Vaughan Gething accepts £200k from environmental offender's company

Vaughan Gething is one of the two candidates in the Welsh Labour leadership race

Welsh Labour leadership candidate Vaughan Gething accepted £200,000 for his campaign from a company run by a man who was convicted twice for environmental offences, it has emerged.

David Neal was given a suspended prison sentence in 2013 for illegally dumping waste on a conservation site.

Four years later he was prosecuted again for not removing it.

Mr Gething said all the donations were declared to the Senedd.

Jeremy Miles supporter Lee Waters, Member of the Senedd (MS) for Llanelli and transport minister, said the donation was completely unjustifiable and wrong.

Mr Gething, the Cardiff South and Penarth MS, is standing against Jeremy Miles in the race to replace First Minister Mark Drakeford.

He also received donations from two other companies run by Mr Neal in Autumn 2018, when he last ran to become Welsh Labour leader.

All donations have been declared to the Electoral Commission, whose records show the economy minister accepted two donations of £100,000 each from Dauson Environmental Group.

One was given last month, while the second was given five days after Mr Drakeford resigned.

Mr Gething has vowed to introduce tougher penalties for those who break environmental rules.

Mr Neal is a director with significant control in Dauson Environmental Group. In 2013 he was prosecuted for illegally dumping waste at a conservation site on the Gwent Levels.

Cardiff Magistrates Court heard that toxic liquid had leaked into the water at the time. Mr Neal was given a suspended sentence of three months.

His companies Atlantic Recycling and Neal Soil Suppliers were also prosecuted and given fines and costs of £202,000.

In 2017, he was given another suspended sentence of 18 weeks, with fines and costs of £230,000 after failing to remove the waste.

The site falls within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its fauna and flora. In both cases he admitted the offences.

Atlantic Recycling and Neal Soil Suppliers donated a total of £38,000 to Mr Gething in 2018.

Large piles of unregulated waste were found on David Neal's former farmland on the Gwent Levels

Another one of his companies, Resources Management UK Ltd, recently faced action by Natural Resources Wales after complaints about the smell at Withyhedge Landfill in Pembrokeshire.

Residents dubbed it a "a stink bomb on steroids".

Mr Gething has also declared in his Senedd register of members interests that he has received the donations for his leadership campaign from Dauson Environmental Group.

Lee Waters said on X, formerly known as Twitter: "I'm sorry but £200k on an internal election in a cost of living crisis is completely unjustifiable.

"I don't want this to become a negative campaign but I am genuinely shocked and angry by this. It's wrong."

What has his campaign said?

Speaking in a debate on the BBC Wales Live Special programme, Gething defended the donations by saying they were all "checked and filed properly with the Electoral Commission" and "declared to the Senedd".

A spokesperson for Mr Gething's campaign said: "Dauson Environmental Group Limited has donated to Vaughan Gething's leadership campaign.

"All donations are declared to both the Senedd and the Electoral Commission in line with the rules and Vaughan's commitment to transparency.

"We are aware of the current issues relating to Withyhedge Landfill and, as with any such cases, would encourage that the issues be fully investigated and resolved as soon as possible, in line with instructions from Natural Resources Wales.

"We have been in touch with the firm and been assured it is addressing the issues and is on course to meet NRW's timetable.

"Vaughan Gething's leadership manifesto pledges to strengthen enforcement action to protect the environment and pledges stricter penalties for those who break environmental rules."

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