News

Committee embarrassed by senior’s applications

Published

8 years ago

March 8, 2016

County Hall

PEMBROKESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL’s leader has not been given permission to speak or vote on a notice of motion that he has submitted to Thursday’s full council meeting.

Councillor Jamie Adams’ question relates to Bovine Tuberculosis and he had appealed to the Standards Committee to be able to speak and vote on the matter.

However, Cllr Adams simply submitted a form stating that the reasoning behind his application would be provided at the Standards Committee that met on Monday, March 7.

The Chairman of the committee, Mr David Morgan, said that he was embarrassed and disappointed by the situation and it was agreed that the application from Cllr Adams should not be discussed.

The ruling from the committee meant that two other similarly sparse applications from Cllr Tom Richards and Cllr Owen James were also not dealt with.

The Committee has been in a trial period over a new model for applications for dispensation and it was agreed that there was a grey area in the cross-over between the old and new model.

Mr David Morgan told the committee: “I appreciate that this has been the subject of much debate recently and we are very grateful to Claire for producing the new procedure and setting out what is to happen in the future.

“We are in between the time when people put in an application which served everybody reasonably well for a period of time and then we allowed people to come and present their case before the procedure was formally adopted.

“During that time, the quality of these applications has got increasingly worse and so it has been more or more difficult to try and work out what the applicant is actually wanting even if he does appear in person.

“I think we have now got to the point, particularly in respect of those applications where people say they’ll be turning up on the day, that we should not, I personally would have great difficulty in considering applications of that sort.

“Our job is to try and help the process of approving a dispensation but if we have got absolutely no opportunity to consider these things in advance it would be extremely difficult for us to give a reasonable answer.

“I also feel that the people presenting these applications, saying they will come on the day, are extremely senior councillors who would probably not tolerate that kind of behaviour if we went to their meeting and did the same. I hope that these applications can be re-submitted very quickly.”

The Council’s Monitoring Officer, Mrs Claire Jones added: “There has been a big period of transition for this committee.

“The recommendation in my report did give perhaps the room for manoeuvre for members to believe that there was an alternative that either you filled in the form or came to this committee.

“I absolutely take the point that applications that give no information aren’t helpful, it does not give you the opportunity to prepare but there is a dilemma as to whether or not they needed to fill in the form as well as attending in person.

“It is very clear to members from today that they do need to fill in the application form in great detail otherwise it will be rejected.”

Community Councillor George Allingham said: “It might have become a grey area but for a long time there has been a necessity to fill out the form.

“The information from Cllr Adams is dated February 23 which is 13 days ago so this could have been completed properly in adequate time.”

Mr Morgan also said: “One of the applications we are considering is from one of the members of our committee (Cllr Tom Richards) who is well aware of how we got to this point.

“It puts me in great difficulty and some embarrassment and disappointment that we are faced with this situation.

“I am extremely sorry that there is a council meeting coming up but I still think the principle that we are the Standards Committee and we really ought to set our own standards in that respect and I think proper behaviour and good manners are very much a part of that.”

The committee agreed that the applications should not be considered and Mr Morgan also apologised to the leader for coming to the conclusion they had.

News

Welsh Lib Dems urge First Minister to return dodgy donation

Published

3 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THIS week in the Senedd, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have urged the First Minister to return the £200,000 donation he received from a company linked to environmental crimes.

Speaking to the Senedd on Wednesday, party leader Jane Dodds MS urged FM Vaughan Gething to return money donated to his campaign by Dauson Environmental, a refuse and recycling business owned by David John Neal.

Mr Neal received a 3-month suspended prison sentence in 2013 for illegally dumping waste at a conservation site on the Gwent levels.

His companies Atlantic Recycling and Neal Soil Suppliers were also prosecuted and given fines and costs of £202,000.

Then in 2017, Mr Neal was given another suspended sentence of 18 weeks, with fines and costs of £230,000 after failing to remove the waste.

The Welsh Lib Dems have called on the FM to return the donation, as part of wider calls for a shift away from the influence of “big money” in Welsh politics.

Commenting, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said:

“This entire episode has casted a dark shadow upon Welsh democracy and has rightfully led to many questioning the integrity of Vaughan Gething’s leadership campaign and the way our democracy works here in Wales.

Unfortunately for many of us this is hardly surprising, as our political system has been broken for quite some time now.

A system that empowers the elite donor class whilst simultaneously shutting out the voice of the voter is a perversion of democracy itself.

This is why our wider goal must be to remove the influence of ‘big money’ from Welsh politics once and for all.

We cannot have another government that prioritises the interests of its financial benefactors over those of the Welsh people.

We need to take a firm stance in rooting out the influence of cash in Welsh politics, for the sake of our communities we must start prioritising their interests and needs instead of having more self-serving politicians.”

News

Council seeking legal advice to address Withyhedge enforcement

Published

3 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Tom Sinclair

PEMBROKESHIRE County Council says it has sought legal advice and is contemplating legal proceedings against Withyhedge Landfill operators RML, in regards to the ongoing odour issues at the site.

The Council intends to ask the Court for an injunction requiring RML to abate the public nuisance odour arising from the landfill. Failure to comply with the injunction would be contempt of court, which carries a penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment and unlimited fine.

Following significant work undertaken by RML the Authority is disappointed that the problem has not been resolved and residents continue to be impacted by the odour.

Working in collaboration with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Public Health Wales (PHW), we fully appreciate that the communities affected cannot tolerate this any longer.

NRW announced that the first set of deadlines for the completion of actions to tackle the ongoing odour issues at Withyhedge Landfill have been met, one week on following the issuing of further enforcement action on 18th April.

This will be closely monitored by NRW to ensure the operator complies with all the actions set out in Notice by 14 May.

It was deemed appropriate to wait until the operator had carried out mitigation to comply with the enforcement requirements by NRW prior to considering this additional action.

To that end, on 26th April 2024, the Council served RML with a letter of claim and invited them to give legally binding undertakings to abate the odour nuisance or face legal proceedings. The Council also asked for disclosure of documents relevant to the proceedings, including records of waste brought in or removed from the landfill.

The Council has given RML until 14th May 2024 to respond to its letter of claim. This aligns with the current deadline set by NRW under its enforcement notice.

Pembrokeshire County Council Chief Executive Will Bramble welcomed the move. He said: “We are extremely disappointed that RML has not delivered the necessary action to stop the completely unacceptable smells from the site.

“We fully support the additional enforcement action being taken by NRW and continue to work closely with them to do all in our power to correct the situation.

“Our intention to ask the Court for an injunction requiring RML to stop the odour nuisance arising from the landfill, is another part of our collaborative approach. The smell from Withyhedge is having a major impact on residents and visitors. This situation has gone on too long and it is unacceptable.”

News

Beautiful, funny and lovely: Family pay tribute to Sian Batchelor

Published

6 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE family of a woman has paid tribute to a “beautiful, funny, lovely person.”

Sian Batchelor, aged 32, was found on a beach near Pennar, Pembroke Dock on Tuesday evening, April 30^th, 2024.

Her family has issued a statement to say: ‘We are devastated by our loss. Sian was a beautiful, funny, loving person. We will treasure the good times we had with her.

“We would now like time to grieve and would ask to be given privacy in which to do so.”

The circumstances surrounding Sian’s death are being investigated and police would like to hear from anyone with information, sightings of Sian or contact from Sian, between Thursday April 25 to Tuesday April 30.

Police can be contacted either online at: https://bit.ly/DPPContactOnline, by emailing [email protected], or by calling 101. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired text the non-emergency number on 07811 311 908.

Quote reference: DP-20240430-284