Enforcement action taken against holiday park owner for not removing waste ‘mountain’

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

Natural Resources Wales has said it is taking enforcement action against the owner of a holiday park after it failed to remove waste from a field.

Residents who live near Fontygary Holiday and Leisure Park in the Vale of Glamorgan, near Rhoose have complained about what has been described as a “mountain” of waste in a field next to the caravan park for years.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said it had been investigating reports of construction and demolition waste at the site and a notice served on the landowner to remove the waste expired in July, 2023.

Fontygary Parks Ltd director, Tim McIlveen, has denied claims that the waste has been imported from other sites and said they intended to use it for future projects.

Construction and demolition waste

Operations manager for NRW, Fiona Hourahine, said: “We have been investigating reports of construction and demolition waste being deposited on land near Fontygary Leisure Park in Rhoose, Vale of Glamorgan.

“We served a Section 59 Notice on the landowner to remove the material to a suitably permitted facility. When our officers visited the site last year to check compliance with the notice, the waste had not been removed.

“Therefore, we are taking enforcement action and will be able to provide more details once this is completed.”

Mr McIlveen claims he was not told about an NRW visit to his site and denied that the waste was threatening biodiversity.

Vale of Glamorgan Council confirmed there was a a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) next to Fontygary Holiday Park, but they said it was not clear whether the waste was present specifically in this area.

NRW has been contacted for clarity on this matter.

SINC sites are not protected by law, such as SSSIs, and they are usually designated by local authorities.

‘Keyboard warriors’

Mr McIlveen said: “That mound is on Fontygary Park. It is not on land adjacent to the park. It is on the park itself – all of it.

“The second thing is that the local keyboard warriors and NRW will tell you that they think it is imported waste and that is what the problem is caused by, but actually 100% of that waste is from previous projects that we have done on the park and we have put the spoil in one place because we are attempting, and failing miserably so far… to get planning permission for other things.

“When we do get that planning permission, we will need that waste and the last thing anybody I would presume would want to see is that we have to send thousands of lorry loads off the park to have it treated at great expense and at great environmental cost and then bring it back again when and if we get our planning permission.

“All we were asking for was to leave it where it was until we got our permission and then we would sort it out.

“It is the last thing that we want to have is an ugly mound of stuff sitting on our park.”

Concrete

Pictures taken of the site last year show the waste to include concrete, bricks, metal wiring and soil. A drone image taken this year shows that the mound of waste is still on the site.

Fontygary Holiday Park has planning permission for the construction of a new cycle path on its site, but Mr McIlveen said he is not sure whether it will go ahead and that the development hangs on another application which is yet to be determined.

Mr McIlveen said he was disappointed with the stance taken by NRW, adding: “It just seems such a waste of everyone’s time and money and the last thing we want to be accused of is anything criminal.

“I was in the army for 20 years, I have been running the park for 30 years and we have never done anything wrong as far as I am aware, so it is very upsetting to be put in this position.”