HAVERFORDWEST Town Council has exciting plans for the County town.
But those plans are so exciting most town councillors don’t want the public to know about them.
That’s why a public meeting scheduled for this Friday (March 4) was cancelled when the Town Council applied pressure to the host venue to stop it from happening.
KEEPING THE PUBLIC ILL-INFORMED THE PRIORITY
The meeting was scheduled for the Bluebirds Bar at Haverfordwest County FC.
The Town Council told the Club the event was not approved by it and could “misinform the public.”
The Club rents the ground from the Bridge Meadow Trust. The Trust is intimately involved with the Town Council, which has representatives on the Board of Trustees.
The reader might wonder at the Kremlin-esque reluctance for public involvement and the Council’s wish to manage events’ narrative.
Cllr Jill Owens commented: “The Club was approached to host the event due to the size of the venue and for their involvement in the Community.
“There was no intention to ‘misinform’ the public. We are transparent about the meeting’s aim: to listen to the Community’s views and what they want and then pass them onto the relevant persons.
“An email to all Councillors from the Town Clerk in the week stated, if the public are misinformed at any consultation, it could have a negative impact on this Council and other organisation, which could create issues for future funding opportunities including this one.”
Cllr Jonathan Twigg echoed her views.
Cllr Twigg told us: “We both believe that Town Council should hear the voice and ideas of the residents; Councillors had the opportunity to highlight their thoughts, which included the pedestrianisation of the Town Centre.
“There is an opportunity to input further ideas and we can only do that by being a voice of the community back to the consulting company as they look to prioritise and deliver actions on the available funding to Pembrokeshire County Council.”
The opportunities the Council identifies are so exciting the public isn’t allowed to know about them.
So exciting, it’s a mystery why the public doesn’t know more about them.
It should; so, here we go into the future.
THE SILO IN THE SQUARE
Imagine Castle Square, Haverfordwest, with a fountain.
But not any old fountain.
When not in use, one that sinks back underground like a missile in a silo – another Kremlin-Esque touch, perhaps.
A retractable fountain would be a centre of attraction in the middle of the town.
The cost of installing such a feature would be as remarkable as the planning decision to rip up Castle Square, remove and replace service ducts and utilities serving the rest of the town centre, repave the square, maintain the fountain’s mechanism and ensure it couldn’t be vandalised.
But that’s what Haverfordwest Town Council is considering.
Having moved the Town Council offices and acquired a new building with almost no hint of public scrutiny and disposed of the Picton Centre with a similar level of engagement, Haverfordwest Town Council seems keen to press on without opening up its plans for public consideration. The secrecy is particularly remarkable, as the public will pay for the upkeep of the fountain in the town centre.
But what’s the point of having one fountain on its own?
Two floating fountains in the River Cleddau could also be on the cards.
If nothing else, they’ll startle ducks bobbing along the surface of the notoriously flood-prone river.
Equally startling is the absence of minutes for 2022 from the Town Council’s website and the frequency with which its members choose to exclude the public and the press. The frequency with which the Council excludes the press and public when discussing its remarkable plans for spending public money and hides away its decisions is also surprising.
You might imagine the Council would want to publicise and gain public support for an erection of a fountain in the middle of the town, especially in an area busy by both day and night.
But they don’t seem that keen.
Remarkable.
FOLLOW THE MONEY
And, again, they’ll use public money for their construction, maintenance, and security.
The source of that money will be a fund intended to rejuvenate town centres. It’s a Welsh Government funding stream only available for designated purposes.
Like retractable fountains.
The scheme is not new; it’s been around for over a year.
Part of the funding for the Riverside improvements comes from the same source.
The Council has discussed the fund for over a year. Still, it is yet to consult with the public on anything resembling a coherent plan.
An email to all Councillors from the Town Clerk in the week stated that if the public is misinformed at any consultation, it could harm the Town Council and other organisations, creating potential issues for future funding opportunities.
The public was scarcely aware of the Council’s plans to flog off the Picton Centre. The public scarcely beat a path to the Council’s door to demand it relocate to a building on an expensive lease with an option to buy when it already owned its own offices. But without public engagement, the Council doesn’t have a clue what the public want.
Becoming a Haverfordwest Town councillor doesn’t mean listening to the public; in most cases, it doesn’t even mean getting elected.
The treasonous suggestion that councillors don’t always know best is rarely raised.
And the failure to consult on a giant underground water pistol must be the cherry on the cake of keeping the public in the dark.
It’s almost as though the Town Council wants to invoke a sense of urgency to generate support for its idea.
