Top council official has role at energy company

Ted Peskett – Local democracy reporter

A top official at a Welsh council holds a prominent position at a company behind plans to develop a multi-million-pound energy park.

Marcus Goldsworthy is the director of place at Vale of Glamorgan Council, which is the team responsible for the local authority’s planning functions.

He is also one of a number of executive directors at Cardiff Capital Region Energy (CCR Energy), which is the company behind plans to transform Aberthaw Power Station in the Vale of Glamorgan into a renewable energy park.

Cardiff Capital Region (CCR), a partnership of 10 councils in southeast Wales, completed its purchase of the site in 2023 and demolition of the old power plant is currently under way.

‘Conflict’

In a joint statement CCR Energy and the Vale of Glamorgan Council said: “We can confirm that Marcus Goldsworthy continues in his role as director of place at Vale of Glamorgan Council alongside his appointment as an executive director of CCR Energy.

“Both the council and CCR Energy have been clear that any potential conflicts of interest must be avoided.

“Marcus has therefore formally declared that he will not take part in, advise on, or influence any council decision-making relating to Aberthaw Power Station where CCR Energy is involved.

“This has been recorded through the council’s register of interests and in CCR Energy’s governance processes.”

Planning applications relating to Aberthaw Power Station since the site closed mainly relate to its demolition and these were determined between 2021 and 2023.

According to Companies House website CCR Energy was incorporated on March 3, 2022, and Marcus Goldsworthy wasn’t appointed as a director until August 20, 2025.

The most recent application relating to Aberthaw was for an an opinion on what factors developers should consider as part of an environmental impact assessment for plans to remove the waste ash on site and bring it back into beneficial use.

Jobs

This was determined by Vale of Glamorgan Council in June 2025.

Aberthaw Power Station was purchased by CCR from energy giants RWE for £8m.

The local authority partnership announced plans in 2022 to redevelop the 489-acre Aberthaw Power Station site into a renewable energy park.

CCR Energy’s website states the development could become a place for sustainable energy production such as tidal power or small modular reactors.

It could also include a battery storage facility and become a hub for green hydrogen production.

The scheme has the potential to create thousands of jobs, according to CCR, and would play a key role in helping the UK to decarbonise its electricity grid.

However people who live near the former power station are worried about what will happen to the large mound of waste ash that’s built up on site over the years.

The plan is for the pulverised fuel ash (PFA) to be removed and re-used in the cement and plastics industries.

Things like the extent and depth of excavations and the precise method of recovering and transporting the ash are yet to be decided.

Many residents in nearby villages said they can remember when ash from the site would blow over and cover their homes in dust when the power station was in operation.

Their main concern is that clouds of ash could again affect their properties when the mound is disturbed.

Concerns have also been raised about the handling of the project at Aberthaw Power Station so far after CCR was taken to court over how it awarded a contract for the site’s demolition.

Demolition company Erith was awarded a £30m contract to demolish the power station.

However losing bidders Brown and Mason Group lodged a successful legal challenge over the awarding of the contract.

The city region abandoned its defence and settled with the company at the cost of £5.25m.