Manorbier.com

Community Council Chairman Makes a Broadcast, 22nd October 2005 Friends, Romans & Countrymen lend me your ears ......... But If you wanted to know what our Community Council Chairman has to say, just tune into Radio Pembrokeshire. Is this the new way for telling the citizens of Manorbier what is going on? Well it could be according to the Chairman of the Manorbier Community Council as on Saturday 22nd of October 2005 his comments were broadcast as an additional item to the regular hourly news bulletins. So that we could bring you his exact wording we asked the radio station for a transcript of the news contribution made by Cllr Wales. Their reply said "they were afraid though we have a policy of not issuing transcripts or copies of audio we have used , this is largely due to the time it would take to get it from our archives". So we can't quote exactly, so what about the main thrust of these informed comments? They concerned proposed night firing at the Manorbier Range and this impacts upon the quality of life for our citizens. In essence, Councillor Wales criticised the planning authority PCNP and the Army over the lack of consultation with the community over the proposed extension to firing on Manorbier Army Range. Several residents contacted the website regarding the outbursts on Radio Pembrokeshire by Community Councillor Wales on this issue. County Councillor Calver has suggested that if Cllr Wales ran the Community Council efficiently and in an orderly manner particularly in the way he deals with correspondence, now with something like four months backlog, he would be aware that the Army have in fact made contact with the Community Council on the issue several times. He further should be aware that the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park who are the planning authority can not call a public meeting to discuss any planning application until an application has been made. The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park has given assurance to Cllr Calver that as soon as an application had been made they would be consulting the Community Council and the public on the issue. The Army had assured Cllr Calver that they had addressed any issues raised during the "scoping" exercise that had already been carried out. He indicated these issues would continue to be taken into consideration and that the Army had already had discussions with the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park on the issues raised in the scoping document. Website Comments Cllr Calver had been contacted for his views regarding this issue and he felt that it was such an important issue that cheap political points should not be sought. It was in fact the Labour Party of which Cllr Wales is a member, that rightly or wrongly had sent our sons and daughters into war and peacekeeping roles around the world. Cllr Calver felt that they should be trained to the highest standard after all their lives were at stake. He had suggested that the army had decided that Manorbier Camp was the preferred option for such training and in this he could only support them provided that they complied with the regulations that are in force and that the community were kept fully informed through the press. Should we have to rely on Pembrokeshire Radio for details from the council chairman on this sensitive subject of night firing. Is this the modern way to keep us informed or just good PR for an aspiring politician? Either way the effect will impact on many in our local community. Other questions have been asked and they include "who gave this bloke the authority to speak for the council?" and someone asked "where does he get his information from?" The most important thing is to give people accurate information so that the position of the Council is considered to be seen as working for all people the councillors are meant to serve. This poor intervention with half-baked knowledge of the situation is as alarming as it is tragic. The only good thing from the Chairman's misinformation episode is that most of us were fortunate to have missed it. PERHAPS THE CHAIRMAN COULD NOW MAKE A PUBLIC APOLOGY!