Trecwn family homes to be sold

Around 20 families have been told their homes are to be sold

People living at a former arms depot which is to be redeveloped for business use have been told that their homes are to be sold.

Around 20 families at the 1,000-acre ex-Ministry of Defence site in Trecwn, near Fishguard, have received letters formally informing them their tenancies will not be renewed and the properties will be put on the open market.

Many say they cannot afford to buy their homes, which are expected to cost upwards of £80,000, and have been told their rent could be doubled to about £400 per month if their tenancy is renewed.

The plans to sell the homes have been described as "blatant asset stripping" by a county councillor for the area.

Alwyn Luke said the decision could have a knock-on effect for employment in the area.

He said: "We're talking about very young married couples who work locally.

"The village is dead, the school is closed, there's absolutely nothing there other than the depot itself, and this is the sad part about it. It's a pity that this is happening."

The new owners want to use the site for commercial lettings

Two months ago, the new owners of the site were hailed for their plans to use 59 underground chambers to store items such as fine art and wine, rather than the nuclear waste Pembrokeshire residents had feared.

The Trecwn site has been sold to a partnership between the Manhattan Loft Corporation, which has worked on regeneration projects in inner city London, and property developer Richard Harrington.

When the deal was announced, he said the newly-formed company set up to run it, The Valley (Pembrokeshire) Ltd, would start letting out the 300,000 sq ft of above ground buildings immediately and aimed to have the majority occupied within 24 months.

A spokesperson for Valley Management Services, which acts for Manhattan Loft Corporation, confirmed that it was company policy to sell the properties rather than renew tenancies.

Residents' outrage

Councillor Luke said he feared land on the edge of the site, which has a seven mile perimeter, that has been rented to local farmers for decades could also be placed on the open market.

The depot was built during World War II and had held four million kilograms of explosives in its 59 chambers.

At one stage, it was the biggest underground munitions site in Europe.

The Royal Navy depot has been empty since it closed in 1995 with the loss of more than 500 jobs.

Residents were outraged when it was suggested the tunnels, carved deep into both sides of the valley, could be used to store nuclear waste.

In 1998, a 30,000-signature petition was handed in to Downing Street calling for changes in the law on nuclear storage.

A spokeswoman for the developers said the firm would honour the families' existing six-month or 12-month tenancy agreements.

She said: "The point is we wanted to provide as much notice as possible before the new year."