A RESIDENTS action group has been set up to resist proposed council tax hikes and service cuts in Ceredigion.
The Ceredigion Residents Action Group aims to unite people and provide a voice against a planned 13.9 per cent council tax hike in the county from April, along with a string of service cuts and the introduction of parking fees along Aberystwyth's promenade.
The group says its aim in short is 'no more moaning, time to stand up and be counted!'
Explaining the reasons behind setting up the group, one of the organisers told the Cambrian News: "Of course we have some decent people as councillors, but usually Plaid can win on a small percentage of the vote and none seem willing to challenge the establishment in the council.
"We are all fed up and feel unrepresented.
"From there, I’ve been in discussions with various people in the community and small groups who feel totally powerless to change things.
"They aren’t necessarily politically-engaged or want to get involved in fronting up issues, but they would if they thought that the rest of us would actually do something to support them.
"I’m as guilty as anyone of moaning on Facebook, then doing nothing about it.
"Anyway, after discussing it for a few months, this is the first step to getting people of all parties/political persuasions together to organise a proper resistance to the continuing failings of Ceredigion County Council.
"It’s explicitly non-party and has no party links.
"It is for concerned residents to come together to demand better from our councillors and proper scrutiny of the senior council management.
"Initially, we’d like to build up a head of steam (social media engagement, start petitions etc) before moving towards in-person protests against, for instance, the proposed council tax rises.
"It is as much about asking the councillors, many of whom have been there for far too long and take the voters for granted, to explain how they are serving the public.
"Are they providing effective scrutiny? Or is it a cosy club in which no one dares upset the apple cart? The opposition parties in Ceredigion are floundering and not providing a message that the residents can rally around.
"This is a step towards giving that forum to the public and to put something in place to organise.
"This is a community endeavour and I’ve just taken on the social media side of things, with others ready to help out as we go forward. In short, no more moaning, time to stand up and be counted!"
In an open letter, council leader, Bryan Davies, blamed Cardiff Bay and said if they local authority doesn’t balance the books, the Welsh Government would ‘take over the running of our services’.
The group can be found here.
Tax rises and service cuts
Rises planned for 2024/25
- Council tax up by 13.9%
- Second homes premium for council tax up to 100%
- Car parking up by at least 10%
- Introducing parking fees along Aberystwyth promenade which would bring in an estimated £400,000
- Introducing fees at Ceredigion Museum to bring in an estimated £60,000
- Increase fees at public toilets by 33.3 per cent
- Harbour fees to rise by at least 25% to bring in estimated £75,000
- Cost of temporary road closures for events to rise by 8%
- Cost of black waste bags and green garden waste bags to rise by 10% and 11.1%
- Cost of trade waste bags to rise by 93%, with collection charges rising by 80%
- Cost of some activities at leisure centres in the county to rise by as much as 18%
- All other services to see an inflation-linked increase of around 7%
Cuts planned for 2024/25
- Community Grants Scheme budget halved from £200,000 to £100,000
- Carers Sitting Service budget to reduce from £255,000 to £150,000
- Meals at Home service to be ceased
- Scrapping £30,000 of support to Aberystwyth Arts Centre and £14,000 to Theatr Mwldan
- Community Warden Service scrapped to save £64,000
- Co-location of libraries with other council services to save £70,000
- Cease additional Libraries support for schools to save £46,000
- Reducing Mobile Library Service to two vehicles to save £70,000
- Future Day Services and respited designed at lower cost to save £500,000
- Closure of public toilets or handing them to community councils to save £100,000
- Automatic streetlight dimming to save £35,000
- Community Glass Banks to be replaced to save £40,000
- Limiting the number of black bags collected at each household to save £25,000
- Stop producing waste calendars to save £20,000
- Ceasing AHP (nappies) collection service to save £25,000
- Reduction in winter gritting to save £25,000
- Stop undertaking seasonal street cleaning or transfer to community councils to save £32,000
- Closure of one household waste site in the county and review opening hours of others to save £100,000