A TOWN mayor has called on the community to come together to save local facilities in the face of likely cuts.

Mayor of Caldicot Alan Davies says council spending cuts are "the greatest threat to local facilities and services that we have experienced in modern times."

Monmouthshire County Council has said it needs to cut £9 million from its budget next year and has held a series of community meetings to discuss where savings could be made.

In his mid-term address to Caldicot Town Council, Cllr Davies said: "I am convinced that if we start to challenge ourselves and work together and in partnership with the local authority and others then we can ensure many of our vital facilities and services can be retained.

"We know that Caldicot Castle is being looked at closely by Monmouthshire County Council and the last thing any of us want is to have this or any facility fall into private hands or to disappear altogether.

"That would be a tragedy for our community and a betrayal of future generations.

"It has to be said that the (town) council cannot tackle on its own every issue that affects our community.

"Saving our local services will need input from the community itself."

He said there were people in the town who were passionate about the area and could bring valuable skills.

He added: "If we want to save our facilities and services we need to forget tribalism and old disputes, be prepared to change the way we do things, adopt a business-like approach, work with the county council and others to establish suitable solutions and we all need to be prepared to work together.

"If we aren't prepared to take up this challenge then we can start waving goodbye to many of the facilities and services we currently take for granted."

The council agreed to set up a group to look at the feasibility of taking over services as issues arose.