Calls have been made this week for Pembrokeshire County Council to investigate building affordable homes for locals on the site of the former Tenby Cottage Hospital. As reported by the Observer last week, work has begun on demolishing the building in Trafalgar Road, which had been used as a hospital since the 1880s. Pembrokeshire County Council served notice on Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust to demolish the building because it was considered functionally and economically obsolete. "The demolition of the old Tenby Cottage Hospital is a sad day for the community of Tenby," wrote County Councillor Michael Williams in a letter to the Observer this week. He continued: "I note that the county council, who are to be the main beneficiaries of this windfall, being the owners of the land, say 'There are no firm proposals for redevelopment in place at present'." However, Clr. Williams believes that the area is likely to be used for residential development. "With plots being offered for sale in the area at £130,000, most of our local young people are unable to purchase any property in their home town, being continually priced out by the demand for second homes," he wrote. Therefore, Clr. Williams is now intending to put forward a motion requesting that officers of the council, as a matter of urgency, investigate the possibility of setting up some form of Housing Trust, possibly with input from the private sector together with Housing Associations, to investigate the possibility of building homes for locals, at an affordable level. This he will do at the county council meeting on July 12. Added Clr. Williams: "We have more than enough so-called 'luxury apartments' in the town. It would be fitting if the wonderful work carried out in the hospital could be in some way replicated. How appropriate that it should site homes for local young people. "I have also been urging the National Park Authority to campaign on a national basis, which would mean that if anyone wished to change the use of a dwelling from that of permanent occupation to second home status, it would require planning permission. Planning authorities could then refuse on the grounds that saturation point had been reached. "It is time to stand up for what little is left of our local communities, and the most basic way of doing so is to ensure a future for our young people," Clr. Williams added.
