A call to sell part of the garden of a north Pembrokeshire council-owned property to a county councillor has been given the go-ahead.

In a report before Pembrokeshire County Council’s cabinet, at its September 7 meeting, members were asked to allow a parcel of council Housing Revenue Account (HRA) garden land at Bryn Golau, Trefgarn Owen to be declared as surplus to enable the asset to be disposed of.

The would-be purchaser was neighbour, county councillor Mark Carter.

The report for members, presented by Joint Cabinet Member for Communities Cllr Aaron Carey, said Cllr Carter intended to acquire the 183.7 sqm of garden land to facilitate an extension to his existing dwelling; the HRA property currently vacant following extensive improvement works.

It said: “The council’s usual disposal process would involve declaring the land surplus to operational requirements and undertaking a standard internal valuation.

“The council does not currently have a specific policy governing land disposals to serving councillors or senior employees so consequently, a policy is currently being developed. This policy will include additional scrutiny and transparency measures, including the requirement for an independent external valuation and Cabinet consideration of the proposed disposal.

“In line with this proposal, an external valuation has been completed and this matter has been referred to Cabinet for approval.”

It stressed: “The proposed purchaser is a serving elected member of the council. Whilst members are entitled to enter into property transactions with the council, any such transaction must be conducted in accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Members’ Code of Conduct and all applicable legislation. “The purchaser has had no involvement in the consideration, valuation, negotiation, preparation or decision-making processes relating to the proposed disposal.”

It added: “Housing Services have been consulted and have confirmed their support for the proposed disposal. Bryn Golau benefits from an unusually large garden when compared with the remainder of the estate.”

Cllr Mark Carter
Pembrokeshire Council approves sale of garden land to Cllr Mark Carter for property expansion. (PCC)

It said the reduced garden size would create “a more manageable garden area for future tenants, comparable to that of neighbouring properties,” with “no long-term plans to develop this parcel of land, as it is not of sufficient size to accommodate a detached dwelling and any such development would adversely affect neighbouring properties”.

It went on to say: “An independent valuation was undertaken by an RICS-regulated firm of chartered surveyors. The valuation was based upon the firm’s own comparable market evidence and assessed the market value of the land at £13,788, equating to approximately £75 per sqm. This figure is consistent with the council’s own internal land disposal evidence.”

Members backed the recommendation for the disposal and sale of the land, which is “is expected to generate the highest capital receipt whilst also reducing future maintenance responsibilities associated with the retained HRA property”.

It was moved by Cllr Carey and seconded by Cllr Jon Harvey.