"Public misled" over bypass

The owners of a successful caravan holiday home park that will be cut in half by the preferred route of the long-awaited Newtown bypass claim townspeople were misled during recent public consultations.

Solicitors for Trevor and Pat Bebb, owners of Glandulas Caravan Park, situated on the west side of Newtown, have written to Welsh Transport Minister Edwina Hart calling for her to intervene. Copies of the letter have also been sent to Montgomeryshire MP, Glyn Davies, Assembly Member, Russell George, regional AMs and local county councillors.

They claim the literature produced by the Welsh Government for a public exhibition in Newtown in July failed to show the full extent of the caravan park, which misled the public to believe that the bypass would skirt around it. The proposed line actually dissects the park as it joins the A489.

Mr and Mrs Bebb are angry because they had been assured during a previous public consultation exercise that the map would be updated to show the 35-pitch extension to the original park, which has 45 caravans.

The couple, who live at Glandulas Farm beside the caravan park, which they have owned for six years, stress that they fully support the need for a bypass and don’t wish to delay it being built. But they contend that the most sensible and cost effective solution is to route the new multi-million pound road through the Mochdre Enterprise Park.

This suggested route would, in Mr Bebb’s opinion, save the Welsh Government around £20 million and prevent Coleg Powys’ Fronlas Farm from also being cut in half.

He believes the map, which the Welsh Government has used to show the proposed bypass route, is around seven years old and does not even include the Tesco store.

Mrs Bebb said it was a stressful time for the family and she feels let down by Welsh Government officials who had assured her back in 2010 that the bypass route would take account of the park.

The family has spent around £500,000 developing the 10-acre park, which now has 65 occupied caravan holidays homes and there are plans to further expand it in the future. In total, the Bebbs own 56 acres of land at Glandulas Farm.

Mr Bebb emphasises that he and his wife are not prepared to sit back and do nothing, as the park will not survive if the bypass runs through it. They have made their home at Glandulas Farm and are loyal to the caravan owners on the park, some of whom they have known for more than 20 years.

Estimating the park to be worth around £3 million, he says the family could easily accept the bypass route and walk away with compensation, but he feels a deep sense of injustice and warns that Newtown’s shops will lose out if the park closes.

Based on the latest research by the British Holiday and Home Parks Association, a privately owned caravan holiday home contributes £7,525 a year to the local economy where it is based, which equates to nearly £500,000 in Glandulas Caravan Park’s case.

Because of the bypass threat, the Bebb family has been unable to attract new customers for two years.  “In the past, we had a waiting list of people wishing to buy a caravan here, but since we started telling them about the bypass, the interest has tailed off dramatically, which is understandable,” said Mr Bebb.