Here's the latest Argus column by Caerphilly Council leader Cllr David Poole:

I WROTE my last column only a couple of days after the council had approved the 2019/20 budget and it focused very much on the severity and extent of the savings we were forced to make yet again this year in order to deliver a balanced budget in the face of ongoing financial pressures.

I lead this column with a very similar message.

During that budget setting process, you’ll recall that we were able to take a number of the savings proposals off the table having listened to our residents through the budget consultation and also having secured some additional funding from Welsh Government.

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Unfortunately though, while we were able to take some of the savings off the table for the moment, this wasn’t the case with all of them, and so over the coming weeks, readers will start to see the things we weren’t able to take off the table start to come into force.

By that I mean things like the reluctant closure of five council run toilets in towns across the area, an extra day a week closure at some of our Household Waste Recycling Centres, the implementation of charges for bulky household waste collections and a small increase in car parking charges in our pay and display car parks.

None of us went into politics and public service to make cuts to our council services. Far from it.

However the fact of the matter is that unfortunately, we’re faced with having to make what are inevitably some difficult and unpopular decisions due to the huge ongoing pressures being placed on the council’s budgets.

We’ll of course continue to do all we possibly can to protect our frontline services and protect our communities despite these unprecedented financial pressures. Unfortunately though, it is inevitable that some non-statutory services like the ones I’ve highlighted above, and others, will be impacted by the scale of the savings that we’re required to deliver.

In other news, the council will take over Civil Parking Enforcement duties from Gwent Police from April 8. From this date, our civil enforcement officers will undertake enforcement duties in towns and villages across our area, and if a vehicle is found to be parked unlawfully, they will have the power to issue a Penalty Charge Notice.

The new measures will allow us target our resources to focus on the interests of our residents, businesses and local transport operators by focusing on residential and town centre parking, and the abuse of specific types of parking such as disabled parking bays, loading bays, bus stops and double yellow lines.

Finally, last week I had the absolute pleasure of visiting our annual Six Nations disability rugby event at the Centre for Sporting Excellence in Ystrad Mynach, which saw over 350 young people from across the region have the opportunity to experience the thrills of rugby, while developing new skills and making new friends.

Now in its 14th year, the event continues to grow in size and popularity, and I must thank everyone involved including our own Sport and Leisure Service, sponsors AJM Embroidery, Trinity Fields School and the many others who are involved in planning the event.

Seeing the young people having fun and their confidence levels increasing throughout the day really was inspirational – well done to all involved.