Latest news with #RichardHolland
Wales Online
5 days ago
- Politics
- Wales Online
Fly-tipper's terrible excuse for waste dumped at picnic spot
Fly-tipper's terrible excuse for waste dumped at picnic spot The driver of a van seen in the area was tracked down - and gave a terrible explanation for how the waste ended up at the beauty spot The waste found illegally dumped near Mosshouse reservoir in Neath (Image: Neath Port Talbot Council ) A van driver has been fined after waste from a bathroom refurbishment project was found fly-tipped near a picnic area and beauty spot, a court has heard. The driver was located after detective work by council officers The defendant has been fined £153 but been ordered to pay another £1,500 in prosecution costs. A councillor has thanked the members of the public who provided information on the case for their "community-spirited action". Swansea Magistrates Court heard the waste was discovered on October 18, 2022, near the Mosshouse Woods reservoir off Fairyland Road in Neath when a number of people who knew the area as a fly-tipping hotspot became suspicious of the activities of a tipper-style van. At the reservoir picnic site the eagle-eyed members of the public found bathroom fittings and furniture including a broken toilet, a sink, and shower screens along with other items had been dumped. They passed on the information to Neath Port Talbot Council's waste enforcement team. The court heard an investigation by council officers traced the dumped waste to a house which had undergone a bathroom refurbishment, and the officers also then located the owner of the van seen near the reservoir. Article continues below The owner said at the time of the offence the vehicle was being used by a man called Richard Holland who was spoken to and who later attended an interview at Neath Civic Centre. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter During the interview Holland accepted he was in control the van on the day in question but denied dumping the waste claiming he had taken it to a skip. He told the officers: "Someone must have placed the waste back in the vehicle from the skip and travelled to the location and deposited it". Richard Marc Holland, aged 47, of Jersey Road, Bonymaen, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 when the case returned to court to be sentenced. The defendant was fined £153 and was ordered to pay £1,500 in prosecution costs along with a £61 victim surcharge. The court heard that though the defendant was not seen depositing the waste, section 33 of the 1990 act establishes that the person in control of a vehicle carrying controlled waste is considered to be knowingly causing the waste to be deposited - even without direct instructions - if the waste is deposited from the vehicle. This means that the person in control of the vehicle is held responsible for the waste's illegal deposit, regardless of whether he or she personally gave the order for the waste to be deposited. Speaking after the sentencing councillor Scott Jones, Neath Port Talbot Council's cabinet member for street scene, said: "I'd like to thank the members of the public for their community-spirited action in initially bringing this matter to our attention. "Fly tipping is a crime against our environment and we will pursue a prosecution either in court or via a fixed penalty notice. We take this nationwide issue extremely seriously and will continue to have a zero-tolerance approach." Article continues below
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cardiff set for administration with WRU in line for takeover
Cardiff Rugby will declare their intention to go into administration with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) in line for a takeover of the regional side. The Welsh professional rugby team are set to serve a notice of intent (NOI) to appoint an administrator. That is a formal document filed in court by a company or its directors to inform parties the company intends to enter administration, a process aimed at rescuing a struggling business from liquidation. The WRU cannot officially step in straight away but is set to support Cardiff by initially taking on the day-to-day running of the organisation. Cardiff staff, including players and coaches, held an emergency meeting on Tuesday afternoon with chief executive Richard Holland. Investment group Helford Capital Limited completed a Cardiff takeover in January 2024 after it acquired an 84.55% shareholding in the regional team. The news of Cardiff's administration comes with the WRU due to announce a new deal with all four Welsh professional sides - called the Professional Rugby Agreement (PRA) - as part of the "One Wales" strategy through until 2029. The premise is based on the four regions - Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets - being functioning independent businesses with private investment. The investment of Helford Capital Limited in Cardiff Rugby was led by British businessmen Phil Kempe and Neal Griffith, who are on the region's board. Kempe is a Welshman with an association stretching back more than a decade with the club. Cardiff said at the time that Kempe had a range of successful business interests across multiple industries in the UK, Canada and the Middle East. Griffith, who also has Welsh roots, is a former investment banker with numerous global business interests as an investor and director. The duo had significant business relationships in the United Arab Emirates, which they said they planned to leverage for Cardiff's benefit. The takeover followed the death of former chairman and benefactor Peter Thomas in March 2023. The deal secured the minor stake of the Thomas family and other significant shareholders. The takeover was approved by a "99.99% majority" at Cardiff's general meeting. The investment group gained approval from the Cardiff board, the WRU and the Cardiff Athletic Club, which retained a minority shareholding in the club. The due diligence test was undertaken by an independent London-based company. Cardiff Rugby chair Alun Jones said the takeover would "represent a huge moment in the history of Cardiff Rugby and gives us a bright, secure and exciting future". Cardiff is regarded as one of the grand club names in world rugby. Greats of the game including Cliff Morgan, Bleddyn Williams, Sir Gareth Edwards, Barry John, Terry Holmes, John Scott, Neil Jenkins, Jonah Lomu, Gethin Jenkins and Sam Warburton have all worn the Cardiff shirt in different guises. Cardiff Rugby were formed in 1876 following an amalgamation between Cardiff Wanderers and the Glamorgan Football Club and the first game took place on December 2, 1876, against Newport RFC. The Blue & Blacks became universally acknowledged as one of the world's most famous and successful sides. Playing at Cardiff Arms Park, they claimed victories over major touring teams, including Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and achieved numerous national honours. With the advent of regional rugby in 2003, Cardiff was granted its own standalone professional team. They initially played under the Cardiff Blues brand, with a semi-professional Cardiff RFC side beneath them playing in the Welsh Premiership. The region originally encompassed Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan but following the demise of the Celtic Warriors in 2004, Cardiff club took on responsibility for a wider area that included Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr and Powys. Cardiff dropped the 'Blues' title in 2021 when they were rebranded as Cardiff Rugby. In the regional era, Cardiff have won the European Challenge Cup twice in 2010 and 2018. If the WRU takes over in the short term it could be searching for new long-term investors. The Union could consider taking over permanent ownership of the side but that is something it has attempted to avoid in the past, highlighted by the return of Dragons to private ownership in 2023. It is set to be business as usual with Cardiff having four United Rugby Championship (URC) games this season, which will be fulfilled with Matt Sherratt's side still having hopes of finishing in the top eight and qualifying for the play-offs. Their next fixture is against Ospreys on Saturday, 19 April at the Principality Stadium. They are then scheduled to host Munster at the Arms Park six days later. It is understood the plan is to honour contracts and the new signings who have been announced by Cardiff should join up with the squad in the summer. Unlike football, there are understood to be no automatic points deduction from the URC if a team goes into administration. The state of rugby finances is under the microscope with London Irish, Wasps and Worcester having all gone out of business during the 2022-23 season, leaving the top flight of English rugby with only 10 teams. In Wales in 2003, five professional regions were created from the club game before Celtic Warriors were disbanded in 2004. In 2017, the WRU stepped in to be the majority stakeholder at Dragons following financial difficulties. The Newport-based side were eventually returned to private investment in 2023. In March 2024, Cardiff announced a loss of £2.1m for the year ending June 2023, with the next set of accounts due in May 2025. Both Ospreys and Scarlets have recently announced losses of more than £2m for the year ending June 2024. The current budgets for the four Welsh professional sides is £4.5m. That is planned to rise to £5.1m and then to more than £6m in the coming seasons.
BBC News
08-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Cardiff set for administration with WRU in line for takeover
Cardiff Rugby will declare their intention to go into administration with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) in line for a takeover of the regional Welsh professional rugby team will serve a notice of intent (NOI) to appoint an is a formal document filed in court by a company or its directors to inform parties the company intends to enter administration, a process aimed at rescuing a struggling business from WRU cannot officially step in straight away but is set to support Cardiff by initially taking on the day-to-day running of the staff, including players and coaches, held an emergency meeting on Tuesday afternoon with chief executive Richard Holland. Investment group Helford Capital Limited completed a Cardiff takeover in January 2024 after it acquired an 84.55% shareholding in the regional news of Cardiff's administration comes with the WRU due to announce a new deal with all four Welsh professional sides - called the Professional Rugby Agreement (PRA) - as part of the "One Wales" strategy through until premise is based on the four regions - Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets - being functioning independent businesses with private investment. Who are the Cardiff owners? The investment of Helford Capital Limited in Cardiff Rugby was led by British businessmen Phil Kempe and Neal Griffith, who are on the region's is a Welshman with an association stretching back more than a decade with the club. Cardiff said at the time that Kempe had a range of successful business interests across multiple industries in the UK, Canada and the Middle who also has Welsh roots, is a former investment banker with numerous global business interests as an investor and duo had significant business relationships in the United Arab Emirates, which they said they planned to leverage for Cardiff's takeover followed the death of former chairman and benefactor Peter Thomas in March deal secured the minor stake of the Thomas family and other significant takeover was approved by a "99.99% majority" at Cardiff's general investment group gained approval from the Cardiff board, the WRU and the Cardiff Athletic Club, which retained a minority shareholding in the due diligence test was undertaken by an independent London-based Rugby chair Alun Jones said the takeover would "represent a huge moment in the history of Cardiff Rugby and gives us a bright, secure and exciting future". Cardiff history Cardiff is regarded as one of the grand club names in world rugby. Greats of the game including Cliff Morgan, Bleddyn Williams, Sir Gareth Edwards, Barry John, Terry Holmes, John Scott, Neil Jenkins, Jonah Lomu, Gethin Jenkins and Sam Warburton have all worn the Cardiff shirt in different Rugby were formed in 1876 following an amalgamation between Cardiff Wanderers and the Glamorgan Football Club and the first game took place on December 2, 1876, against Newport Blue & Blacks became universally acknowledged as one of the world's most famous and successful at Cardiff Arms Park, they claimed victories over major touring teams, including Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and achieved numerous national the advent of regional rugby in 2003, Cardiff was granted its own standalone professional team. initially played under the Cardiff Blues brand, with a semi-professional Cardiff RFC side beneath them playing in the Welsh region originally encompassed Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan but following the demise of the Celtic Warriors in 2004, Cardiff club took on responsibility for a wider area that included Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr and dropped the 'Blues' title in 2021 when they were rebranded as Cardiff Rugby. In the regional era, Cardiff have won the European Challenge Cup twice in 2010 and 2018. What will this all mean? If the WRU takes over in the short term it could be searching for new long-term Union could consider taking over permanent ownership of the side but that is something it has attempted to avoid in the past, highlighted by the return of Dragons to private ownership in is set to be business as usual with Cardiff having four United Rugby Championship (URC) games this season, which will be fulfilled with Matt Sherratt's still having hopes of finishing in the top eight and qualifying for the play-offs. Their next fixture is against Ospreys on Saturday, 19 April at the Principality Stadium. They are then scheduled to host Munster at the Arms Park six days is understood the plan is to honour contracts and the new signings who have been announced by Cardiff should join up with the squad in the football, there are understood to be no automatic points deduction from the URC if a team goes into administration. Rugby finance issues The state of rugby finances is under the microscope with London Irish, Wasps and Worcester having all gone out of business during the 2022-23 season, leaving the top flight of English rugby with only 10 Wales in 2003, five professional regions were created from the club game before Celtic Warriors were disbanded in 2017, the WRU stepped in to be the majority stakeholder at Dragons following financial difficulties. The Newport-based side were eventually returned to private investment in March 2024, Cardiff announced a loss of £2.1m for the year ending June 2023, with the next set of accounts due in May Ospreys and Scarlets have recently announced losses of more than £2m for the year ending June current budgets for the four Welsh professional sides is £4.5m. That is planned to rise to £5.1m and then to more than £6m in the coming seasons.
