Swansea Council leader declines to reveal his concerns over Travellers' site process

From the South Wales Evening Post

Swansea Council leader David Phillips has declined to reveal his concerns over the process for selecting potential Travellers’ sites - or comment on whether he had faced a revolt over the issue from Labour colleagues.

The challenge to the council leader during a meeting of the full council came after an email he sent to colleagues over the process of finding a new Travellers site in the city was leaked to The Evening Post last month.

In it, he told colleagues he had

“significant and fundamental concerns” about the report process which had shortlisted two potential sites for Travellers, at the former greyhound racing track in Fforestfach, and in Llansamlet.

The authority has now decided to reconsider the process.

Opposition leader Chris Holley asked Mr Phillips to reveal exactly his concerns over the process

Mr Phillips said it would be difficult to calculate how much the process had cost to date, but said a ‘significant amount of officers time had been committed’ to the process. And he declined to comment further on his email because it had been confidential.

Mr Holley said: “I am disappointed he cannot share what his problems with the process were. To say the email was confidential is not enough. I know talk of back benchers and a vote of no confidence may be rumour, but I believe it is right and proper he share those concerns with the people of Swansea”.

Mr Phillips added: “I am not going to reveal anything sent to colleagues in a confidential document.

“You can speculate what it was about and people can assume what it was about. But I do not intend to add to my answer”.