Coronavirus and planning breaches took place at Caswell chalet park, retired police officer alleges

A retired police officer has alleged that coronavirus and planning breaches have taken place at a chalet park in Caswell.

The former policeman, who has asked not to be named, has raised his concerns with South Wales Police and Swansea Council.

The man, in his early 60s and from nearby Langland, said he came across a group of people having a barbecue at Summercliffe Chalet Park early on during the first lockdown.

He said he approached them to ask what they were doing, given the lockdown regulations, and was advised it wasn't any of his business.

He said: "I wasn't going to escalate matters."

He claimed that some people have been using the chalets as weekend properties during periods when non-essential travel has been banned in Wales and the UK.

He also alleged that some of this has occurred during months of the year when the chalets shouldn't be occupied at all, in accordance with an occupancy restriction attached to the original consent for the park.

The former policeman alleged that a small number of chalets had been occupied continuously throughout 2020.

The man, whose wife is a Morriston Hospital nurse and whose daughter is a police officer, said he felt fobbed off.

"When I speak to police, they say it's a council matter," he said. "When I speak to the council, they say it's a police matter."

South Wales Police said it had investigated three reports by the retired officer of potential coronavirus breaches last April and May at Summercliffe, and had concluded that no breaches occurred.

A force spokeswoman said: "Since then we have no further recorded reports about this location from this individual."

The retired officer said he would like to know if registration numbers of cars parked at the chalets which he said he had provided to the police had been checked to see where the owners' main residence was.

He has copied South Wales Police, politicians and police organisations including the Police Superintendents' Association into emails he has been sending the council.

A council officer advised him last month to submit a complaints form so that the alleged planning breaches could be investigated accordingly.

A council spokesman said council officers had visited Summercliffe and that they hadn't identified any coronavirus regulation breaches.

He added: "We've been in correspondence with the complainant on a number of occasions and we recently asked him to get in touch with our planning enforcement team to discuss his concerns about the alleged breach of planning regulations."

The retired officer said he felt he had already provided plenty of evidence.

In one of his emails he even offered to enter the chalet park to try to identify the numbers of the chalets he alleged were being lived in, as long guidance was provided by the council.

Summercliffe comprises around 80 privately-owned chalets and is a stone's throw from Caswell beach.

South Wales Police and the council urged people who thought someone was in breach of the Covid-19 travel rules to report it to police, or if it involved a business to Trading Standards.