PRIVATE commercial negotiations about Pembroke Dock Town Council buying its Dimond Street offices and meeting place, could be jeopardised after details were ‘leaked’ from a private meeting.

Proposals for the town council to purchase a building at 28 Dimond Street, used by the town council since May 2018, were discussed in a private and confidential section of its February 14 meeting.

Since then, details of that part of the meeting, held in private due to the commercially-sensitive nature of the discussions, have been ‘leaked,’ and were recently published in a letter in the local press.

Up until last year, other than a brief period at the town’s Quins rugby club, the town council had met in the town’s Pater Hall.

The use of the Pater Hall, both as a venue and a location for the council’s offices, has previously been a source of much debate in town council meetings.

Many heated discussions have taken place concerning the town council’s role in the future of the hall and financial contributions towards it.

The town council and the trust have been linked since the trust was set up in 2004-05, when the trust gained charitable status, with five members of the town council serving on the Trust.

In an anonymous letter published this week, a Pembroke Dock resident wrote: “I have heard a rumour that certain town councillors are trying to close Pembroke Dock’s Pater Hall. Is that true?

“We did not vote for he/she to close our Pater Hall.

“Over the years the Pater Hall has been the venue for variety shows/beer festivals/dances.

“I remember going to dances when I was a teenager (which was a long time ago) and I am still attending.

“Think of the children of the town; where do they go if there are no pantomimes, no dance classes etc? The OAPs with their clubs and various wellbeing sessions?

“The hall has a variety of uses too many to mention.

“Why is the town council paying £90,000 for an ex-shop, plus money to refurbish it?

“Where are they getting the money from? us.

“They have a bespoke conference chamber in the Pater Hall, a lovely room - plus all the facilities they require.

“They say it is for ‘safety’ reasons.

“Under the Freedom of Information Act please publish the report?

“Who are the councillors who are determined to close a well-used, well-maintained building – name and shame them.”

Speaking after the letter was published, County Councillor Josh Beynon said: “I was disappointed to see an anonymous letter regarding the Pater Hall Trust detailing costs regarding the purchase of 28 Dimond Street, which was held in Private and Confidential at the last meeting of council.

“This information should not be in the public domain and I am concerned it may jeopardise our negotiations with the landlord.”

He added: “This is highly disappointing given that there are frequent conversations in our meetings about trust in one another, but this has been betrayed.

“To make matters worse, the information that has been leaked isn’t even correct, as the £90,000 was including the refurbishment costs.

“If the member/s who leaked this information wanted it in the public domain they could have voted not to go into private session at the last meeting.

“Can I ask the councillor or councillors who leaked this information to reflect on the consequences of their actions and their obligations under the members code of conduct.

“I’m always happy for information to be shared in the public domain but sometimes it’s necessary for some things to be discussed in private. If councillors that wanted this in the public domain, they should’ve had the guts to stand up for it in the public domain and not agree for it to go in private session.”

Clerk Sarah Scourfield said she would be contacting the monitoring officer, asking for further investigation, citing a potential breach of the council’s code of conduct.