A CALL for Pembrokeshire County Council to join other west Wales authorities in calling for its pension funds to be divested from companies profiting from genocide is to be heard by full council.

Recently, a call for Ceredigion County Council to stress it does not wish to be involved in companies connected with Israel during the ongoing Gaza crisis through its pension fund was backed by councillors.

A notice of motion before Ceredigion County Council’s October meeting, proposed by Cllr Endaf Edwards, said: “The ongoing and deeply concerning conflict in Gaza has led to significant loss of innocent life and widespread humanitarian suffering.

“Despite a temporary ceasefire in January 2025, hostilities have resumed, and conditions on the ground continue to deteriorate.”

Its calls included: a commitment to ethical governance and global justice; to express it does not wish to be associated with companies potentially complicit in war crimes or human rights violations; to write to the Welsh Pension Partnership, conveying these concerns and requesting a review of current investments; to request that the Dyfed Pension Fund and Welsh Pension Partnership strengthen their ethical investment policies; and to call on the Dyfed Pension Fund Committee and Welsh Pension Partnership to regularly review and publicly report on progress toward divestment from unethical holdings.

Following that, a petition was submitted on Pembrokeshire County Council’s own website, making a similar call.

The Pembrokeshire petition, started by Sarah Davies of Solidarity with Palestine Pembrokeshire, read: “We call upon Pembrokeshire County Council to pass a resolution calling on Dyfed Pension Fund to divest our pension money from companies profiting from genocide.

“As residents of Pembrokeshire, we are deeply concerned that the Dyfed Pension Fund (DPF) invests millions of pension fund money in companies complicit in Israel’s genocide, occupation, and apartheid against Palestinians. In addition, DPF uses the multinational asset management firm BlackRock to manage 40 per cent (£1.4 billion) of its total assets. BlackRock has been cited in a recent UN report as profiting from genocide.

“Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and other Welsh councils have already committed to divestment. We call upon Pembrokeshire County Council to use its influence to urge Dyfed Pension Fund to divest from these companies.”

The recently closed e-Petition attracted 560 signatures.

If a petition gets 500 signatures, the creator will have an opportunity to debate it at a future full council meeting.

Officers’ comparison with Ceredigion challenged as published charges appear far lower

QUESTIONS are being raised over the way Pembrokeshire County Council has compared its horse riding establishment licence fees with neighbouring authorities, ahead of the Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Thursday (Jan 22).

The issue follows concerns previously raised by county councillor Huw Murphy, who has been scrutinising the charges faced by riding establishments in Pembrokeshire and the figures presented in defence of the current fee structure.

Minutes of the Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on Tuesday (Nov 25) record that the Head of Housing and Public Protection told members that the Council’s current fee for establishments with up to ten horses was £583, “compared to £570 in Ceredigion and £600 in Carmarthenshire”, with fees increasing incrementally based on size.

However, screenshots of Ceredigion’s published fees for horse riding establishments appear to show a different charging structure, with bands listed at £242 for up to five animals and £370 for six to 15 animals, with higher charges applying as numbers increase.

By contrast, Pembrokeshire’s published fees for riding establishments show a charge of about £583 for establishments with up to ten horses, rising to around £766 for up to 30 and around £1,112 for those over 30.

The apparent discrepancy has led to claims that the comparison cited to committee members was not a like-for-like reflection of what Ceredigion actually charges, particularly for smaller operations.

Councillor Murphy said he could not see where a £570 fee for up to ten horses in Ceredigion came from, and pointed instead to the published fee bands. He said Pembrokeshire’s charges appeared significantly higher than those elsewhere in west Wales.

Cllr Murphy sits on the Culture and Tourism Committee of the Local Government Association and says he feels a vibrant Pembrokeshire relies on successful small businesses and will always support measures that allows Pembrokeshire to compete with other areas of Wales to encourage more visitors.

It is understood that the matter is expected to return in some form during this week’s committee cycle, with members anticipating further questioning.

The minutes also record wider concerns raised at the November meeting about assumptions used within financial modelling, and a call for figures to be reviewed where projected activity levels appeared unrealistic or potentially misleading.

Pembrokeshire County Council has been approached for comment.

PLANS for a new gym, sauna and study, to replace dilapidated existing buildings at a ‘landmark’ listed Victorian Pembrokeshire clifftop house have been given the go-ahead.

In an application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Andrew Lewis, through agent Acanthus Holden Architects, sought permission for the erection of three outbuildings at the Grade-II-listed Nyth Aderyn, North Cliffe, Tenby.

The applicant seeks to replace a semi-derelict timber ‘pavilion’ with a gym on the upper terrace, a ‘treehouse’ study on the mid terrace, again replacing an outbuilding in serious disrepair, and a sauna on the lower terrace, also replacing a building in disrepair.

The application, in the town’s conservation area, was supported by both Tenby Town Council and Tenby Civic Society.

An officer report recommending approval said: “Nyth Aderyn was designed in 1883 by the prominent London architect Ernest Newton in the fashionable ‘Queen Anne’ or ‘domestic’ Revival.

“Extended under Newton in 1893, the house is characterised by red clay tiled roofs and walls, bay windows with small-paned casements and (prior to listing) fine tall brick chimney stacks.”

It added: “The proposal is regarded as improving the setting of Nyth Aderyn, replacing poor buildings in varying states of repair. The terraced garden occupies a prominent section of the North Cliff, readily visible from the south, including the harbour area. The siting, scale, design and finishes of the buildings acknowledge their fine setting.”

It went on to say: “Nyth Aderyn is noted as a landmark building in the Tenby Conservation Area SPG, the house and its cliff-top grounds prominently visible from the harbour area.

“The proposal is regarded to both preserve and enhance the appearance of Tenby Conservation Area. The proposed buildings are modest, well-screened by existing trees, replacing existing structures of no intrinsic interest.”

The application was conditionally approved by park planners.