Labour says we’re broke. So why do they keep giving away the very assets that could pay for our public services?
Every year we’re told the same story: there’s no money. Libraries are under pressure. Leisure services are cut back. Roads deteriorate. Community services are squeezed.
Then, when the council has the chance to create long-term income, it does the exact opposite.
Take Llancaiach Fawr.
For almost two years, one of Caerphilly’s greatest tourist attractions has sat closed, generating nothing. That’s two years of lost visitors, lost jobs and lost income.
Now we’re told a private operator is ready to take it on.
Which begs one simple question: if a private company believes Llancaiach Fawr can make money, why didn’t Labour?
Why wasn’t there the ambition to create a council-owned business that generated profits year after year—profits that could have been reinvested into our libraries, parks, roads and frontline services instead of leaving the borough?
Then there’s the Cwm Ifor Solar Farm.
Residents were promised a flagship green energy project that would create a long-term income stream for local communities. Instead, Labour sold it.
A quick cash injection may help today’s budget, but what about the next 20 or 30 years? The profits that should have belonged to the people of Caerphilly will now belong to someone else.
That’s not investment. That’s selling tomorrow to pay for today.
This is the difference between managing decline and planning for growth.
Public assets should be working for local people, generating income that protects services and reduces pressure on council tax—not being treated as opportunities to cash in and move on.
We need a council that thinks like an investor, not a liquidator.
Because every asset we give away is another opportunity lost. Every long-term income stream we fail to create means another excuse for cuts in the future.
The question isn’t whether private companies can make our assets profitable.
The question is why Labour never believed the council could.