A SULLY-based Vale councillor has claimed thousands of public representations on the authority’s Local Development Plan (LDP) were not examined.

Cllr Kevin Mahoney, UKIP, further claimed, following his requested meeting with Vale Council managing director and head of paid service Rob Thomas that this claim was confirmed on July 9.

Cllr Mahoney said he believed the public was given the false impression that their representations were being examined when they weren’t and that the consultation was “nothing but a sham.”

Alternative site suggestions, he said, had been dismissed.

Cllr Mahoney said: “My claims during the full council meeting that hundreds if not thousands of responses from the general public to the Vale’s sham consultation process weren’t even looked at or considered were correct.

“Despite my repeated attempts to obtain the written reasons for the turning down of a number of alternative site representations by the public submitted during the second highly publicised step of what now turns out to be a total sham of a public consultation I was repeatedly fobbed off.

“I persevered and eventually was informed by a member of the LDP team that virtually none of the, in many cases incredibly comprehensive and detailed submissions made by the public during the alternative site suggestion consultation phase had been even looked at other than to be logged and catalogued as received.”

He said he had highlighted to fellow councillors that residents had taken great time care and effort in submitting these representations under the false illusion given by the council that these submissions were to be examined for their validity.

He said: “This whole affair in my mind calls into question the validity of these so called public (non) consultations and I will be calling for an enquiry into the whole process as carried out by the Vale of Glamorgan Council.

“This is nothing short of a scandal.”

Vale Council cabinet member for regeneration, Cllr Lis Burnett, Labour, said when putting the Deposit Local Development Plan (DLDP) together the authority had to work within a Welsh Government framework.

She said: “The consultation on the deposit plan was no exception and was undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the Town and Country Planning (Local Development Plan) ((Wales)) Regulations 2005 and relevant guidance.

“We always had to be mindful of Welsh Government’s guidance that changes should be avoided and indeed only be made if they were necessary to ensure the plan was sound.

“This does not, however, mean that representations were not given due consideration. Over 11,000 responses were received to the two-stage DLDP and alternative sites consultation process. All of these were considered by the LDP team and acknowledged in accordance with Welsh Government regulations.

“The clearest evidence of the validity of the consultation can be found in the ‘focused changes’ to the plan that have been made as a result. A number of ‘focused changes’ were proposed to the deposit plan following the consultation to ensure the soundness of the plan. The most notable of these was the increase in the affordable housing targets made as a result of representations and new evidence. Focused changes were proposed to sites such as land to the north and west of Darren Close and land south of Junction 34.”

She added that the changes would be subject to further consultation from July 24 to September 4 following the plan’s submission for independent public examination where those who made representations can have their representations considered by the independent inspector.