PEMBROKESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL has confirmed the sale of the old Records Office at Haverfordwest Castle, causing an outcry from many residents, organisations and Haverfordwest Town Council.

Confirming the County Council’s position on the future of the historical site, a spokesperson said: “The former Records Office at Haverfordwest Castle was put up for sale two years ago. All offers were considered and a sale was agreed. However, the Town Council then applied to have the area surrounding the former Records Office formally registered as a town or village green.

PUBLIC INQUIRY 

“This led to a public inquiry which ruled that the Castle was not capable of registration as town or village green. While the application was being determined the proposed developer stood back. Now that the application has been determined he has reopened his interest and the sale is proceeding.” Though the County Council would not directly confirm the name of the buyer, The Herald was told last October by Councillor Mark Edwards that the purchaser was the developer Griffith-Roach Foundation. When asked how much the buyer was offering for the property, and how this compared to the £50,000 offer put forward by the Town Council, the spokesperson declined to comment, saying it was confidential, but did confirm the developer’s offer was ‘considerably higher’ than that of the Town Council. They were also asked if the market value for the property was being demanded, to which they said it had been offered on the open market and a decision was taken to ‘sell for best consideration’. However, in 2006, a Notice of Motion was considered by the Council relating to the General Disposal Consent (Wales) which came into force on December 31, 2003. The Motion specifically sought to recognise that in circumstances which benefited the promotion of social economic and environmental well-being, property or land can be released to community organisations at less than the best consideration. Lesley Turner of Haverfordwest Civic Society said: “The proposed sale, without public consultation, would deprive Haverfordwest of its heritage. We believe that this location should remain for the Town’s community use and for the benefit of tourism”. Barbara Shone, Deputy Chair of Trustees Board of Haverfordwest Museum, said: “In 1996 the County Council leased the Governor’s House to the Town Council on a 40-year lease, which doesn’t end till 2036. The Trustees of the Museum were formed in 1996 and they have a license to operate the Museum until then.”

CABINET MEETING

 However, during a Cabinet meeting of January 9, 2012, the issue of the museum was discussed. In the Cabinet minutes it was said: “The County Council acquire the Haverfordwest Town Council’s lease of the Governors House on terms acceptable to the Directors of Development and that County Council officers be authorised to use compulsory purchase powers to achieve the acquisition should this prove necessary.” Haverfordwest mayor Roy Thomas also spoke with The Herald about the manner in which the County Council are pursuing the sale: “Frankly it comes as no surprise. The County Council, despite promises for greater transparency, remain secretive; they also appear to have disregarded the Town Council’s offer. “All I can say is the County Council have shown no improvement in their ability to look after the cultural well-being of our town. One has to hope that the Assembly Government and the National Audit Office is keeping a watch on this affair.” Haverfordwest Town Councillor, Sarah Llewellyn, summed up the feelings of many who are angry about the sale ‘behind closed doors’, and said: “We were obviously very disappointed by the Inspector’s decision. However, what became clear during the hearing was the strength of local feeling, and resentment at the high-handed manner in which the County Council chose to deal with an application that merely sought to secure free and unlimited public access to the Castle grounds for future generations. “I will be very interested to hear more regarding any further proposals to dispose of the old prison building, and anything else inside the Castle walls. It seems the County Council is keen to off-load a number of old, and currently empty buildings within our town, including the old prison building and Foley House, seeing them only in terms of their financial burden. “Both the County Council and the prospective developer need to be more up front this time round. People deserve to know about any proposals beforehand, and how plans are likely to affect them. It is not acceptable for the County Council to present matters such as these as ‘done deals’, and to be anything less than wholly transparent about how much money will be changing hands, and on what terms.”

The Council says in response to these concerns, and specifically the question of public access to the Castle grounds, the County Council said that this consideration was part of the on-going negotiations with the developer. Town Councillor, Thomas Tudor, said: “I would not support selling the Old Records Offices under market value, especially if the asking price had already been offered. And I would support the T o w n Council’s offer for the property bearing in mind that it has been the only offer for some time and when no one else was interested. “Taking advantage of the Town Council’s offer would have been a far more positive move rather than allowing the property to rot and decay and become more of a burden to the tax payers. If I cannot find out what the architect and developer is offering, I would then have to try to obtain the information by using the Freedom of Information Act.” One area of concern for taxpayers was how much the County Council had spent in opposing the Town Council’s application for village green status. When asked for a figure, the County Council said: “Our engagement with the Town Council on the vast majority of issues is very positive. However, different tiers of Government will occasionally have different views on matters. This is a matter which is now resolved”. The Herald understands, however, that a deal for the sale of the Castle has been discussed secretly in Cabinet and a decision reached.