Thousands Sign Petition To Save Town Centre Offices

Thousands of local residents have this week signed a petition calling on Carmarthenshire Council to safeguard the future of Ammanford Town Hall and the Old Library.

The joint petition by Carmarthenshire Labour Group and Unison calls on Carmarthenshire Council to keep Ammanford Town Hall and the Old Library open and retain all 67 jobs in Ammanford, engage in meaningful discussions with the trade unions and the people of Ammanford before future decisions are made and put local people first by fighting the cuts to local services.

The Council’s proposal would see Ammanford Town Hall, Old Library, Ammanford, Nant y Ci and 5-8 Spillman Street close, as part of the Council’s Agile Working policy, with over 140 staff being affected.

It is believed that petition against this policy has gained over 400 online signatures and close to 2,000 paper signatures since the campaign was launched last week, with a public meeting set to be held this Wednesday at 7pm in Ammanford Pensioners Hall. The expectation is that the Executive Board will make a decision on the future of the four buildings on the 25th of September.

Speaking in Ammanford, Deputy Labour Leader, Cllr Rob James stated ‘We are extremely grateful that residents are supporting our call for Independent and Plaid Councillors to rethink this policy.

‘It is clear that the local residents are shocked with this latest development, with many stating that this decision does not chime with the promises being made by Plaid Councillors during May’s election campaign. The closure of the buildings would have an enormous impact on local traders, with fewer Council employees working in our town centres.

‘Our focus is to ensure that we prevent jobs leaving Ammanford and Carmarthen town centres. Let us be clear, Plaid’s promise of a town centre hub in Ammanford will do little to prevent the majority of the jobs in the Old Library and the Town Hall leaving the Amman Valleys and questions need to be asked on the work needed for the building being considered.

‘The proposed annual saving of £111,000 a year with the closure of the three town centre buildings would be a drop in the ocean of the £12.5 million that the Plaid-led Authority aim to cut next year.

Unison branch secretary, Mark Evans, wrote an open letter the Leader of Council, Cllr Emlyn Dole stating ‘We urge the Executive Board and Carmarthenshire County Council to be more open with our members and the public and be clear about your intentions and why you are making these decisions. We call on the Executive Board to put the community and the services we provide first by keeping Ammanford Town hall and the Old Library open; retaining all jobs in Ammanford and to make this decision public.’