PORT AUTHORITY BOARD REFRESHED FOR FUTURE CHALLEN

Pembrokeshire County Councillor Arwyn Williams is to join the Board of Milford Haven Port Authority to continue the close links between the two bodies.

At the same time, the Port Authority has confirmed that is to advertise locally and nationally for a new non-executive member of the Board to take up the position later in the year.

The requirement for the two appointments has arisen because the periods of office of two members – County Councillor John Allen-Mirehouse and Joan Asby, co-ordinator of local enterprise agency PLANED – have expired.

The re-appointment of three other Board members – Darrell Jacob, general manager of the Total Refinery in Milford Haven; city banker and former Government Minister The Viscount St Davids; and Brian Charles, former managing director of Welsh Water - has also been confirmed by the Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair Darling.

Cllr Williams, whose appointment has been confirmed after a competitive selection process, is one of two Board members who, in accordance with the Authority’s statutory provisions, have been appointed through such a process within the County Council, with which Milford Haven Port Authority has a particularly close working relationship – although all board members operate solely in the interests of the Port Authority and do not represent the County Council on the board.

Bob Clarke, chairman of Milford Haven Port Authority, welcomed Cllr Williams and the three returning members to the Board.

“We look for a combination of continuity and new blood on our Board, and these appointments and re-appointments now confirmed by the Secretary of State mean that we are maintaining that balance,” he said.

“It’s also important that we have a mix of skills on the Board, and the varied backgrounds that members bring to the table, from financial to environmental, and from local public service to industry, means that the Authority is well placed to chart its future successful passage.

Milford Haven is now the fourth busiest port in the UK, Mr Clarke added, and on the brink of an exciting future with the expansion of existing oil and general port business, and the imminent arrival of LNG.

“I know that all our Board members, new and existing, relish the opportunity to capitalise on these developments for the benefit of the economy in the county,” he said.