NEYLAND council has 'reaffirmed its commitment' to a £1.5m plan to transform the town's athletic club, following attempts by some councillors to hit the brakes on the project.

At a meeting on Monday (September 4), members were warned that reneging on the deal would almost certainly result in legal action against the council.

Solicitor Alistair Veck said the council would “struggle to draft a defence” if it went back on its promise to sell its current offices, and put the money towards plans to redevelop Neyland Athletic Club into a modern ‘community hub’.

In 2015, the council agreed to back Neyland Community Interest Company (CIC) in its plans, and the project has since secured £500,000 of funding from the Welsh Government, and backing from Pembrokeshire County Council and The National Lottery.

But - in a letter to the council - Cllrs Brian Rothero, Joanne Bevan, Tamzin Llewellyn, William McGarvie and Peter Hay raised reservations about moving forward with the deal.

The letter stated: "We as a group are not against the project.

"However, there are a number of issues that have come to light since the original document was signed in April 2015 that do not show the full transparency of council actions towards this project."

Responding to each of the concerns, town clerk Jane Clark said: “Most of the points raised were misunderstandings and misinformation.”

She re-iterated that the agreed partnership between the council and the CIC was not a typical commercial agreement, and as such certain issues such as the lack of a traditional ‘break clause’ would only serve to put the whole project in jeopardy.

She said this was not a question of just handing over cash to the CIC, but that the “council would have an interest in the building” and “would own part of it”.

New councillor Joanne Bevan said she had never “been against” the project, but as a new member had “just wanted more information”.

“I just wanted to know if the people of Neyland know what’s going on,” she said.

“As new councillors we need to be better brought up to speed.”

Mayor Simon Hancock sympathised, saying: “One of the principle roles of this council is to look after public money.”

But Cllr Mike Harry criticised the way those who had concerns had “gone about it”.

He said some of the information in the letter was “embarrassingly wrong”, adding: “I think I’m right in saying Cllr Rothero has been in touch with the Welsh Government trying to stop this going forward.”

Added Cllr Phil Wonnacott: “The orchestrator or orchestrators of this letter are the ones who have undermined this council.”

After a lengthy discussion, members agreed to proceed with the plans, with only Cllr Peter Hay voting against.

The council will now draw down the loan money, applied for in lieu of the council building being sold, ready to hand over to the CIC once a contractor has been appointed.

Neyland Community Hub is scheduled to be completed in March 2019.