Dear Editor
The documents obtained by the Western Telegraph under the Freedom of Information Act (Western Telegraph, March 18th) make it clear that the officers of Pembrokeshire County Council were in cosy and secret talks with Milford Haven Port Authority (the landlords of Cedar Court) for almost a year before the town was hit with the news that the main library was to be relocated.
The council’s cabinet was given the minimum of information on which to rubber stamp the officers’ recommendation, including the frightening statistic that it would cost £250,000 to make the current building disabled friendly by providing a lift and refuge to the first floor. This estimate was not backed by any hard evidence.
The council refuses to state the cost of the 25-year lease for the Cedar Court premises, or the cost of the adaptations needed, hiding behind the cloak of commercial confidentiality.
According to the port authority’s promotional literature, it was expecting rent of £10 per square foot, which would give an annual rent of more than £80,000 for the 8,500 sq ft that the council will lease when all phases are complete.
No doubt the port authority was open to negotiation, because years after opening, the complex is only half occupied — and not by the businesses it was designed to attract when it was first built with more than £1 million of tax payers’ Objective One cash.
Vivien Stoddart
county councillor for Hubberston Ward
Court Farm,
Liddeston,
Milford Haven.
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