News

New Welsh medium school approved

Published

9 years ago

May 6, 2016

IN AN Extraordinary Council meeting on Thursday, (Apr 21). Pembrokeshire County Council agreed on a site for the proposed 3-16 Welsh school in Haverfordwest.

The new school is planned to be located at Withybush opposite the Lost Coins pub on the main roundabout connecting Fishguard and the north of the county with Haverfordwest via the A40 and neighbouring the roundabout which connects Haverfordwest with the north and east of the county on the B4329.

Concerns were expressed by councillors that the location of the proposed school had been announced after the consultation period had ended and that parents of potential parents at the new school were unable to make the assessment.

Cllr Tom Tudor read a letter from a parent on St Thomas Green who would like her son to attend a Welsh Medium School but due to their own disability would be unable to walk their child to school, while school transport would not be a viable option for a five year old.

Cllr Jamie Adams confirmed that nine sites had been considered and repeated his untrue assertion that the Tasker-Milward site was unavailable because charity trustees would not support the location of a purely Welsh Medium school on the site.

That misstatement was picked up upon by Cllr Bob Kilmister who told councillors that the truth was that the Council had made a complete mess of the schools consultations as a result of incorrect advice given to them at the outset by Council officers.

Cllr Mike Evans expressed his concern that the new provision was not being located where most of the drive for separate welsh language provision was coming, in the south of Pembrokeshire.

He poured scorn on Jamie Adams’s attempts to misquote his own words back to him by way of response and expressed his continued concern that the Cabinet member for Education appeared to be unable to answer straight questions without assistance from the officer sitting next to her.

Cllr Evans eventually extracted a satisfactory answer from Cllr Perkins after repeatedly enquiring whether sixth form Welsh Medium Education would be offered in the future at the school.

Cllr Perkins eventually and after much prompting, managed to explain that it was an option but that the Council could not be bound to the location of such provision at this point, although there was sufficient land available for the Council’s money to provide such a facility.

Cllr David Bryant quoted a rumoured price of £1m for the purchase of the land and asked for confirmation that was the sum involved.

Cllr Jamie Adams replied that he would not disclose the purchase price for reasons of commercial sensitivity. It was forcefully pointed out by David Bryant that councillors were being asked to sign a blank cheque for the purchase of the land.

Council then had to move into private session to be told the price of purchasing land to be owned by the public with public money for the building of a school to be financed by the public.

After a short interval, the webcast resumed and the public debate continued.

However, the cat was effectively let out of the bag by an intervention from chair Wynne Evans, who warned Cllr Jacob Williams at a later stage in the debate when he quoted a £1m purchase price for the land.

Councillors were repeatedly reassured by Cllr Adams and – occasionally by Cllr Perkins – that everything was legal and above board and there were no legal issues regarding the consultation and that all schools potentially affected had been contacted and consulted, although Cllr Perkins appeared unable to substantiate a claim that parents had been consulted on the school’s location.

While councillors overwhelmingly voted in favour of the plan going to further consultation – there will now be a formal objection period for further observations and responses – a considerable number of councillors expressed misgivings about costs and the transport issue, to suggest that the next stage will be anything but smooth.

After the meeting, Bethan Williams, Cymdeithas yr Iaith’s area officer for Dyfed said: “Now that a site has been designated for a 3-16 Welsh school in Haverfordwest, the plan is a step closer, and the need for Welsh provision needs to be addressed elsewhere in the county.

“The report before councillors today recognises the fact that many areas have been added to the catchment area of the proposed new school, as a strategy for Welsh education is lacking in those areas.

“What the Council needs to do is move all schools in the county along the linguistic continuum gradually, with the aim that all schools are Welshmedium over time. That way, no one would be deprived of an education in Welsh.”

Crime

Waste dumped at recycling centre leads police to drug factory near Cardigan

Published

3 hours ago

July 20, 2025

Tom Sinclair

Man jailed after drug discovery sparked by vigilant staff

A TIP-OFF from staff at an Aberystwyth recycling centre has led to the discovery of a large cannabis factory in a derelict property near Cardigan — and landed a 20-year-old man behind bars.

Manuel Nerguti was sentenced to six months in prison at Swansea Crown Court on Friday (July 11) after pleading guilty to producing a class B drug.

The court heard that on May 1 this year, workers at the Aberystwyth recycling centre reported a suspicious delivery: four to five bags of cannabis stalks, apparently dumped by men in a hired Ford Transit van.

Police acted quickly and intercepted the van later that afternoon on the road between Aberystwyth and Cardigan. Nerguti and two other men were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of cannabis, but were released without charge at the time, as no grow site had been located.

However, a month later, acting on new intelligence, Dyfed-Powys Police executed a warrant at a derelict house in Bridell, near Cardigan. Inside, they discovered a sophisticated cannabis cultivation operation: 260 mature plants spread across five rooms and an attic, with the electricity supply illegally bypassed.

During the raid on June 7, Nerguti attempted to flee but was found hiding behind a washing machine in the garage.

He was charged and later pleaded guilty to producing cannabis.

Detective Constable Sam Garside, who led the investigation, praised the recycling centre staff for their quick thinking.

He said: “This result is thanks to the staff at the recycling centre for recognising that criminal activity was taking place and for alerting police quickly.

“We rely on the public to inform us of anything suspicious going on in their communities and we encourage people to get in touch if they suspect anything. We were able to use our local knowledge and police intelligence to execute a successful warrant and shut down an illegal cannabis factory.

“We are committed to continuing our drug operations across Dyfed-Powys and bringing offenders like Nerguti to justice.”

Police estimate the cannabis seized had a potential street value of up to £242,000.

More information on Operation Scotney — Dyfed-Powys Police’s campaign to tackle cannabis cultivation — including how to spot signs of a drug grow, can be found on their website.

News

Pembrokeshire County Council group to review ‘climate emergency’

Published

3 hours ago

July 20, 2025

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

A CALL for a group to review Pembrokeshire County Council’s decision to declare a climate emergency some six years ago has been backed by councillors.

In May 2019, the council declare a climate emergency following a notice of motion by Cllr Joshua Beynon calling on the authority to back the global consensus that climate change poses a risk to the well-being of future generations.

He had urged county councillors to back a motion to take “bold, decisive action” to fight “truly, catastrophic” climate change.

He called on the council to commit to becoming a zero-carbon local authority by 2030.

At the July meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, a notice of motion by Cllr Mike Stoddart called for the establishment of a working group to review the decision made by the council to declare a climate change emergency.

Cllr Stoddart’s motion said: “Given the turbulence on the global financial markets; the parlous state of the UK’s public finances; Pembrokeshire County Council’s projected funding gap; and the government’s softening of its policies on the switch to EV vehicles and heat pumps, this council establishes a seven person, politically balanced working group to review the authority’s decision to declare a climate emergency at its meeting on May 9, 2019.

“The working group will be asked to: (a) examine the effect of the emergency declaration on the level of council tax in Pembrokeshire and particularly the extent to which any such increases militate against the authority’s anti-poverty policies.

“(b) The cost of decarbonising the council’s housing stock and the effect this has had on the authority’s ability to finance the building of new housing.

“(c) The extent to which the council’s decarbonisation programme has contributed to a reduction of the risk of runaway global temperature increases, and (d) any other effects that the working group considers may have adversely impacted the wellbeing of the residents of Pembrokeshire.”

Cllr Stoddart’s notice of motion was previously supported at the June meeting of the council’s corporate overview and scrutiny committee, with a recommendation to full council in July meeting, to reinstate the Net Zero Working Group to review the contents of the notice of motion and, subject to the outcome of this review, review the future delivery of the Net Zero Action Plan.

Cllr Stoddart’s call was backed by Cllr Steve Alderman, and Cllr Rhys Jordan, who said: “I fully support this, it couldn’t come sooner; around England and Wales councils are looking at this, there’s been a huge push for a ‘net zero’ agenda at any cost, I don’t think we’re in a position to drive that.”

Cllr Aaron Carey said: “We’ve set ourselves some lofty goals, but we haven’t got the money to back it up.”

Members overwhelmingly agreed to back the June committee recommendations.

News

Urgent appeal to save 1,000 hens in Pembrokeshire and beyond

Published

6 hours ago

July 20, 2025

Tom Sinclair

British Hen Welfare Trust seeks homes before Friday deadline

AN URGENT appeal has been launched to find homes for more than 1,000 hens due to be rehomed next weekend – including from a rescue centre in Boncath, Pembrokeshire.

The British Hen Welfare Trust (BHWT) is coordinating the rehoming effort on Saturday (July 26), aiming to rescue ex-caged hens from slaughter and instead place them into loving homes. The appeal also covers rehoming centres in Locking, near Bristol, and Kineton in Warwickshire.

The charity says the hens have come to the end of their commercial egg-laying lives, but remain healthy and can thrive as pets. However, they must be rehomed by Friday (July 25) to avoid being needlessly killed.

“This is a time-sensitive and visual story that resonates locally,” said Andy Hill, Marketing & Communications Officer for the BHWT. “These hens have worked hard their whole lives and deserve a second chance.”

The organisation recently marked the rehoming of its one millionth hen – which was adopted by King Charles III – and the upcoming effort is part of its continued mission to improve hen welfare across the UK.

Local spokespeople are available for interview, and high-resolution images are available for media use.

For more information or to register interest in adopting hens, visit: www.bhwt.org.uk

Image for illustration purposes only