Vale of Glamorgan council defends Cosmeston aqua park emails
A council spokesperson also said the comment "moving forward" referred to moving forward with the preparation of a draft heads of terms document and discussions on requirements for water sampling and other operational issues.They added that if cabinet members had not given their approval in March, and if Natural Resources Wales had not issued its consent, "discussions would have stopped".The attraction had wanted to relocate after being based in Cardiff Bay since 2019 and includes an inflatable assault course with slides and climbing frames
Councillors raised concerns about the emails obtained by the Save Cosmeston and the Vale campaign group during Monday's full council meeting.Councillors accused the authority of not involving locally-elected representatives and residents sooner as discussions about the scheme went back to January.But it was only in March when the plans were discussed publicly at a council cabinet meeting.Conservative ward councillor Anthony Ernest said it had been "very badly handled".And Plaid Cymru group leader Ian Johnson said he had "strong concerns" about how quickly it went from being publicised to receiving approval.An email from a Vale Council officer to Aqua Park Group on 23 January said there was an agreement for the council to pursue a licence for the company to trial an attraction at Cosmeston Lakes this summer.It went on to add that a report on the proposal would need to go before council cabinet members and stated "it will be essential to avoid any sort of publicity about your move before the cabinet report is agreed".
Ms Burnett told councillors: "It is entirely normal for staff to have discussions with potential partners to assess feasibility before bringing proposals to cabinet and the council's other committees."This is necessary to allow us to carry out due diligence and risk assessments in the public interest."The aqua park is being trialled until September after which the council will decide whether to consider allowing such an attraction to operate the following season at the country park which has been an official nature reserve since 2013.
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