News

Narberth’s old library declared ‘surplus’ and will be up for sale

Published

2 weeks ago

May 24, 2023

Bruce Sinclair Local Democracy Reporter

NARBERTH’S old library will go up for sale following the backing of senior councillors.

At the May meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet, the St James Street library was declared surplus.

The building – a former chapel – was declared surplus as Narberth is to get a new library as part of the redevelopment of the town’s former Narberth CP school site, which is expected to be handed over to Pembrokeshire County Council by local developers Andrew Rees and Charles Salmon – of Narberth Old School Developments – in early June.

Once it is handed over, the library will be fitted out ahead of its scheduled opening in early 2024.

A temporary library is currently operating in the town’s Bloomfield House Community Centre while repairs are undertaken at the St James St site.

The St James Street site – operating since the 1980s – will continue to provide library services in Narberth until the new library is completed.

Whilst a capital receipt will be generated from the disposal of the former Narberth Library, £55,000 of it will be required to fund the £55,000 budget pressure on the new library project, a report for Cabinet members stated.

At the May 22 Cabinet meeting, Cabinet Member for Place, the Region and Climate Change Cllr Paul Miller described the new town library as “another good news story in my book”.

He said the new library would compare favourably with other new libraries in Haverfordwest and Neyland, as well as the forthcoming South Quay library in Pembroke.

He praised the role of all involved in the new library, adding: “This is an example of us investing in our communities”.

Cllr Miller finished, saying: “Without ‘honking on,’ three brand-new libraries in the last few years, it’s just a microcosm of going back to investing in our communities, it’s one of the many services where we are making a difference.”

The report for members said other options for the old library had been considered: “The council could decide not to dispose of the asset and instead try to repurpose. However, no service has expressed an interest or budget identified to deliver the works necessary to the property to make it suitable for any alternative use.

“The council’s Corporate Asset Management Board have considered the future of the asset and deemed it surplus. Retention of the asset would require a change of use (a planning application), substantial capital and the identification of an end user.”

News

Concerns in Camrose as person with drone spotted ‘spying on properties’

Published

2 hours ago

June 4, 2023

Tom Sinclair

CAMROSE COMMUNITY CENTRE posted a warning to residents on Sunday afternoon (Jun 4), after a person with a drone was spotted acting suspiciously.

The post on the Community Centre’s Facebook page said that a man with a large black van was spotted in the area using the drone to look into houses and gardens.

The Herald has asked the police for a comment

MORE TO FOLLOW ON THIS BREAKING STORY

News

Charles Street closed off as cladding falls off commercial building

Published

3 hours ago

June 4, 2023

Tom Sinclair

FIRE FIGHTERS and police responded late on Sunday morning (Jun 4) to an incident involving cladding falling off the the top of the second floor of a commercial building.

Traffic was diverted away from the affected area whilst emergency services made sure the structure was safe.

A ladder tender from Haverfordwest Fire Station was called upon to assist in the incident.

Initial reports stated that no person was injured by the falling debris.

One passer by said “It is lucky this happened on a Sunday when most of the shops were closed, the outcome could have been rather different if this happened on a week day.”

The police confirmed the incident happened at West Wales Properties building, 89A Charles Street, Milford Haven.

(Photos: Tracy Hobbs Stinton/Facebook and David Lee/Herald Photographer)

Entertainment

Galactic Triumph! Heritage Centre transforms for epic Falcon Fun Day

Published

4 hours ago

June 4, 2023

Tom Sinclair

THE TOWERING figure of Chewbacca made a grand first time entry to Pembrokeshire on Bank Holiday Monday, starring in the second Falcon Fun Day at Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre.

The famous Star Wars character joined other re-enactors, including Darth Vader, Stormtroopers and Luke Skywalker, posing for countless photographs with the many hundreds of visitors who flocked to the centre in bright sunshine.

Starring inside the centre was R2-D2, the legendary droid from the Star Wars films. Re-enactors, from the 501st UK Garrison costuming group, travelled from across Wales and as far away as Milton Keynes to join in an event which is already becoming a firm favourite for Star Wars fans of all ages from a very wide area.
The Heritage Centre features a permanent exhibition telling the story of how the ‘Millennium Falcon’ spaceship was built in secret in a former RAF hangar in the 1970s for the Star Wars film ‘The Empire Strikes Back’.

Mark Williams, leader of the Falcon project, said: “The lightsaber training proved very popular all day and the virtual reality experience was a huge success. We are grateful to all the visitors for their support and patience as there were, at times, long queues. We shall be back again next year.”