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News

Johnston: When good fences don’t make good neighbours

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jh2A DISPUTE in Johnston has escalated after a landowner erected fencing to prevent cars from passing and repassing over the access to his home.

Greg Bishop, the owner of Johnston Hall, spoke to The Herald earlier this week to express his exasperation about the way he has been vilified by Johnston Community Council, who he has accused of not bothering to respond to proposals he advanced in February of this year.

In the kitchen of Johnston Hall, Greg Bishop laid out a series of maps, plans, and charts dating back to the middle of the nineteenth century. The maze of lines and markings show the changing face of the village and the division and subdivision of land over time.

From Mr Bishop’s perspective, the situation is as clear as the lines on the map, which he says show that a car park on Church Road was originally part of the access way to the Hall.

“I want to make it clear,” Mr Bishop told our reporter, “I’m not claiming the land on which the car park is. People can keep on using the car park. All I am saying is that I don’t want people parking their vehicles across my gateway or blocking my access route to and from my property.”

Mr Bishop expressed his grievance that his motives and intentions had been both misinterpreted and misrepresented within the village.

“At no time have I said I will stop people using the car park as a car park, but it is being used as a turning circle or roundabout, and when vehicles come out of the end of the car park nearest Johnston Hall, they are blocking and damaging my property.

“The Community Council certainly doesn’t own the car park. It certainly doesn’t own the access to my property. And yet members of the Community Council have taken it upon themselves to stick their oar in.”

“I approached the Community Council and when I got nowhere trying to speak with them, my solicitor wrote a letter in February of this year. I didn’t get an answer, either from the Community Council or any solicitors acting on their behalf. Instead a petition misrepresenting everything that letter said was circulated at the Polling Station in Johnston Institute and round the village on the day of the General Election.

“The content of that petition was untrue from start to finish. It was actively canvassing people to subscribe to a version of events to support a legal dispute in which the Community Council has managed to involve itself without any legal claim to the land in question. Again, what business is it of theirs? They don’t own the land, they don’t even claim to own the land.  I tried talking with them, I made sensible proposals which they ignored. I have been advised to block off the end of the car park and I am considering my position on that.

“It is amazing to me that the solicitor who acted for Mr Evans when he sold the land to me, who acted when Mr Evans sold parts of the land to other people, finds himself able to act for the Community Council when Mr Evans has provided a witness statement in my ongoing application to the Land Registry.”

Mr Bishop reserved his sternest criticism for local County Councillor, Ken Rowlands, former Chair of Johnston Community Council who still sits as a member upon it: “I had gathered witness statements from three long standing Johnston residents. People who have been here a damned sight longer than me, and certainly longer than Mr Rowlands. One of them took his witness statement to show Ken Rowlands. Suddenly he decided that everything he had originally written in the statement was either untrue or he was not prepared to stick by it. What business was it of Mr Rowlands to interfere? It was nothing to do with him. As far as I am concerned, he has caused this dispute to arise. He is responsible for it.”

We spoke to Cllr Ken Rowlands about the dispute. Cllr Rowlands told us. His take on events was somewhat different: “What’s happened is that Mr Bishop made an approach to the community council about people parking in his gateway. We agreed to look at it, possibly arranging to paint some chevrons to prevent inconsiderate users of the car park from blocking his gates.

“Mr Bishop told us he would talk to his solicitors about it. The next thing we knew we had a letter laying claim to the car park and other land. That was completely unacceptable to us as a Community Council and we instructed our solicitors to respond.”

We pointed out that it was only after the previous landowner, Merrick Evans, had conveyed the land on which Fairfield Nursing Home sat, that the ‘car park’ area had been tarmacked by the Fairfield’s owner in the 1990’s. . At the time Fairfield had been built, the Hall’s then owner had imposed a condition regarding the maintenance of the roadway to adjoin Church Road. The existing pavement to the car park’s front had only been in position since 2006.

If the Community Council did not own the land and was not responsible for its upkeep, we asked Councillor Rowlands who was: “In light of the current situation, I have asked the Highways Department to adopt the roadway as a matter of urgency using its powers under S.31 of the Highways Act. There will shortly be an emergency meeting of the Community Council to discuss recent developments.”

He continued: “What I am concerned about here is that a facility that has been used for many years and is important for the flow of traffic has now been blocked off at one end. People using the surgery are having to reverse out of the car park.

“The end has now been fenced off and I had Council officers come out late at night to make sure it was safe and to erect high visibility signs around the fence which has now been put up.”

Mr Bishop told us: “I have followed my solicitor’s advice and put up a fence to protect my rights. I have said before, the Community Council’s attitude and the way I have been misrepresented is behind all of this. I have made generous offers that would place me to expense. The Community Council seems to think that it can do and say what it wants. It has inflamed the situation.”

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. sjb

    August 8, 2015 at 4:12 pm

    councillors couldn’t even run a tap without their council “servants” telling them what to do 🙁 The quality of our public representatives seriously make me wonder If Democracy is such a great system.

  2. sjb

    August 13, 2015 at 5:30 pm

    I’ve seen a couple of dislikes to my comment, OK then guys, our glorious IPiG councillors can manage to run a tap – get your waders ready 🙂

  3. max

    August 14, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    Does this rowlands guy ever stop lieing,As you can clearly see cars parked,facing forward,why would he say they have to reverse out.The calibre of the protected elected people would surely fall over if they had to stand on their own two feet.

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News

​Pembrokeshire MS calls for reversal of ‘family farm’ and ‘jobs’ taxes

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THE UK’S economy experienced an unexpected contraction of 0.1% in January 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), raising concerns about the nation’s economic trajectory. This downturn has intensified debates over current fiscal policies, particularly those affecting rural communities and employment.​

Samuel Kurtz, Member of the Senedd (MS) for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire and the Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Energy, has been vocal in his criticism of the Labour government’s recent tax policies. He argues that these measures, notably the so-called ‘family farm tax’ and ‘jobs tax’, are detrimental to economic growth and the livelihoods of people in Wales.​

The ‘family farm tax’ refers to proposed changes in inheritance tax, imposing a 20% levy on agricultural assets exceeding £1 million, set to take effect from April 2026. Critics, including NFU Cymru President Aled Jones, warn that this tax could encompass the majority of Wales’ working family farms, potentially leading to financial burdens that threaten their sustainability. ​

In addition, the ‘jobs tax’ pertains to increases in employers’ National Insurance contributions, a move that has faced opposition from business leaders concerned about its impact on employment and economic recovery. ​

Kurtz emphasizes the urgency for the Chancellor to reconsider these policies in the forthcoming budget, aiming to restore business confidence and support key sectors of the economy.​

He told The Pembrokeshire Herald: “The ONS figures confirm a decline in growth, further proof of the damage caused by Labour’s Budget last autumn.

“Labour pledged to deliver the fastest-growing economy in the G7, yet business confidence has plummeted, living standards are in decline, and jobs are being lost.

“With just 12 days until the emergency Budget, the Chancellor must reverse her damaging policies including Labour’s jobs tax and family farm tax and do whatever it takes to restore business confidence.”

The economic contraction in January underscores the challenges facing the UK government as it seeks to balance fiscal responsibility with the need to foster growth and stability, particularly in sectors vital to Wales’ economy.

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Crime

Probation Service plan could see underqualified staff dealing with sex offenders

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PLANS to shift the supervision of sex offenders and domestic abusers in England and Wales to less-qualified probation staff have raised alarm among experts, with warnings that public safety could be at risk.

Under the proposals, set to be implemented in June, behaviour programmes for offenders will be delivered by “band 3” staff—who are not fully qualified probation officers—rather than “band 4” officers with extensive experience handling serious cases, including those involving rapists and paedophiles, and violent partners.

The move is part of wider changes in the probation system, which will also see the number of low- and medium-risk offenders required to complete twice-weekly rehabilitation courses reduced. Instead, probation officers will be expected to manage these offenders using “toolkits” in weekly meetings, rather than putting them through structured rehabilitation courses.

Some intervention programmes for sex offenders, including Horizon, Kaizen, and iHorizon, will also be scrapped in favour of a new single scheme called Building Choices.

Martin Jones, the chief inspector of probation, has urged the government to closely monitor the new programmes to ensure they are effective and do not compromise public safety.

“HM Prison and Probation Service needs to be certain that these programmes are delivering the intended results,” Jones said. “There is a real risk of wasting public money on schemes that fail to reduce reoffending.”

Concerns have been growing among probation officers, who have been voicing their unease for months. Some believe the changes will not lighten their workload, as intended, but instead add to it. Others fear that shifting responsibility to less-experienced staff could lead to poor outcomes.

Whitehall sources have echoed these concerns, warning that the new approach could damage the probation service’s reputation and effectiveness.

A probation officer, speaking anonymously, said: “There are serious worries about these changes. Peer challenge in group settings is a key part of rehabilitation—when offenders deny their crimes, others in the group call them out. This dynamic is much harder to achieve in one-on-one meetings.”

The overhaul comes amid broader pressures on the probation system. Last month, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced that rehabilitation courses for 13,000 convicted criminals would be scrapped due to what she described as “impossible” workloads faced by probation officers.

Mahmood defended the changes, stating: “We must prioritise resources for the most serious offenders. Those who pose a higher risk will still receive the courses they need, and breaches of licence conditions will continue to be met with prison recalls.”

She also outlined plans to recruit 1,300 new probation officers by March 2026, alongside an additional 1,000 staff by this March, and introduce new technology to reduce administrative burdens on officers.

Jones acknowledged the need for reforms, admitting that probation officers were struggling with heavy caseloads, but stressed that cutting structured rehabilitation for lower-risk offenders should be carefully reviewed to avoid unintended consequences.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Our priority is keeping the public safe, which is why probation officers will continue to focus on the highest-risk offenders. Only staff who are fully trained will be allowed to deliver accredited rehabilitation programmes, and this will not change under the new proposals.”

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News

Local MP completes his first Haverfordwest Parkrun

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HAVERFORDWEST Parkrun number 312 took place on Saturday (Mar 15) at the Racecourse, with 80 participants crossing the finish line—among them, Henry Tufnell MP, who completed his first parkrun.

The MP recorded a time of 18 minutes and 14 seconds at the free weekly 5k community event. His wife, Poppy, also took part, volunteering for the first time as one of 15 helpers who ensure the event runs smoothly under the parkrun UK umbrella.

The event, which has now seen 24,536 finishers, takes place every Saturday at 9:00am. Organisers expressed gratitude to Haverfordwest Racecourse Public Park Trust for their continued support in hosting the event and to Haverfordwest Cricket Club for providing toilet facilities for participants each week.

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