WITH the summer holidays in full swing, I hope families will enjoy the opportunity over the coming weeks to get out and enjoy all that the great outdoors have to offer.

Six of our sites - Morgan Jones Park, Ystrad Mynach Park, Brithdir Cemetery, Waunfawr Park, Parc Cwm Darran and Cwmcarn Forest have recently been awarded with the prestigious Green Flag status – the international mark of a quality park or green space. We’re very fortunate to have such high quality facilities on our doorstep.

On the subject of green spaces, I was so saddened to see the recent spate of grass fires at Twmbarlwm, Cwmcarn, Fochriw and Wattsville that our local fire crews had to tackle during the recent spell of hot weather.

The work of our colleagues at South Wales Fire and Rescue Service was recognised at a recent meeting of council, with all councillors unanimously wishing for their thanks to be passed on. The diligence, professionalism and efforts of the fire crews to limit damage on our outstanding natural environment and habitats are, I know, shared and very much appreciated by our residents.

Onto other matters, I’m really pleased that the council’s cabinet recently agreed to allocate £530,000 of savings to providing up to 23 apprenticeship opportunities across a range of council services. Apprenticeships are crucial in enabling people to obtain key skills and experience which can be used to secure long term employment and therefore help boost our economy. This scheme will also go some way to helping ensure that skills shortages are addressed to meet the future needs of the council.

I’m looking forward to seeing this programme come to fruition over the coming weeks and months.

Finally, residents may have spotted that the council headquarters Penallta House and Blackwood Miners’ Institute ‘turned yellow’ last week as a small token of our support and congratulations to recent Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas. It’s wonderful to see such sporting success for Wales, and I hope his successes will really help in further boosting both interest and participation in cycling as a sport across our area.