Labour councillor quits following suspension

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter

A Labour councillor has been suspended following what the party said were serious allegations of misconduct.

Cllr Joe Hale resigned the following day in protest at an adventure park being built on Kilvey Hill and said he hadn’t been aware at that point that he had been suspended.

A Labour Party spokesman said Cllr Hale was suspended on February 19 “following serious allegations of misconduct being received”.

The spokesman said: “It is further understood that the allegations of misconduct, specifically related to malicious communications and harassment, were also raised with the police.”

Cllr Hale said he had “inadvertently” shared an online post and had apologised. He is now standing as an Independent in St Thomas – the ward he has represented since 2012.

Cllr Hale’s resignation letter on February 20 expressed strong misgivings about the multi-million-pound hilltop adventure park. It has planning permission and tree felling and other enabling works are under way.

Although it’s a private project by a New Zealand company called Skyline Enterprises the council is co-investing as is the Welsh Government.

Cllr Hale’s resignation letter said: “I am particularly troubled by the increasing amount of public money that has been re-profiled to this project at a time when residents are facing acute cost-of-living pressures and higher energy bills, and where this money could have been distributed more fairly.

“I will continue to serve the residents of my ward as an Independent councillor. This decision has not been taken lightly but I no longer feel I can represent my constituents honestly within the constraints of the [Labour] group position on the Kilvey Hill scheme.”

He has also featured in a video in which he reiterated his criticism of the development, which will comprise a new gondola lift from Landore to the top of the hill and adventure rides.

There will also be a food hall and outdoor terrace, walking trails, biking routes, a play area, picnic benches, and a new bridleway.

Financial support

Skyline Enterprises’ board has previously approved a budget of 78m New Zealand dollars – just over £34m at today’s exchange rates – and the council has committed financial support of around £8m, subject to negotiations, and disposed of land at the hill. The council has said it expects any investment to be repaid.

Budget papers published last week indicate that the council’s Skyline investment could top £10m. The papers show capital spending of £2.866m this financial year on the Skyline project, £7.258m in 2026-27, and £81,000 the following year.

“When will this end?” said Cllr Hale. The public, he said, hadn’t been given “a clear sight of the business case they are being asked to back”. He raised a number of other matters in the video.

Asked to comment on the video the Labour Party spokesman said: “The points Cllr Hale raises are ones the council has formally answered via the planning process and/or via numerous questions submitted to the council’s technical officers. Cllr Hale has not accepted the answers given to him.”

He added: “The council has recently had to issue corrections to misinformation which has been circulating on social media.”

A member of a group which opposes the adventure park told the Local Democracy Reporting Service there was a strong sense among many people in the area of feeling ignored and that teenagers who had visited the felled area near a moss-covered effigy known as Green Man this week had been reduced to tears. “People are heartbroken,” she said.

Supporters

The project has many supporters who look forward to using the gondolas and spending time on the hill which they otherwise wouldn’t have done.

A council planning committee report last year said total tree cover would decrease on Kilvey Hill if the scheme went ahead but that compensatory planting of broadleaved native trees plus new shrubbery and other greenery would result in a net biodiversity benefit.

Skyline Enterprises operates gondola lifts and adventure parks elsewhere in the world and has said the Swansea project would take up around 9% of Kilvey Hill’s total area.

The Welsh Government backs the Swansea project and hopes it will create a top-class visitor attraction which will widen the city’s tourism offer.