A “DARK and difficult time” has come to an end for a councillor, as an independent investigation has cleared him of wrongdoing.

Cllr David Price (Independent – Llanafanfawr) had been under investigation by the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales over allegations that he broke the Powys County Council (PCC) Members’ Code of Conduct.

Complaints were made that Cllr Price breached the code of conduct over planning issues and the number of caravan pitches that are allowed at his farm.

Cllr Price said: “Last week I received formal notification from the Ombudsman that they have concluded I have not broken the Members’ Code of Conduct.

“Their independent investigation has been detailed and lengthy, taking almost 12 months to gather evidence and witness statements.

“I have been totally cleared of any wrongdoing.

“This has been a dark and difficult time, and I thank my family and good friends for the support I have received.”

A spokesperson for the Ombudsman said: “We can confirm that a decision has been made regarding Cllr David Price.”

The issues surrounding the complaints go back to a planning meeting in July 2018.

There Cllr Price, a former chairman of the planning committee, was given a certificate of lawfulness for 28 caravan pitches for his family business, Noyadd Farm, near Builth Wells.

Evidence showed that the site had run with 28 pitches without the certificate for a number of years. Under Caravan Club rules he was only allowed to have five pitches.

At the meeting, planning officers said that Cllr Price had been running the caravan site without the certificate for too long to be subject to enforcement action. This followed an internal investigation into the caravan site by PCC.

The application had been made following complaints made by other caravan site owners that Cllr Price was flouting planning regulations by having more pitches than he should.

At the meeting, Cllrs Gwilym Williams (Conservative – Disserth and Trecoed), and Elwyn Vaughan  (Plaid Cymru – Glantwymyn), argued that Cllr Price’s application should be decided by another local authority.

They believed that Cllr Price, as a former chairman of the planning committee, should have known that he needed to change the status of the caravan park.

Cllr Elwyn Vaughan went as far as calling for Cllr Price’s resignation.

In the weeks following this meeting the complaints were made and Cllr Price retaliated with his own complaint that he was being harassed by the pair over the issue.

In May this year both Cllrs Williams and Vaughan were informed that the complaints into their conduct had been dropped due to a lack of evidence.