Calls for caravan site councillor to resign

Councillor David Price, the former Powys County Council planning committee chair, was before the committee seeking a certificate of lawfulness for his caravan site at Noyadd Farm in Builth Wells.

The committee heard how the site had been running without a certificate for too long, and under a licence he was only allowed to have five, but 28 pitches had been filled at times.

Some councillors had called for his application to be sent to another authority to determine, however the council solicitor said that only the full council could send a decision to another county council.

One councillor told the committee that if it was a staff member, they would have been suspended pending an investigation. The certificate of lawfulness was passed by seven votes to three, but Councillor Elwyn Vaughan has called for Councillor Price, who still sits on the planning committee, to step down.

Frustrating

He said: “He should step aside from the planning committee rather than have a clash of interest of this nature all the time.

“I believe in transparency and openness and it’s imperative that councillors act likewise.

“The public are very dubious of councillors and public representatives and think that they are in it for themselves, it is frustrating therefore that a former chair of planning has not presented a planning application for activity that seems have been going on for at least 12 years.

“I’m not at all happy with the situation and it makes a mockery of the planning system.”

In response, Councillor Price said: “The caravan site was established by my parents before I was born. It operated under the legal advice that five caravans could be exceeded for up to 28 days per year. Upgrades to facilities have occurred over the past 50 years, and through evidence produced are now deemed lawful by the planning committee, due to their historic nature.”