Council defends 'badly handled' aqua park go-ahead

Council bosses have defended comments made in correspondence made public after plans for a controversial water park were given the go-ahead.

Opponents to the attraction at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, near Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, obtained emails involving the council and Aqua Park Group using the Freedom of Information Act.

It showed the firm proposed a potential 15-year deal and was told there was an "agreement to move forward with you behind the scenes".

But council leader Lis Burnett said no agreement to begin the trial was made before a decision was made by cabinet members in March, and that a suggested 15-year term was at the company's suggestion alone.

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.