Another name in the book

Sticky Dick Lewis joins the shabby ranks of those high-profile Swansea Administration councillors currently under the active scrutiny of the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales.

As we alluded a few weeks ago, perhaps a bit too cryptically, the Lib Dem member has been reported by the Gower Society for alleged personal misconduct. Specifically, he is supposed to have written to fellow planning committee members urging them to approve an application at the Oxwich Bay Hotel.

The problem is that he had already declared a personal interest in the matter, meaning that he was prevented from making a comment or lobbying other councillors. Being a former planning committee chairman himself, Lewis would have been fully aware of these straightforward restrictions – a point which the Gower conservation watchdogs will no doubt have emphasised themselves.

As it happens, the plans were subsequently turned down but the incident will evoke memories of a similarly two-sided approach by Lewis over circumstances surrounding another controversial scheme within the Gower AONB.

Although usually vocal on most matters, he was strangely reticent when contacted by the local press. He would only say that he was aware of the complaint.