Bid to speed-up demolition of unstable property (From Western Telegraph)

Bid to speed-up demolition of unstable property

Pembrokeshire County Council has refused to confirm it has been given Commerce House - the unstable building at the bottom of Market Street, Haverfordwest - free of charge by its owners.

A council spokesman said: "Pembrokeshire County Council is in private discussions regarding the ownership of Commerce House. However, the main priority for the authority at present is to re-open Market Street to traffic."

Meanwhile, Haverfordwest Town Council has followed in the footsteps of local AM Tamsin Dunwoody-Kneafsey and is lobbying Cadw in an effort to speed up the organisation's granting of permission to demolish.

Mrs Dunwoody-Kneafsey said: "I have spoken to the chief executive of Cadw who saw no reason at all why there should be a delay from their point of view.

"All seems to be moving along quite well given the dreadful situation the building is in." The AM for Preseli Pembrokeshire said she believed the demolition process could now be quicker than first expected and she hoped the building could be levelled and Market Street re-opened before Christmas trading began.

COMMERCE House, at the corner of Haverfordwest's Market Street and opposite St Mary's Church, should be replaced by a recreational gardens. The idea has come from the family of the late Mr Joffre Swales, known to everyone in Pembrokeshire as Mr Music.

His children - Freda Swales Shewry, Pat Barker and Peter Swales - say it should become a green area for the use of residents, visitors and workers.

Their suggested name is Commerce Gardens and they say the statues from the buiding could find a home there. They would also be happy to raise funds for a bandstand in memory of their father.

"We are members of Haverfordwest Civic Society and would always strongly support the saving of our town's heritage, but this would seem to be a chance to give this area a breath of fresh air and spiritual refreshment," they say in a letter to the Western Telegraph.

And they urge: "Please, please no more flats and bedsits in this part of town until the county council can cope with the problems arising from the increased demand for rubbish collection and other services.

"No facilities for storage of rubbish and waste from domestic properties is making this part of town a slum. Binbags and boxes are left spilling out their contents throughout the week ready for the one weekly collection on a Monday." They feel that any additional residential development at the top of town will only exacerbate the problem.

"We would urge the various departments of the council to communicate with each other about the problems that arise when a building becomes flats in the centre of town with no provision being made for the extra strain that increased occupancy brings," the letter adds.

They also point out that the demolition of Commerce House would not produce a hole betwen two existing buildings. A green area there would not only be a cheaper option but it also seems an ideal opportunity to give this area a new identity, they say. What do Western Telegraph readers think of this idea?