Cuts to services coupled with ever increasing bills are becoming the norm, with no sign of things improving on either front.

Be it Natural Resources Wales looking to close visitor centres, councils looking to close schools, care homes and up parking fees, to fewer buses, the squeeze is being felt in rural parts of the country more so than in the larger towns and cities.

Talking about the financial cliff edge Ceredigion County Council finds itself peering over, leader Cllr Bryan Davies, said that when he is “banging the drum for Ceredigion” in meetings with the Welsh Local Government Association he “gets branded by more urban leaders that I’m being racist against them.”

This was coupled with a claim by the council’s chief executive, Eifion Evans that “the dynamic across Wales is, at the moment, in my opinion – and I’m probably going to get a rap across the knuckles for saying this – a two-tiered funding model and urban-centric areas get far more generous settlement than rural areas.”

The truth is, we all need to bang the drum of our part of Wales far more loudly and make decision makers in Cardiff Bay notice rural counties and give us parity.

The people of Ceredigion will not stomach another double-digit tax rise next year and expect a certain level of service from the county council.

The same can be said for health services and the future of Tregaron Hospital, which will be discussed later this month.

We cannot be expected to pay more and more for less and less. It’s unsustainable.

A study last year showed that Ceredigion had the second highest rate of child poverty in Wales, with 30 per cent of youngsters living in poverty.

Further cuts will only exacerbate the problem.

While Ceredigion can point the finger at the Welsh Government, who will in turn blame the Barnett Formula and UK Government, the end result is we are being short-changed.

As Ceredigion chiefs have said, the Welsh Government has to acknowledge the unique challenges that rural areas face and not turn a blind eye.