A HUBBERSTON councillor will today (Thursday) call on the county council to cut the 'eye-watering' cost to council house owners who want to buy the land in front of their home.

Cllr Viv Stoddart wants Pembrokeshire County Council to reduce the charges to homeowners who want to buy their frontage to create off-street parking.

She will argue the council is currently "abusing its powerful monopoly position as land owner".

"Estate residents who want to buy their frontage to create off-street parking face a punitive charge of £60 a square metre, which in the case of a small grassed parcel of land in my Hubberston ward adds up to £5,100, or an eye-watering £250,000 per acre," said Cllr Stoddart.

"On top of the whopping purchase price, applicants are required to pay the council thousands of pounds in legal fees - all this before the cost of paying a contractor to do the work."

She said the current charges were "prohibitive", and outstripped any resulting increase in value to a property.

She will ask the council's corporate overview and scrutiny committee to consider the "greater good" for estate residents, "whose quality of life will be improved by having more cars parked off-road" instead of holding out for the best price for 'tiny areas of land for which it has no use'.

"I want the committee members to do the right thing by the community, and not simply seek to maximise the financial contribution from the sale of these frontages," added Cllr Stoddart.

The debate can be viewed on the council's website from 10am this morning.