Businessman told by council to halt excavation work by woodland

Richard Youle – Local democracy reporter

A businessman in south west Wales who’s been told by a council to halt digging work on a bank near his house said he was doing it to prevent falling stones damaging cars.

Christopher Kiley claimed Swansea Council was responsible for any damage that subsequently occurred.

Above the bank and private parking area is a woodland, and concerns were raised locally that the work being carried out might be damaging the roots of some trees.

The council then visited the site, off Caswell Road, Caswell, Gower.

A spokesman for the authority said it instructed the landowner to stop the work so that investigations could be carried out and establish if there was any damage to protected areas.

Dented

“Further site visits are planned in relation to possible breaches of planning controls,” he said.

Mr Kiley, director and founder of the CK’s Supermarket business, said falling stones had recently caused £2,500 of damage to a parked car below, and that cars and vans had previously been dented at the site.

“Because of this I’ve got to remove the stones at the top of the bank,” he said.

A letter of his to the council said the bank situation presented a risk to human life as well as vehicles, and that the work to remove stones was around two-thirds of the way through. It said no trees had fallen, and that his legal advice was that the council was responsible from this point on for damage by falling stones.

The council said: “Mr Kiley is responsible for ensuring the safety of his land and property.”

Mr Kiley has previously applied to build a 98-metre track through the woodland, which he owns, to access a smallholding above but his application was turned down by the council.

Rural

It said there was “no reasonable justification or need” for the track, and that its three-metre width – coupled with the loss of 12 trees covered by a preservation order – would harm the site’s rural character.

The council’s decision was upheld in 2022 by a Welsh Government-appointed planning inspector. This followed an appeal by Mr Kiley for non-determination of the application within the statutory eight-week period.

CK’s Supermarkets, which Mr Kiley built up, trades as CK Foodstores. There are 32 stores across south west Wales according to its website.