AS his time as Town Mayor begins to draw to a close, Councillor Roy Thomas is continuing his crusade over derelict buildings blighting Haverfordwest.

“I know Pembrokeshire County Council’s (PCC) hands are somewhat tied, but many of these buildings have looked so bad for such a long time I can’t understand why nothing has been done,” said Cllr Thomas.

“They are eyesores, blighting the town. I’d like to get some sort of satisfaction while I am still Mayor, but I won’t be letting this go even when I’m no longer in the role.”

Over the past year, Cllr Thomas has written to the authority asking whether it has a strategy regarding empty properties, such as the Wesleyan Chapel at the bottom of City Road. He is also troubled by the “absolute mess” that is the abandoned ex-Peugeot garage in Portfield.

“I’m concerned about how these buildings look to people visiting or driving through the town,” said Cllr Thomas. “They don’t exactly create a good impression. We depend on tourism in Pembrokeshire, and what’s happening in Haverfordwest is likely to chase tourists away. It’s crazy. Local people are really unhappy about how run-down these buildings look too.”

PCC has offered financial assistance to the owners of the former Archie Griffiths building, and the owners of the Wesleyan Chapel. The authority could use enforcement powers if properties are “dangerous structures”, and also has discretionary powers under the Town and Country Planning Act.

A PCC spokesperson said: “The properties Councillor Thomas has referred to are in private ownership. The owner of the ex-Peugeot garage has planning permission to redevelop the site while improvement works are currently being undertaken at the Wesleyan Chapel. For the Council to utilise enforcement powers would involve it spending a great deal of money on funding improvements which the Authority might not be able to recoup, on buildings that they do not own and at a time when local authority budgets are being drastically cut.

“That said the Council is in the process of undertaking a study on the condition of the Haverfordwest castle walls (which it owns) which border the Castle Lake car park and which are in need of repair.

We also operate an interest-free loan scheme which encourages owners to redevelop their empty properties to provide homes for those who need them.

The Empty Home loans may be used to return an empty property to use for either selling or renting.”