My Corrupt Council - Neath Port Talbot Council Corruption

This corruption coalition centres around information and a document submitted to Neath Port Talbot and Glynneath Town Councillors in relation to a planning application 2020/0195 at Heol y Glyn in Glynneath. Detailed research into the history of the development by a local residents group had identified that the land was identified as contaminated in 2008. Initial enquiries by the residents group to the planning department representative Steve Ball met with deceit and a refusal to provide information. NPT councillors subsequently refused to ask the planning department on behalf of the group who were left without answers to the question.

"What happened to the identified contamination in 2008"

In search of the answer to this question the group escalated their enquiries to the Council Leader Rob Jones and at the first mention of a breach of the 1990 Environmental Protection Act the council leader refused to answer the question and referred them to the Ombudsman based upon the identification of planning department deception. The group refused to complain and continued to pursue information fro the planning department and local councillors, all of whom refused to supply it..

Based upon the history of the site which can be seen in the video Cuddy Tipping Habits, and several reports of serious health issues in the area the residents group further investigated the site history based upon the information available on local and national government websites.

The investigation concluded that when the contamination was identified, the information was withdrawn from the planning process itself and the land was redefined as 'brownfield' by the developer. Full details of this process can be found on the document in question. CLICK HERE. What should have happened is that the planning department should have passed on the information to the Contaminated Land Officer and conditions should have been written into development plan to remediate the land or it should have been tested further. This information was provided to the planning department prior to the planning meeting on 8 September 2020.

This information should then have been presented to the planning committee on behalf of the residents by the planning department however, when the planning meeting agenda was published the residents group identified that it was missing.

A draft report was commissioned by the residents for late submission to the planning committee for consideration at the meeting. This report was also submitted to the local county councillors Del Morgan and Simon Knoyle.

		The report title "Council of Death" refers to the seriousness of our concerns. If the findings of the report were not disproven then the Neath Port Talbot Council had placed the lives of Glynneath residents at additional risk of death or serious ill health for the last 12 years. (2008-2020). Because of the time contraints in submitting the report it was decided to submit it in draft format to the Neath Port Talbot Council Planning Committee with the opportunity to provide counter evidence prior to a final version being published.
		Zoom in to conclusion
		It is over 6 months since Neath Port Talbot Council have been in possession of this report and they have failed to acknowledge the existence of the report or its contents let alone make an attempt to disprove it. Neath Port Talbot Councillors have gone to great lengths to avoid discussing its contents. This includes potentially holding an illegal planning meeting prior to the official meeting featured in this video.
		If we refer to the following submission by the Pollutuion Officer in this meeting we will see that he confirms our analysis that the land should have been tested further when he states that "The site investigation in 2008 which was limited sampling, quite shallow sampling" he goes on to state that the 2019 sampling was also inefficient and he his recommendations were a complete testing of the site to fully 'catagorize' it for human health issues. The admission that the testing in 2008 was insufficient by the Neath Port Talbot Council Pollution Officer is clear evidence that the Neath Port Talbot Council broke the 1990 Environmental Protection Act in 2010 because even though the testing was insufficient it was detailed enough to identify the land as contaminated and a series of measures were suggested to clean up the land and prevent further harm to neighbouring residents. The land had already been defined as a risk to 'human health and there should have been further investigation to identify whether of not it is a special site. Futher information about why the land should have been investigated in 2008 as a 'special site' can be found in the following video. GLYNNEATH CONTAMINATION - NEATH-PORT TALBOT COUNCIL COVER-UP - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT BREACH - CLICK HERE - ( https://youtu.be/OcqDYTulk8s )
		To summarise, the problem exists because what happened in the the planning committee meeting of 8 September 2020 should have happened in the planning committee meeting of June 2010. Of note is that the potential culprit for hiding the contamination, Russell Borthwick was a spectator at the meeting. This is the only time we have come across Mr Borthwick in the complete planning process.

		The following Neath Port Talbot Council staff or elected representatives in this video have been identified as having undertaken corrupt actions in their role as a Neath Port Talbot Council representative. They have all failed to observe the purpose of the Neath Port Talbot which is: "The Neath Port Talbot Council exists to serve and represent the interests of its citizens and communities. We strive to improve the economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being of all of our people." The purpose places in them a duty of care to ensure that the health of the citizens of East Glynneath has not been affected by the identified historical malpractice of the council planning department.
	STEVE BALL PLANNING DEPARTMENT	The root cause of the problem is planning department negligence in 2005 when they approved the original Cuddy plans prior to identifying the suitability of the land for housing. The Cuddy Group it would seem had no intention of building houses on the site, the planning application was the cover for the importation of thousands of tons of industrial waste. The key figure in this current corruption coalition is Steve Ball who has continually used methods of deception to avoid giving truthful answers to relevant questions relating to the identified contamination in 2008 and then blocked any further queries. He has worked closely with Simon Knoyle and Del Morgan to force through this application despite other obvious potential problems such as flooding. We see evidence of this at ?? in the planning meeting.
	STEVE BALL PLANNING DEPARTMENT
	SIMON KNOYLE GLYNNEATH COUNCILLOR
	DEL MORGAN GLYNNEATH COUNCILLOR
	ROB JONES FORMER COUNCIL LEADER	Council Leader - Councillor Rob Jones
	CERI MORRIS HEAD OF PLANNING
	NICOLA PEARCE FORMER HEAD OF PLANNING
	CRAIG GRIFFITHS HEAD OF LEGAL SERVICES
		Councillor Suzanne Paddison (Chair) - 249 Western Avenue, Sandfields, Port Talbot, SA12 7NF. - Phone: 01639 760473 - Mobile: 07891 054074 ward
		Councillor Sean Pursey (Vice Chair) - 22 St Pauls Road, Port Talbot, SA12 6PG - Mobile: 07865 355970
		Councillor Christopher John Jones, 62 Ynys-Y-Mond, Alltwen, Pontardawe, SA8 3BA, Mobile: 07968 786699
		Councillor Dennis Keogh, 35 Wern Road, Port Talbot, SA13 2BD, Mobile: 07967 897072
		Councillor Rhidian Mizen, 11 Heol Crwys, Cwmafan, Port Talbot, SA12 9NT, Mobile: 07813 711212
		Councillor Scott Bamsey, 7 Wilden Avenue, Port Talbot, SA13 2HS, Mobile: 07478 432532
		Councillor Rosalyn Davies, 102 Heol Cilmaengwyn, Cilmaengwyn, Pontardawe, Swansea, SA8 4QN, Phone: 01792 862447, Mobile: 07989 661280
		Councillor Steve K.Hunt, 153 Dulais Road, Seven Sisters, Neath, SA10 9EY, Phone: 01639 700063, Mobile: 07850 429957
		Councillor Annette Wingrave (UDP Member (Non-voting)), 9 Pretyman Drive, Llandarcy, Neath, SA10 6HZ, Phone: 01792 812857, Mobile: 07757 949143,
		Councillor Arwyn N.Woolcock, 8 Barry Road, Lower Brynamman, Ammanford, SA18 1TU, Phone: 01269 825767, Mobile: 07977 588282
		Councillor Chris Williams
		Councillor Susanne Renkes, 65 Pentyla, Baglan Road, Baglan, Port Talbot, SA12 8DR, Phone: 01639 897818, Mobile: 07932 377022
		Councillor Mark Protheroe, 64 Harle Street, Neath, SA11 3DL, Phone: 01639 769231

	SIMON KNOYLE GLYNNEATH TOWN COUNCILLOR
	DEL MORGAN GLYNNEATH TOWN COUNCILLOR
	STEVE EVANS GLYNNEATH TOWN COUNCILLOR
	JENNIFER ROBERTS GLYNNEATH TOWN COUNCILLOR
	HAULWEN MORGAN GLYNNEATH TOWN COUNCILLOR
	CAROLYN EDWARDS GLYNNEATH TOWN COUNCILLOR
	RICHARD KNOYLE GLYNNEATH TOWN COUNCILLOR
	SHANE McMENEMIN GLYNNEATH TOWN COUNCILLOR
	MARIE POWELL GLYNNEATH TOWN COUNCILLOR
	JOHN EVANS GLYNNEATH TOWN COUNCILLOR
	JANET COLLINS GLYNNEATH TOWN COUNCILLOR
	GLYNNEATH TOWN COUNCILLOR
	GLYNNEATH TOWN COUNCILLOR

	STEVE BALL PLANNING DEPARTMENT	Steve Ball is the root cause of the problem, he has continually used methods of deception to avoid giving truthful answers to relevant questions relating to the identified contamination in 2008. He has worked closely with Simon Knoyle and Del Morgan to cover up the potential breach of the EPA in 1990 and to force through this application despite .
	SIMON KNOYLE GLYNNEATH COUNCILLOR	With planning application 2020/0195 there were 40 properties surrounding the site that objected to the development. The only resident bordering the site in support of the development was Councillor Del Morgan. Councillor Knoyle refused to ask relevant questions of the planning officer even though he was in regular contact with him. It can be seen that Simon Knoyle was in contact with the developer, fully supporting him. It must be accepted that his purpose for this is to further his business SAK Consulting which is a construction industry consultancy. He was made aware in April 2020 of the potential breach of the 1990 EPA and he has refused to undertake due diligence with respect to the report he received prior to the planning meeting in September 2020.
	DEL MORGAN GLYNNEATH COUNCILLOR	With planning application 2020/0195 there were 40 properties surrounding the site that objected to the development. The only resident bordering the site in support of the development was Councillor Del Morgan. Councillor Morgan has refused to undertake due diligence with respect to the report he received prior to the planning meeting in September 2020.