Leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council, Cllr Lindsay Whittle launched the new Community Planning website at the recent Community Planning Conference. The event saw nearly 100 people from voluntary groups, the council, health board, police and other organisations come together at the Oasis Centre in Blackwood for the conference hosted by the voluntary sector.
The Community Planning Website brings together all the information about Caerphilly’s Community Strategy and the work of the Local Service Board into one place. It provides information about each of the themes of the community strategy, achievements to date and future plans. You will be able to look at background documents and publications and the site will also link you to the work of our community planning partners. You will also be able to access two of our Local Service Board projects “Infobase Caerphilly” providing statistical information about the county borough; and “Caerphilly Asks, Caerphilly Listens” – the consultation database from the website.
Cllr Whittle said “There is a lot of good work going on in communities and across the county borough through our partnerships that we need to recognise and promote. As a result, we have developed the Community Planning website which I am pleased to be able to formally launch today. The website will enable us to track our progress towards meeting the objectives we have set for ourselves. I’m delighted that this website will be a source of information and point of contact.”
The conference theme looked at the current financial situation and asked members to discuss how they could work in partnership to ensure that services provided to residents of the county borough could be maintained through difficult times ahead.
Members heard presentations from Wales Council for Voluntary Action on involving citizens in changing the way services are provided and from Caerphilly Citizens Advice Bureau on the changes the organisation has gone through in the last 10 years to enable it to survive and grow. Voluntary organisations were also given some good advice on managing their finances in tough times by a specialist from chartered accountants Watts Gregory.
