AN OLD COLWYN councillor has formally complained about transparency at Conwy County Council, following a cabinet meeting row last week.
Backbencher Cllr David Carr has sent a letter to council leader Cllr Julie Fallon and chief executive Rhun ap Gareth after last week’s meeting when his microphone was silenced.
Fellow backbencher Cllr Paul Luckock sparked the row at the meeting during a discussion on the Annual Governance Statement for 2025–26.
Cllr Luckock alleged the council hadn’t encouraged “community trust” by not bringing the controversial Mochdre HGV depot for discussion at scrutiny committees.
The “Mochdre shed” has already cost the authority over £3.2m and counting, with the authority locked in a long-term lease for the unusable HGV depot until 2031.
The council says the depot’s floor can’t accommodate HGVs.
But speaking at the meeting, Cllr Julie Fallon warned that the matter was not for public discourse due to legal constraints.
The row escalated until Cllr Carr complained to the leader about transparency, accusing the authority of having a poor record of responding to Freedom of Information requests.
This led to chair and council leader Cllr Fallon telling Cllr Carr, “That’s enough.” Cllr Carr’s mic was then cut.
Cllr Fallon said during the exchange that she thought the authority was “probably the most open and transparent local authority in Wales”, adding he needed to make clear it was his opinion.
Now Cllr Carr has complained officially.
“It was disappointing today at Conwy Cabinet that you prevented me from challenging a report claiming Conwy County Borough Council had a clearly transparent decision-making process,” Cllr Carr said in his letter.
“A core pillar of transparency is providing information when requested. Recent data shows the council is failing significantly in this area.
“Audit Wales found that Conwy Council answered only 54% of freedom information FOI requests on time in 2024 /25. This is far below the Information Commissioner’s Office benchmark of 90%. You cannot claim a transparent process when nearly half of the public’s formal requests for information are delayed or ignored, hindering any real accountability.”
“Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money have been spent by the council without member knowledge. There are several high-profile examples of spending that were either not transparent or occurred despite being widely criticised as poor value.”
The letter goes on to mention the millions of pounds spent on Mochdre HGV depot.
Cllr Carr also claimed the council had “spent over £739,000 on marketing and advertising over two years 2023/ 2025 while simultaneously cutting school and social services”.
The Old Colwyn councillor also complained the authority had spent £250,000 on consultants for the sale of Bodlondeb.
He added: “While you claimed that the council have sound governance, Audit Wales has previously noted a lack of transparency in the reporting of the service change savings. If the public and members cannot clearly see where savings from service cuts are being redirected or how effective those cuts are, the decision-making process remains opaque.”
Cllr Carr went on to list transparency shortcomings he claimed were identified in several audit reports and claimed the council’s “fragmented approach” to spending on initiatives made it “difficult for members of the public to track the cumulative impact of millions of pounds spent”.
A spokeswoman for Conwy County Council commented: “The Leader has noted the councillor’s opinion and replied to the email accordingly.”
