AM & Cllr Fitzpatrick stands up for National Park Residents (Kirsty Williams AM )

Cymraeg
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Kirsty Williams AM <info@kirstywilliams.org.uk>

AM & Cllr Fitzpatrick stands up for National Park Residents

May 27, 2008 4:15 PM

Cllr Liam Fitzpatrick for Talybont Ward in Breconshire and Kirsty Williams, AM for Brecon and Radnorshire, today met with the Chief Executive of Brecon Beacon National Park to discuss constituents' concerns about the now infamous Gilestone planning application.

In a robust exchange of views, Cllr Fitzpatrick left Mr Gledhill under no illusions of the strongly held concerns of local people over the authority's handling of Gilestone and planning issues in general.

Cllr Fitzpatrick commented: "I have called upon the park to act openly and transparently in order to reassure residents that their concerns are now being acted upon.

"There is obviously still has long way to go but some of the new staff clearly acknowledge the difficulties and I hope that the Chief Executive will listen to and act upon these concerns.

"We were informed that the authority will be putting papers to the committee in August which will report upon current failings and recommend actions for the future. I trust that these recommendations will be adequate and will be acted upon without delay."

Kirsty Williams said: "I am delighted that Cllr Fitzpatrick has taken such an early opportunity to express his constituent's concerns to the Brecon Beacons National Park and to stand up for those he represents with such gusto.

"There are clearly resource issues at the root of a number of the Authority's failings, including the vast backlog of unaddressed applications. Whilst the Minister states that addressing the failures of the Park Authority is important to her, next years budget for the Authority is at a standstill and this will only make things harder. The authority will need extra assistance from WAG if it is to turn itself around."