CARMARTHENSHIRE County Council, which is leading the development of the Llanelli Wellness and Life Science Village, says it continues to work hard to deliver the scheme despite an ongoing inquiry linked to the project.
The council said it remains completely committed to delivering the project at Delta Lakes, Llanelli, and said there is no reason that the inquiry should have any effect on the continued developments at the site.
This week Tarian, the regional crime unit for southern Wales, confirmed it was acting on a complaint made by Swansea University in 2018 in relation to the tendering process for the scheme.
Tarian has said it is keen to stress that legitimate stakeholders have played a part in a legitimate project, confirming that it is not investigating the Wellness Village project as a whole, but on how the tendering process was carried out.
The council said it is supporting the investigation, and said people should be reassured by a recent Wales Audit Office (WAO) and independent legal review of the project which both concluded that the council has acted with sound governance, proper risk management, and had fully protected public assets, in preparing for the scheme.
The WAO and the legal reviewers were given full access to all records relating to the project and carried out a detailed appraisal of the council’s actions.
Cllr Emlyn Dole, Leader of Carmarthenshire County Council, said: “Following developments at Swansea University in September 2018, the Authority itself commissioned two independent reviews of the Wellness Village, both of which concluded proper planning and governance for the scheme.
“However, if there is any criminality linked to the project that the Authority is unaware of, then it should be properly investigated by the police and we will support the inquiry in every way possible.
“In the meantime, we continue to work hard to deliver this scheme which the residents of Carmarthenshire want and deserve.”
No further statements will be made during the ongoing investigation.
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