Forestry Commission Wales (FCW) has admitted failing to safeguard the future of a "community" woodland near Boncath which was bought by a co‐operative with a half million pounds' worth of public money.
The Growing Heart Workers Co‐operative was given the money under the Cydcoed scheme, managed by the Forestry Commission Wales, to buy Ffynone and Cilgwyn woodlands just over two years ago.
The group will be monitored by the FCW for the next 20 years to ensure that commitments are met. If they aren't, then the co‐operative could be forced to hand some of the grant money back.
However, the FCW has now admitted that if the group sells the woodland they are powerless. The admission came in response to 80 questions taken to FCW by local AM Paul Davies on behalf of the residents.
"The Commission has answered the questions in detail and some serious questions have been thrown up as a result," said Mr Davies.
"One of the most serious is an admission by the FCW that the Cydcoed contracts were not watertight enough."
In response to a question about the possibility of reclaiming the grant money if contract conditions aren't met the FCW writes:
"Any breach of the terms and conditions of the existing contract will result in FCW taking action against Calon yn Tyfu Cyf/Growing Heart Workers Co‐Operative, which ultimately if not corrected would result in FCW taking steps to reclaim the grant.
"We have accepted in open forum that the Cydcoed contract does not provide sufficient protection against change of ownership."
The £500,000 Cydcoed funding that enabled the co‐operative to buy the woodland was the biggest single grant given by the FCW scheme in Wales.
Local residents are angry that they weren't consulted before the woods were bought by the co‐operative "for community use". They say they were not consulted and that there's been no community involvement in the project. Parts of the woods have now been clear felled and hardcore tracks put in. "These answers have given me further cause for concern about the way in which public money was handed out without much future recourse," added Mr Davies.