News

Pembroke Dock: Town Council in rent payment controversy

Published

10 years ago

January 16, 2016

Sarah-Jane Absalom

PEMBROKE DOCK TOWN COUNCIL is in a dispute with the Pater Hall Trust over its rent payments.

The Town Council has a 25-year lease with the Pater Hall Trust for use of the Pater Hall and other facilities.

However, the Council have been relocated to the Bridge Innovation Centre on a temporary basis and say they will relocate back to the Pater Hall once the ground floor offices are up to a standard which will allow for normal working regulations.

Cllr Phil Gwyther submitted a notice of motion which called for the Council not to break its lease with the Trust by entering into negotiations over a new lease when the new offices are completed.

At the November meeting of the Council, Cllr Gwyther revealed that he had been in contact with the Town Council’s solicitor who had said that it would be a breach of contract if the council stopped paying the rent.

There were also doubts as to whether or not the lease had been signed but again the solicitor said that because the agreement had been in place 10 years the lease was legal regardless of it being signed or not.

At Thursday’s (Jan 14) meeting of the Town Council, Cllr Gwyther’s notice of motion was discussed at length but no agreement was reached and the motion was deferred until the next meeting.

Cllr Gwyther, who is also a member of the Pater Hall Trust, said: “We must not be the legal equivalent of squatters and the council must be legal and proper. If we do maintain the rent the current lease we’ve got is still valid.

“I do feel that the trustees have been put in a very difficult situation and it is very awkward for us.

“As trustees we have to do our duty to the trust and ensure that it is financially viable.

“I know some councillors are keen to stop paying the rent but we haven’t voted as a body to do that. There will need to be a written agreement between the council and trust about the rent because the rental figure was never mentioned in these documents and we have been paying the rent based on a council decision made in 2005.

“When the Trust was set up the Council gave a written guarantee to the charity commissioners that the rental payment was the part that the council would give the trust in order for it to be financially viable.

“I don’t feel we should be breaking our promise with the charity that we made in writing. We should hope that the Trust will keep going.”

Cllr Sue Perkins said: “I am quite concerned that the five trustees have already taken a vote on this and made their decisions because the decisions of what we do should be done in this council and its very obvious that five trustees have already voted on the notice of motion. They should have taken their views to the council first.

“I haven’t seen any legal advice to say that we can’t withdraw funding. If it’s there I am more than happy to see it and then I will make a decision.”

Councillor Tony Wilcox said: “We are here now because the Trust has neglected the Town Council offices when they knew full well that they weren’t occupied.

“The rooms upstairs are unfit for purpose and that’s why we moved out.”

Cllr Gwyther then read part of a letter to the Charities’ commission from the Council in June 2005 but members were unhappy that a copy had not been circulated to them.

Cllr Perkins added that there was ‘no way’ she would vote on the notice of motion and asked for it to be held in abeyance.

Cllr Andrew McNaughton suggested that the council should pay the rent for the coming month before discussing the matter again.

Cllr Gwyther said his notice of motion was about principles and not about the money but that was challenged by Cllr Perkins who said that the Trust relied on the Town Council.

It was also revealed that the council paid £1820 for the office and a further £1560 for the chamber which they had not been using.

The Town Council had agreed to pay £7000 in rent for the first three years but that was not reviewed.

After a lengthy debate it was agreed that the matter would be deferred until the next meeting of the council.

News

BBC apologises to Herald’s editor for inaccurate story

Published

59 minutes ago

December 4, 2025

Staff Writer

THE BBC has issued a formal apology and amended a six-year-old article written by BBC Wales Business Correspondent Huw Thomas after its Executive Complaints Unit ruled that the original headline and wording gave an “incorrect impression” that Herald editor Tom Sinclair was personally liable for tens of thousands of pounds in debt.

The 2019 report, originally headlined “Herald newspaper editor Tom Sinclair has £70,000 debts”, has now been changed.

The ECU found: “The wording of the article and its headline could have led readers to form the incorrect impression that the debt was Mr Sinclair’s personal responsibility… In that respect the article failed to meet the BBC’s standards of due accuracy.”

Mr Sinclair said: “I’m grateful to the ECU for the apology and for correcting the personal-liability impression that caused real harm for six years. However, the article still links the debts to ‘the group which publishes The Herald’ when in fact they related to printing companies that were dissolved two years before the Herald was founded in 2013. I have asked the BBC to add that final clarification so the record is completely accurate.”

A formal apology and correction of this kind from the BBC is extremely rare, especially for a story more than six years old.

Business

First wind turbine components arrive as LNG project moves ahead

Published

4 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

THE FIRST ship carrying major components for Dragon LNG’s new onshore wind turbines
docked at Pembroke Port yesterday afternoon last week, marking the start of physical
deliveries for the multi-million-pound renewable energy project.

The Maltese-registered general cargo vessel Peak Bergen berthed at Pembroke Dock on
shortly after 4pm on Wednesday 26th November, bringing tower sections and other heavy
components for the three Enercon turbines that will eventually stand on land adjacent to the
existing gas terminal at Waterston.

A second vessel, the Irish-flagged Wilson Flex IV, has arrived in Pembroke Port today is
due to arrive in the early hours of this morning (Thursday) carrying the giant rotor blades.
The deliveries follow a successful trial convoy on 25 November, when police-escorted low-
loader trailers carried dummy loads along the planned route from the port through
Pembroke, past Waterloo roundabout and up the A477 to the Dragon LNG site.

Dragon LNG’s Community and Social Performance Officer, Lynette Round, confirmed the
latest movements in emails to the Herald.

“The Peak Bergen arrived last week yesterday with the first components,” she said. “We are
expecting another delivery tomorrow (Thursday) onboard the Wilson Flex IV. This will be
blades and is currently showing an ETA of approximately 03:30.”

The £14.3 million project, approved by Welsh Ministers last year, will see three turbines with
a combined capacity of up to 13.5 MW erected on company-owned land next to the LNG
terminal. Once operational – expected in late 2026 – they will generate enough electricity to
power the entire site, significantly reducing its carbon footprint.

Port of Milford Haven shipping movements showed the Peak Bergen approaching the Haven
throughout Wednesday morning before finally tying up at the cargo berth in Pembroke Dock.

Cranes began unloading operations yesterday evening.

The Weather conditions are currently were favourable for this morning’s the arrival of
the Wilson Flex IV, which was tracking south of the Smalls at midnight.

The abnormal-load convoys carrying the components from the port to Waterston are
expected to begin early next year, subject to final police and highway approvals.

A community benefit fund linked to the project will provide training opportunities and energy-
bill support for residents in nearby Waterston, Llanstadwell and Neyland.
Further updates will be issued by Dragon LNG as the Port of Milford Haven as the delivery
programme continues.

Photo: Martin Cavaney

Crime

Banned for 40 months after driving with cocaine breakdown product in blood

Published

4 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Sarah-Jane Absalom

A MILFORD HAVEN woman has been handed a lengthy driving ban after admitting driving with a controlled drug in her system more than ten times over the legal limit.

SENTENCED AT HAVERFORDWEST

Sally Allen, 43, of Wentworth Close, Hubberston, appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (Dec 4) for sentencing, having pleaded guilty on November 25 to driving with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the prescribed limit.

The court heard that Allen was stopped on August 25 on the Old Hakin Road at Tiers Cross while driving an Audi A3. Blood analysis showed 509µg/l of Benzoylecgonine, a breakdown product of cocaine. The legal limit is 50µg/l.

COMMUNITY ORDER AND REHABILITATION

Magistrates imposed a 40-month driving ban, backdated to her interim disqualification which began on November 25.

Allen was also handed a 12-month community order, requiring her to complete 10 days of rehabilitation activities as directed by the Probation Service.

She was fined £120, ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £114 surcharge. Her financial penalties will be paid in £25 monthly instalments from January 1, 2026.

The bench—Mrs H Roberts, Mr M Shankland and Mrs J Morris—said her guilty plea had been taken into account when passing sentence.