A decision by Welsh Government Ministers to quash a planning inspector's ruling on an appeal over a gypsy application has been strongly criticised by a local county councillor.

Clr. Jacob Williams, who represents the East Williamston ward, says the ministerial decision made in response to the threat of a judicial review is 'outrageous' and has let him and his community down.

In July 2011, members of Pembrokeshire County Council's planning committee voted unanimously to refuse consent for an application for a gypsy pitch and an ancillary day room on grazing land at Clayford Road, near Moreton. Following the refusal, the council served an enforcement notice on the applicant, Mrs. Jacqueline Jones, to restore the land to its pre-occupation condition.

Mrs. Jones appealed both the planning refusal and the subsequent enforcement notice, and in February this year, a planning inspector appointed by the Welsh Government held a three-day public inquiry at the Regency Hall, Saundersfoot, to hear both matters. The inspector's decision, which was released in July, dismissed the appeal over the planning refusal, and upheld the enforcement notice.

Following the publication of the inspector's ruling, outline papers were filed with the High Court seeking to contest it. In response to this legal challenge bid, the Welsh Government recently quashed the inspector's ruling, a decision Clr. Williams believes takes no account of its firm conclusions: "This Ministerial decision shows absolutely no conviction. I strongly believe they should have defended their inspector's comprehensive decision, instead they've backed down and quashed it."

Welsh Ministers are expected to appoint a second planning inspector to re-hear the same appeal, something Clr. Williams hoped to avoid: "I'm in no doubt that when an inspector's decision is quashed, a re-hearing with a different inspector is heavily prejudiced. This challenge should have been thrashed out in front of a High Court judge, who would have much greater powers to get to the bottom of this long-running saga on Clayford Road."

At the December meeting of East Williamston Community Council, Clr. Williams told fellow councillors that he was in correspondence with the county council's head of planning, questioning the council's inaction over the breach of a Hedgerow Replacement Notice served in relation to the same fields on Clayford Road.

The notice, which was served on Mrs. Jacqueline Jones in December 2010, requires the reinstatement of 417 metres of hedgerow and hedgebanks that were removed without approval contrary to The Hedgerows Regulations 1997.

It was unsuccessfully appealed in early 2011, and the planning inspector who ruled on the case, Hywel Wyn Jones, has since been employed as Pembrokeshire County Council's head of planning.

The date of compliance for the notice was March 31 this year, and Clr. Williams says he has been told previously that a prosecution was intended by the council's legal department as no restorative work has taken place.

In response to a recent letter sent by Clr. Williams, the head of planning confirmed that there is no legal provision to prosecute for the non-compliance of the notice, and that there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution for the removal of the hedgerows.

"This news came as quite a shock; however, the cherry on the cake was to be told that too much time has passed since the removal occurred to pursue a prosecution, so it appears the Hedgerow Replacement Notice was worth less than the paper it was printed on," he said.

A community resident who lives near the site at Clayford Road, Mr. Robert Griffin, has also been in contact with the council about the Hedgerow Replacement Notice.

He said: "I've lodged a formal complaint with the council for mishandling this case, and I intend reporting my concerns to the Ombudsman."