Out-of-court deal after councillor accused of taking water supply

Powys county councillor David Price was due to appear before Llandrindod Wells Magistrates Court on July 18.

He was charged with three offences, which centred around allegedly attaching a pipe to a service pipe that did not belong to him.

It is claimed the pipe supplied premises at Noyadd Farm in Builth Wells, where Councillor Price runs a caravan and camp site.

The offence was alleged to have happened over an 11-year period, between January 2006 and December 2017.

Other charges he was due to face included using a pipe illegally attached to a private supply pipe and failing to give notice to Dwy Cymru/Welsh Water of the intended installation of a water fitting.

Elaine Price, of the same address, was also due to appear in court on the same charges.

However, neither appeared in court on July 18 and the court was informed that the case had been discontinued.

A spokeswoman for Welsh Water said that a way of resolving the case was offered to the defendant and he took up the offer.

The spokeswoman said: “We offered a means of resolving the matter outside of the court process and, after giving the matter some thought, the offer was taken up by the defendant.”

Last month there were calls for the former chairman of planning, who is now the High Sheriff of Powys to resign, after he had flouted planning laws.

A planning committee heard how he had been running the caravan site without a certificate of lawfulness and under a licence he was only allowed to have five but 28 pitches had been filled at times.

One councillor told the committee that if it was a staff member, they would have been suspended pending an investigation.

A certificate of lawfulness was granted after it was passed by seven votes to three, but Councillor Elwyn Vaughan called for Councillor Price, who still sits on the planning committee, to step down.

Councillor Price has been contacted for comment but has not responded as yet.