brought it into public ownership in 1979, and since that time millions will have been spent restoring and maintaining it.
“It has been turned into a major tourist attraction which also helps to educate children from across the valleys about our history.
“All of that investment could come to nothing if it is closed and doesn’t reopen. It is a site which holds significance for the wider nation and our shared history, and we hope that discussions can be held to get support from outside the area, if necessary, to save it.”
Vulnerable
The Plaid Cymru Senedd members also say they are worried about the council’s plans to cut the Meals Direct Service which could exacerbate the isolation experienced by vulnerable elderly people living on their own.
They said: “In recent years, the council has been criticised for holding significant sums of money in reserves, and for spending high amounts to settle disputes with senior officers.
“Our local heritage cannot become collateral damage as a result – and neither can the services which vulnerable people rely on. We hope sincerely that support can be found to avoid these drastic cuts from taking place.”
Caerphilly County Council is currently running a six week public consultation on the proposals.
Ms Jewell and Mr Griffiths have requested that the consultation period is extended past the school holidays as many families may be away and unaware about the proposals.
Cllr Morgan 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.
“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.
“We have a duty to protect the public purse, so we will be looking at a range of savings options, particularly services that are subject to high subsidy, are non-statutory or can be delivered in a different way.
“I want to ensure that residents have a voice in this process, so there will be opportunities to get involved and have your say as we consider these options. It is vitally important that you engage in this process to help shape the way we deliver our services in future.”
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Put up the community charge. We have to get away from kidding ourselves we can run a modern, civilised country which takes care of its vulnerable, preserves its arts and heritage and not pay for it. It all has to be paid for. Simple as that.
The money to keep Llancaiach Fawr could easily be found if schools in Caerphilly used the Supply Teacher Framework as it was intended and were more observant on the agency booking fees that they paid .
Meanwhile, they’ve found £130,000 to train local librarians in ‘anti-racism’ – clue, it’s not what it pretends to be. They’re to be taught ‘critical whiteness studies’ as well as how to deal with problems such as the ‘dominant paradigm of whiteness’. They’ve also been encouraged not to hold meetings in ‘racist’ buildings.
It’s quite bewildering to me how so many of my countrymen & women are prepared to vote repeatedly for politicians who clearly have a screw loose. I can only conclude that the boiling frog analogy is at play.