AN ICONIC Carmarthen building is one step closer to being kept in public ownership after the council’s executive board recommended that it be purchased.
Cllr Dai Jenkins introduced the report, which set out three options: to purchase the building from HM Courts for the district valuer’s recommended price of £225,000; not to proceed with the purchase; or to allow the property to be placed on the open market and monitor interest from prospective buyers.
Cllr Jenkins recommended that the board considered the first option, given that the district valuer suggested that the building would attract commercial interest at this price.
This item was originally meant to be discussed behind closed doors. However, council Leader Emlyn Dole, possibly as a result of the report’s inadvertent publication last week, decided that it should be discussed in public.
Mark James told the board that dialogue with other public bodies, including Carmarthenshire Town Council and the police, were still under way.
He added that, although it was a very important historic building, there was a limit to what a purchaser could do with it given the Grade II* listed status.
Cllr Jenkins remarked that the last thing the town needed was another ‘Infirmary situation’ where a large building near the centre of the town stood derelict.
Cllrs Pam Palmer and Jane Tremlett also backed the proposed recommendation, which was endorsed unanimously.
Speaking after the meeting, Carmarthen town and county councillor Alun Lenny said he was ‘delighted’ with the executive board’s decision: “The alternative would have been unthinkable. It’s a cliché, but the Guildhall sits in the middle of old Carmarthen town like the most valuable and obvious jewel in a crown,” he added.
“The potential to create a visitor and educational centre to ‘tell the story of Carmarthen’ is huge. But so are the challenges – in particular the annual running costs. Having visited the Guildhall with a group of Town Councillors last week, I was both excited by the possibilities and apprehensive at the scale of the challenges.
“A strong partnership must be created with interested parties to discuss drawing up a sustainable plan for the Guildhall. The public, who have been so eager to see the building being brought back into public ownership, also have an important role to play. We must channel our enthusiasm into creative suggestions and practical action.”
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