MEMBERS of St Clears Town Council have written to Dyfed- Powys Police Commissioner, Christopher Salmon, and conveyed their ‘extreme’ disappointment at the closure of the town’s police station and complained at the way the process was handled.
In a letter to the Commissioner, Town Council members say that no prior notice was given to Council or the community of the changes.
The Town Council notes that past assurances, that the station would remain open pending the creation of a new facility, have been reneged upon.
Further, St Clears Town Council members claim that no attempt was made to reassure Council or the community about the arrangements for the future as no information regarding a police presence in St Clears has been provided.
Christopher Salmon’s response to the Town Council holds out the hope that new policing facilities will be created within the area.
Mr Salmon has confirmed he is ‘looking to establish a new police base in St Clears and, to help achieve this, I am happy to use some proceeds from the sale of the current station’.
The Commissioner goes on to say that: “ My decision to close the current base was not taken lightly. I acted quickly after a surveyor’s report indicated that it was no longer suitable for use as a police station.”
Mr Salmon goes on to write: “I am not prepared to spend £100,000 refurbishing the station when we own a vacant – and suitable – building six miles away. The cost for preparing Whitland (Police Station) for reoccupation is around £15,000.”
Mr Salmon confirms that he still plans, or rather his plan ‘remains to find another location in St Clears’. He goes on to detail that alternative accommodations in the town, at y Gat and co-located within the leisure centre were rejected on grounds of size and cost, respectively.
However, in response to a request from the Town Council that he detail the serious crime figures for Whitland and St Clears, the Commissioner referred town councillors to online statistics. It is not clear why those figures could not simply be placed in the text of his considered reply to them.
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