A company run by David Neal was sentenced days ago for putting homes at risk of ‘major’ harm – and another of his firms is facing a separate criminal investigation

The business behind a controversial landfill site has been under criminal investigation for more than two years. Resources Management Limited (RML) continues to be probed by environmental regulator Natural Resources Wales (NRW) amid a long-running row over the “unbearable” stench from Withyhedge landfill near Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.

RML is run by 65-year-old David Neal who was at the centre of a national scandal in 2024 over his £200,000 donation to the Welsh Labour leadership campaign of Vaughan Gething. The businessman’s history of environmental offences – including two suspended jail terms – meant there was fierce criticism of the donation, which would ultimately lead to Mr Gething resigning after just 118 days as First Minister.

Mr Neal made headlines again days ago as one of his firms, Atlantic Recycling, was ordered to pay £68,154 for criminally breaching its permit by storing highly combustible waste at its Cardiff site in a manner that risked “major environmental harm”. For the biggest stories in Wales first, sign up to our daily newsletter.

That prosecution was brought by NRW, which is also carrying out the criminal investigation into RML over suspected environmental offences at Withyhedge.

The Withyhedge case was first revealed in June 2024 by the BBC, which reported that the investigation had begun as far back as the previous December.

NRW has now told WalesOnline the investigation is still ongoing but would not give further details. What we do know is the operations at Withyhedge have been highly contentious with locals who have likened the smell to “a stink bomb on steroids” and claimed it has affected their health.

The landfill closed from May 2024 until the following January due to compliance issues raised by NRW. There has also been action from Pembrokeshire council, which went to court in October 2024 to seek an interim injunction against RML to stop the odour.

A circuit judge found the tip was a “nuisance” to locals but refused to grant the injunction because the council should have first served a notice under the Environmental Protection Act.

The council “strongly” disagreed with the judge’s findings but dropped its legal action last February due to the cost of appealing. It also said there had been a “marked improvement in the situation”.

Locals criticised the council’s decision and a 2,400-strong campaign group, Stop the Stink, continues to post regular complaints on Facebook. Recent comments have described the stench as “on and off” but at its worst “almost unbearable”.

When news of the criminal investigation into Withyhedge first broke RML said it had identified the smell as hydrogen sulphide and would “continue to fully cooperate with any pending investigations”.

Pembrokeshire council has been monitoring hydrogen sulphide levels in the air near Withyhedge and is due to continue doing so until April. The council recently said there had been “only isolated incidents” where the odour threshold had been exceeded over the summer.

David Neal’s history of criminality

Neal was given a suspended prison sentence in 2013 for illegally dumping waste on a conservation site – the Gwent Levels – and four years later he was handed another suspended jail term for not cleaning up the same waste.

Another scandal came in 2019 when Atlantic Recycling worker Anthony Bilton died after being run over by a shovel loader. The business was fined £300,000 for the health and safety crime that led to the 59-year-old’s death.

Days ago Atlantic Recycling was ordered to pay £68,154 for an environmental permit breach dating back to July 2019 at its site in Rumney, Cardiff. “Evidence showed huge stockpiles, including one estimated at 90m long, the largest seen by [NRW],” said the regulator.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that if the stockpiles had caught alight there would have been major harm to the Gwent Levels as well as a “risk to nearby homes and businesses”.

“Previous serious fires occurred in 2014 and 2015,” said NRW, which also pointed to a “history of non-compliance” as the firm “continued accepting waste despite agreeing to stop”.

The scandal that led to Mr Gething’s resignation was not only about the £200,000 donation itself. There was also concern over a potential conflict of interest in the donation having come from a business of Mr Neal’s that had been loaned £400,000 by the Welsh Government-owned Development Bank of Wales (DBW).

The loan was given to a subsidiary of Mr Neal’s Dauson Environmental Group in 2023 to help purchase a solar farm. Mr Gething, who was economy minister at the time, insisted he did not take any decision relating to Dauson and that the DBW is independent of ministers.

When he faced scrutiny over the donation Mr Neal said he had simply been a supporter of Mr Gething and “never asked anything” from him.

RML has not yet provided a response to our approach for a new comment on the Withyhedge investigation.