Ceredigion County Council could face another Judicial Review over its decision to refuse a Village Green bid in Waunfawr, after a similar bid was launched in a bid to reverse a decision to make changes to parking on Aberystwyth’s south promenade.

Ceredigion Residents Action Group has applied to the High Court for a judicial review of a decision that would scrap between 42 and 55 parking spaces along Aberystywth promenade, and now a campaign group which hoped to keep Erw Goch field in Waunfawr for the community and save it from being developed for housing has announced it will launch a similar bid to get that decision quashed.

An application for the field to become a village green to save the open space for the community was launched by the Friends of Erw Goch in 2021, sparked by a joint Wales & West Housing and Ceredigion County Council development of more than 70 homes on the land being submitted.

Ceredigion council argues that the land is still held for educational purposes despite its plans to use it for homes because the land was bought by the-then Cardiganshire County Council in June 1965 as a proposed site for a new Ardwyn Grammar School.

The move to block the Village Green bid was approved by councillors at a meeting in September, which was followed by a series of meetings held by the Friends of Erw Goch to discuss next steps.

Now, the campaign group has sought “legal advice on the way in which the application was processed and determined.”

“The response from the legal team has reinforced the community’s belief that the process and decision was indeed flawed, on several levels, and that an appeal at Judicial Review would be successful,” the group said.

Legal advice said that there six separate grounds which could lead to a successful challenge at Judicial Review, including that the decision was “biased”; was “wrong in law”; and that councillors were “significantly misled” by officer recommendations.

Advice also said that a decision not to hold a public inquiry into the issue was refused only on the basis of cost.

The group said that “given these significant findings”, a Pre-Action Protocol letter was submitted to Ceredigion County Council “requesting that the decision made on 19 September be quashed.”

The Friends of Erw Goch said the decision “is yet another example of tainted decision-making by elected councillors, based on misleading information provided to them by council officials and chiefs.”

“The people of Ceredigion are losing faith in their council and how it deals with significant changes to the community and local areas following a series of consultation failures on Aberystwyth promenade, the closure of Aberaeron Library and the recent closure of four local schools,” the group said.

“This matter is yet another ‘David and Goliath’ example with Council chiefs pushing through decisions regardless of the proper, fair and legal processes, with no consideration for local communities, individuals and businesses.

“Surely it’s time that senior officials at Ceredigion County Council are held to account.”