Powys councillor cleared of wrongdoing over caravan pitches
- Published
David Price ran 28 pitches at his farm for many years when he was only allowed to have five
A councillor who faced complaints about the legality of caravan pitches on his land has been cleared of wrongdoing.
Former Powys planning chair David Price won permission last year to run 28 pitches at Noyadd Farm, Builth Wells.
But evidence showed he had been running 28 pitches for years when Caravan Club rules only allowed him five.
The Public Service Ombudsman for Wales has since cleared him of breaking the members' code of conduct.
Mr Price told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it had been a "dark and difficult time".
The complaint to the ombudsman, by Conservative member Gwilym Williams and Plaid Cymru's Elwyn Vaughan, followed a county council planning meeting in July 2018, where Mr Price, an independent, was granted a certificate of lawfulness for 28 pitches.
He made the application after rival caravan site owners accused him of flouting planning regulations.
Planning officers told the meeting an internal investigation found Mr Price had been running the site for too long to be subject to enforcement action.
Mr Price's counter-complaint against Mr Williams and Mr Vaughan, accusing them of harassment over the matter, was dropped by the ombudsman in May due to lack of evidence.
- Published24 July 2015
