Shock Court Move Is A 'Crime Against the County'

12.00.00am GMT Tue 10th Jan 2006

The Lord Chancellor's Office, who are responsible for choosing a site for the new court, have put in a planning application with Welshpool Town Council.

Commenting, Lembit said:

"The Lord Chancellor's Office held a comprehensive consultation process, and all parties involved, from local lawyers to councillors, agreed that Newtown was the right location. Now it seems that that consultation counts for nothing: the will of the local people has been overruled and the courthouse will be set up in Welshpool instead of Newtown.

"I'm completely dumbfounded by the shift by stealth of the court from Newtown to Welshpool. No one was told. No one was consulted. And no one agreed. It's as if they think that no-one will notice. But now this news has leaked out we are owed an explanation and an apology and a change back to the original plan.

"It's ironic to think, but true to say, that in terms of locating justice where it should be based, the Lord Chancellor's Office are guilty of a crime against the county."

Mick Bates, AM for Montgomeryshire, said: "Lembit, myself and others have spent many hours on this issue, even convening a meeting with government officials where we could not have had more reassurance than we did. We were even told PFI was the way to do it, despite my personal reservations about that approach.

"Newtown is the logical place to base the courthouse because geographically it's the centre of the county and it has the highest population density. If they build the courthouse in Welshpool it would simply show that the Lord Chancellor's office is more concerned about finding an easy solution than finding the right one."