“Could you state the reasons why Carmarthenshire Council have taken the decision to advertise for expressions of interest for a property transaction, rather than a competitive open tendering process to procure services in Parc Howard?”
Minutes:
“Could you state the reasons why Carmarthenshire Council have taken the decision to advertise for expressions of interest for a property transaction, rather than a competitive open tendering process to procure services in Parc Howard?”
Response by Councillor Peter Hughes-Griffiths, Executive Board Member for Culture, Sport & Tourism:-
“It is important for us to remember that Parc Howard in Llanelli includes the iconic building within the park and some 25 acres of land and gardens. If members have the opportunity please visit Parc Howard so that you can see for yourselves the treasure that we have as a county. It is wonderfully maintained and it is a very special place. There re lakes, there is a new adventure playground for children and there is a climbing installation to follow shortly and there is real potential for this popular park. You also have the museum full of treasures. Recently opened is the first of four orienteering trails where people can follow the markers, walk around the park and learn about the area at the same time. The museum service is operating in a landscape of unprecedented change and we as a Council have to accept the fact that change is inevitable. The days when we had plenty of money to run museums have gone and so we have to look for new and different ways of maintaining these treasures and that is our responsibility at Parc Howard. We need to look at the possibilities for the park and the mansion and as a first step we enquired to see who might be interested in helping us and expressions of interest were sought. Just to see if anyone had other ideas that we may not have thought of to complement the existing provision. It is an excellent place to stage and event and we wondered whether there might be local businesses who would like to help us. That was the first natural step to find out whether anyone might be interested in helping us and what the possibilities might be. Interest has been expressed and that is now being considered as we move on to develop this special asset for the benefit of the people of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire and anyone visiting from near and far and may I appeal for support and co-operation to ensure the success of Parc Howard.”
Councillor James asked the following supplementary question:-
“Within the Leader’s Annual Report that you gave last time you stated that you would be keen to retain Parc Howard in Council ownership by not using an open tendering process to bring companies in and keeping it in Council ownership. Residents and park users are in the dark about how much detail there is concerning this proposal. Can you at least state what length of lease you currently prefer as the Executive Board Member or as the Executive Board as a whole?”
Response by Councillor Peter Hughes-Griffiths, Executive Board Member for Culture, Sport & Tourism:-
“We have not reached that stage yet and when we do we will consider it. It depends on the type of interest that is shown, what aspects of interest are shown. There might be more than one that are helping us. We will do that when we reach that stage.”