NEWLY formed opposition party the Pembrokeshire Alliance will not enter negotiations with the current ruling group at County Hall but has called for a ‘broadly based grand coalition’.

There was an angry response from some commentators when Alliance leader Cllr Bob Kilmister revealed online that he had been approached by Independent Plus Group leader of the council Cllr Jamie Adams and he was considering a coalition proposal.

Some members left the opposition group in protest.

Cllr Kilmister denied that any negotiations had taken place and the matter was put before the group’s governing executive at a specially convened meeting last week.

The group believes a ‘grand coalition’ is necessary to ‘tackle the crisis at County Hall’ and to push for Cllr Adams to stand down.

Pembrokeshire Alliance spokesman, Andrew Lye, added: "After a long, thoughtful and democratic debate which discussed the current crisis at County Hall, the Alliance's Executive Committee voted to reject any coalition discussions with the IPG, called for the resignation of Cllr Jamie Adams as Leader of the Council, and called for cross-party discussions to form a Grand Coalition to resolve the huge and mounting problems within the Council."

Pembrokeshire Alliance leader, Cllr Bob Kilmister, added: "Our debate shows clearly that decisions made by the Pembrokeshire Alliance are made through an open democratic process. At the same time we are taking a considered and constructive approach on how to take the Council forward. That is why I had discussions last week with Cllr Adams.

"However, our clear view is that the crisis facing the Council is now so serious that the only way forward is to create a Grand Coalition. This Coalition must elect a new Council Leader who can command the support of both Councillors and the community. There is no other viable way forward, especially in view of further potential defections from the ruling IPG. I am calling on Cllr Adams to put Pembrokeshire first and start the process by standing down as Leader. Time is running out for the Council to deal with its problems. We urgently need a stable and effective Ruling Administration which can tackle the problems and carry out whole scale reform of the way the Council operates. Nothing less will now do."