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Opinion

The Welsh council where democracy goes to die

19 Oct 2024 5 minute read
Llancaiach Fawr Manor House

Rhys Mills

If you’re wondering how democracy starts slipping through the cracks like loose change down the back of your sofa, look no further than Caerphilly County Borough Council.

Labour’s been running the show there for a while, but it seems they’ve developed a serious case of selective deafness, especially when it comes to the people they’re supposed to be serving.

The latest farce involves Llancaiach Fawr Manor and Blackwood Miners’ Institute – two cherished local landmarks that the Council proposed cutting or changing.

So, in a move that could only be described as “tokenistic at best,” they launched public consultations. Cue residents, community groups, and even their own scrutiny committee flooding in with feedback.

Ignored

And the feedback? “Find a way to save them.” The message couldn’t have been clearer if it was written in 20 foot letters across the Sirhowy Valley – That is, if they weren’t building that incinerator there.

So, naturally, the Labour Cabinet did what any reasonable council would do – They completely ignored it.

That’s right, public consultation? Ignored. Scrutiny committee? Ignored. It’s like they asked for everyone’s opinion and then chucked it into the recycling bin with last month’s pizza flyers.

Discarded

They might as well have put out an automated message saying, “Thank you for your feedback, it will be discarded shortly.”

This is exactly the sort of behaviour that turns people into disengaged, eye rolling cynics.

If you can’t even trust your local council to listen to the people it represents, then what’s the point?

It’s a masterclass in how to make people stop caring about democracy altogether.

But there’s a darker side to this kind of idiocy. This is exactly how you create the perfect conditions for a certain type of populist to crawl out from under their rock.

You know the sort, the professional complainers who never actually have to do anything but shout from the side lines.

Imagine a bloke in a shiny suit that doesn’t quite fit, hunched over a smartphone, ranting about “the will of the people” on his latest Facebook Live.

Opportunistic

These characters thrive on the gap between what politicians promise and what they actually do, like opportunistic weeds growing in the cracks of a crumbling pavement.

They love this kind of chaos. Why? Because they’ve never had to make an actual decision in their lives.

Their whole career revolves around throwing tomatoes from the cheap seats and stirring up as much outrage as possible.

It’s all about the optics – getting their names in the paper, posting angry videos about potholes on social media, and acting like they alone have the magic solution.

Spoiler: they don’t. They wouldn’t know policy from a packet of crisps. But they don’t have to. They just need to shout “betrayal!” loud enough for it to echo through social media, and suddenly, people are paying attention.

And thanks to the Labour Party’s knack for bungling their own consultation process (see the one they ignored on leisure provision), the door is wide open for these populist wind machines.

You can practically hear them sharpening their pitchforks now. All they have to do is point to the Council’s ineptitude and say, “Look! They’re not listening to you!”

With their decisions on Llancaiach Fawr Manor and Blackwood Miners’ Institute, Caerphilly Council has handed a gift wrapped present to them on a silver platter.

Voice

Ignoring the public’s voice in decisions about community heritage isn’t just short sighted, it’s the perfect way to lose the trust of the very people you rely on for votes.

And when you lose that trust, you create a vacuum, one that populists are all too eager to fill with their superficial and sometimes dangerous rhetoric.

The Labour Party in Caerphilly needs to take a good, hard look at what they’re doing here.

Ignoring consultations and expert advice is more than just bad optics, it’s a guaranteed way to let political apathy fester. And once that apathy takes root, bad faith actors can swoop in.

There’s a more sinister populist at the door this time, not just the local plucky lot we’re used to. These come armed with private money and a charismatic national leader who’s really good at persuading members of the public to vote against their own interests.

We must all leave our politics at the door and fight these cuts with everything we have.

I care about my community, and I’m not giving up on it, even if the Labour Party has.

Rhys Mills is a Plaid Cymru councillor and Mayor of Blackwood


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Annibendod
Annibendod
4 hours ago

Welsh Labour ignoring public consultations? Ask anyone working in education about that … “Carry on regardless” should be their motto.

Neil Anderson
Neil Anderson
4 hours ago

They said, won’t it be good when there are Labour governments in London as well as Cardiff? They said, Wales can only prosper with a sympathetic ear in London. They said, two governments working in harmony will be good for us. They said, finally there will be justice, fairness, even ‘levelling up’. But there was only the silence of compliance and complicity. We are learning the lesson. They have not. They have not listened. And will not. Oh, Brave New World of hyper-industrialisation. Thanks for the blue hydrogen, but we wanted green. Thanks for the nuclear energy, but we wanted… Read more »

Adrian
Adrian
4 hours ago

So Mr Mills is making the sweeping generalisation that anyone who jumps into this farce and claims to be able manage such situations better is a sinister populist….but that somehow excludes Plaid Cymru.

Ernie The Smallholder
Ernie The Smallholder
14 minutes ago
Reply to  Adrian

The difference is Plaid Cymru is organised in Cymru Wales.
Plaid Cymru policies are made in Cymru Wales for the people of Cymru Wales

Those ‘sinister populists’ referred to are mostly from outside our country: They want to close down our Senedd and any hope for a democracy in Cymru.

Unfortunately, Caerphilly has put themselves in that position by voting for a party into power with UK party policies made outside Cymru Wales.

Nothing ever good for Wales comes from the UK system.
This is why we need our freedom as a free nation.

Last edited 10 minutes ago by Ernie The Smallholder
Mab Meirion
Mab Meirion
4 hours ago

We live in ‘Gang Land’, always have, sometimes it’s your gang but mostly it is their gang…

Erisian
Erisian
3 hours ago

Vote Plaid Cymru – the answer’s in the name.
They care about our people, our land and our traditions.

Martyn Vaughan
Martyn Vaughan
3 hours ago

Voting the incumbents out would be a good start. But reform of a) Local Government funding and b) Local Government electoral systems would be the best possible way of getting rid of this kind of rolling disaster.

Howie
Howie
2 hours ago
Reply to  Martyn Vaughan

Different voting rejected by Powys councillors although 60% of consultation wanted change.

Ernie The Smallholder
Ernie The Smallholder
8 minutes ago
Reply to  Howie

Labour and Conservative working against the people AGAIN !

Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards
2 hours ago

OK, Mr.Mayor – what is your solution, which CBC can’t find?

Howie
Howie
2 hours ago

I can remember when I worked for one of the predecessor districts of Caerphilly, Rhymney Valley DC, the Labour hegemony was already baked in. Moving to Caerphilly CBC it was just reinforced. A number of senior officers would fall over backwards to do the bidding of Labour members, which when they retired allowed them to slot in to Caerphilly as elected members. This continued until a short period of Plaid control, but got back on track with re-election of Labour control. From what I have seen since I left there in 2005 it has been business as usual never mind… Read more »

Amir
Amir
1 hour ago

If they were building a gasification incinerator (not really an incinerator) that leaves no ash behind and very little emissions such that the chimney is at ground floor level, then please go ahead. Very , very unlikely though. If they are building an incinerator like we have in Cardiff, then that is very irresponsible and abhorrent. We are going from landfill to airfill.

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