PLEASE APPRECIATE THAT I GET SENT MORE INFORMATION AND LEADS THAN I CAN USE. I TRY TO RESPOND TO EVERYONE WHO CONTACTS ME BUT I CANNOT POSSIBLY USE EVERY BIT OF INFORMATION I’M SENT. DIOLCH YN FAWR
♦
I suggested in the previous post that something odd may be going on in Pembroke Dock. There is, and I’m now convinced that it’s not restricted to Pembroke Dock; for something very similar seems to be happening across the water, in Country Antrim.
If you haven’t yet read the previous article, then do so now, otherwise you’ll struggle to make sense of this one.
◊
MAGHERAMORNE CEMENT WORKS
In addition to Trevor Iain Walker and his Singaporean associates we also met Alfred William Buller in the previous article. To quickly recap, Alfie, as he is known, lives at Scarva House, County Down, which stages the annual Sham Fight between King James and King William (the latter having stopped at Scarva on his way to the Boyne in 1690).
Buller only entered the narrative tangentially because Walker came to control one of Buller’s many companies (but without becoming a director). This company was Brigstock Campsite Ltd. But now I learn – from Brychan Davies, who comments regularly on this blog – that there is another connection, if not with Walker himself, then certainly with the kind of Singaporean financiers Walker works with or represents.
The connection is found in Magheramorne Park Ltd, a company that bought an old Blue Circle cement works and quarry in County Antrim. You’ll have seen that the company was Incorporated 6 December 2016 and the two directors were Alfred William Buller and Alfred William Buller, who I assume are father and son. (Which is what the birth dates suggest.)
The Bullers were joined as directors 15 September 2017 by Eugene Aw and Yee Hung Lim, both of Singapore. They represent Oddball Ventures Pte Ltd of Singapore. Not only that, but they also came bearing a gift in the form of a loan or mortgage on “the land known as the former Magheramorne cement works”.
This loan or mortgage comes courtesy of GSA Oil Pte Ltd, another Singapore company. One that by happy coincidence shares the 80 Tuas Avenue address with Oddball Ventures. As the name might suggest, the lender is not a bank or lender in the usual sense.
GSA was set up 13 September 2016, Oddball Ventures 14 September 2017, just a day before Aw and Lim joined the Bullers on the board of Magheramorne Park Ltd. Which might suggest that Oddball was set up specifically for this link-up.
Oddball Ventures now exerts ‘significant control’ over Magheramorne Park but the Bullers are still aboard and the younger of them may hold 50% of the shares. (This might be attributable to his father being bankrupt.)
There have been a couple of moves to strike off Magheramorne Park Ltd for not submitting documents to Companies House. The first was discontinued and the second was suspended, but with accounts and confirmation statement overdue we can expect compulsory strike-off action to re-commence shortly.
◊
MEANWHILE, BACK IN PEMBROKESHIRE
As I explained in the earlier piece, the Old Defensible Barracks in Pembroke Dock has been bought (but not yet registered) by a company (currently) called VR 1844 Ltd. Here’s their Facebook page.
No one is quite sure what plans VR 1844 has for the Barracks, partly because the company isn’t really saying much. And there may be a reason for that.
For it is suggested that the purchase of the fort is a bit of a ‘Look over there!’ and the real target is the land between the fort and the Milford Haven Waterway. You can see it in the picture below.
This land – the old parade ground and firing range? – is now the home of the South Pembrokeshire Golf Club. Though I believe it’s owned by Pembrokeshire County Council.
As we saw earlier in the week, with VR 1844 Ltd the Singapore connection is provided by Trevor Walker and Lai Heng Seto. So we have two sites, one in Ireland and the other in Wales, with a strong Singapore connection.
‘Is that it!’, you’re asking. Well, no. Now I’m going to explain what I think is going on.
◊
THE BIT AT THE END WHERE EVERYBODY GATHERS IN THE DRAWING ROOM
The clue to what’s going on here is the date that Magheramorne Park Ltd was formed – December 2016, six months after the EU referendum and the Leave vote.
But what do the two sites have in common?
Well, both have a great deal of open space – and they’re close to a ferry port. In the case of Magheramorne it’s Larne (though Belfast isn’t that far either) and in the case of the Old Defensible Barracks it’s the Pembroke-Rosslare route.
What’s planned for both sites I suspect is lorry parks. For with the UK about to leave the EU there may need to be lorry parks to check the vehicles and their documentation in the event of no deal, a poor deal, or protracted negotiations.
This article, while focusing on the Humber ports, shows the problem. This article makes clear that the Irish Sea crossings will also be affected.
Cross-border checks on ferry traffic might also explain the Singaporean interest in Plymouth dealt with in the previous piece. For Plymouth is already a ferry port and Singapore is a hub of the Asian ferry business.
Those thinking that a lorry park would not be needed in the Six Counties because traffic from there would be with the UK should be reminded of a couple of things. First, treating Northern Ireland differently, effectively having the EU border down the Irish Sea, has already been discussed, and b) Brexit is hastening the possibility of a united Ireland.
I am 90% certain that what is planned for the Old Defensible Barracks in Pembroke Dock – or, more importantly, the land alongside it currently serving as a golf course – is a lorry park where trucks entering and leaving the UK will be checked and have their documentation verified.
The same future I believe is planned for the old cement works at Magheramorne, at Plymouth, and who knows where else? And it’s being done by stealth. With talk in Pembroke Dock and Plymouth of old buildings being turned into luxury flats or tourist attractions.?
It could be that the UK government is using Trevor Iain Walker and his Singapore buddies as cat’s paws, rather than appear heavy-handed by requisitioning these sites.
Questions:
How much does our Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart, who happens to be the local MP, know about plans for Pembroke Dock? What might his predecessor, Alun Cairns, know? (And are there also plans for Fishguard and Holyhead?)
And what of our wonderful, talented, and respected ‘Welsh Government’, are they being kept in the loop?
Seeing as the land that would probably be needed, the golf course, seems to be owned by Pembrokeshire County Council, have they been consulted? (Or, indeed, the golfists?)
So many questions. I hope to have some answers when I return to this subject. As I undoubtedly will.
♦ end ♦
UPDATE 11.02.2020: The Western Mail ran a full-page spread on the project today. Obviously a regurgitated press hand-out because when the journalist tried to add a personal touch she located the Barracks in Milford Haven not Pembroke Dock.
Also in the news today was more talk of Milford Haven becoming a freeport. I doubt that, if granted, freeport status will be confined to Milford Haven, it will probably cover the whole waterway, and that will of course include Pembroke Dock.
Which is interesting considering the Singapore investment at the Old Defensible Barracks and the fact that Singapore is the biggest ‘tax-free’ trade zone in the world.
Your tweet today about the 3rd sector’s spending Welsh public money on the housing and rehab (!) of assorted drug abusers and other social “rejects” from beyond Clawdd Offa prompts me to recall recent Drakeford pronouncement that he’d have to consider raising taxes in Wales to fund the delivery of various care services in Wales. This is a slice of our demographic mix that has been inflated by an influx of ageing ( retired or approaching) folk who will in due course be more prone to illness and infirmity.
Drakeford ought to do a head count ( census next year ?) and send a bill to Bunter’s office demanding an annual per capita payment based on the standard private sector care home rates ( that’s care, not residential )with an escalation clause built in to reflect price rises. The numbers covered can be monitored by reference to house purchase transactions and state pension claimant data. Obviously he would need to reduce the figure when any of these people die (again, data retrievable).
Just more gesture politics – for which we’ll have to pay.
There’s already one incentive in place with the care home ‘trigger’. In England you’re allowed to keep £22,500 before you have to pay care home fees. In Wales it’s £50,000. Labour and Plaid would like to remove it altogether. If that was done we’d see granny dumping on an industrial scale, they’d be queuing at the border.
These clowns are economically illiterate. They’re dangerous.
I suppose one might acquire a disused/redundant quarry for a spot of granny -dumping ! and get the likes of Buller and Walker to structure a complex finance and ownership deal prior to confusing Drakeford and Co into shelling out a liberal dose of public finance. Would Plaid have the wit to object to it ? would they have the capacity to undertake any form of critical analysis ?
I know it’s Sunday, but come on – Plaid Cymru and critical analysis!
That’s down to my unlimited capacity for optimism, and generosity of spirit !!
It seems that ALL AngloBrits have this deep supremacist impulse.
https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/49583/Who+are+Sinn+Fein
Now we get the Socialist Worker having a go at Sinn Fein for straying off the path of “Socialist righteousness” in their pursuit of an independent and united Ireland. No sense of irony either. Is this where Plaid derives its thought leadership ?
Wolfie lives!
Tone or Smith ?
Smith, of the Tooting Popular Front. (Which was not really so popular.)
Their Plymouth site – The ‘Raglan Gatehouse’ project is here. The site is actually in Devonport, half way between the military wharf and the ferry terminal.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.3713753,-4.1719512,3a,53y,352.23h,86.92t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sFeoJzI6T3LGZXtx-WU4qVw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
The building to be “restored” on the left, and an existing car park on the right. There is also a football pitch which the council may seek to dispose of at the other end of this car park, with an existing road to area used as a hard core dump.
The pattern is established with the three sites close to ferry ports and Singapore investors. If these investors are acting for themselves I find it difficult to accept that they’re doing all this without official help. Which then raises the possibility of them working for the UK government.
A lot may depend on who Trevor Walker is, and what connections he has in London.
Always happy to help…
The chorological business footprint of Trevor Iain Walker gives us a clue. He’s a small time property developer until the Orientals arrive. In Muniment Greenwich Ltd (09062140) we see Seto of Singapore enter the UK. They acquire an unassuming residential property in the land of the admiralty (2014). Then we see the hand over to Walker the interest in the house of what Zoopla values a £2.5million (2015) and then raise a £1.3million charge on the freehold as a loan from a Singapore bank (2016).
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/property/57a-westcombe-park-road/london/se3-7qy/20891252
The property and Merc Y6RAF.
London Pad.
Walker is obviously of Ulster Scots heritage. He chooses a specific domicile for tax purposes, in Singapore. It is not known as a residential personal tax haven, quite the opposite. However, it does afford avoidance of capital gains exposure on property deals in the UK.
This residential property in Greenwich is not of listed or of historical worth, but does afford status and access to those of influence. When Walker declares his residency at Companies House (and therefore with HMRC) as being in Singapore, it does not indicate spending his time in a small high-rise apartment in the tropics, but rather as a canny broker for property acquisition for Singaporean bankers.
We know his friends of the sash do legwork, the question arises as to what deals are being struck with the UK government on future developments, and how much of the Theresa May £1bn cash that was sent to Ulster is being used to finance Magheramorne, and what is the real nature of the developments at Plymouth and Pembroke Dock?
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/theresa-may-secures-secret-brexit-deal-to-prevent-irish-sea-border-reports-37490310.html
I do not believe for one moment that hard-nosed Singaporean bankers have a particular interest in the restoration of quaint, dilapidated, money sinkers like 19th century fortresses. They’ll want a planned return for the investment. That’s measured in cash, preferably with guarantees to cover currency exposure.
Why do you say Walker is of Ulster Scots heritage?
He was baptised a middle name of Iain (the Scots spelling) and he hangs out with Alfie Buller, of Scarva, Co Down. Somehow I wouldn’t expect him at mass this Sunday.
You could be right. What intrigues me is the lack of information about his background beyond recent years.
No surprise to see Jac bring up the possibility of luxury flats. They’re bound to be in the mix somewhere. And it won’t be locals buying them, in most instances, unless I’m much mistaken. Great holiday retreats for blow-ins and those busy, tired AMs.
Shifting a moment to the utterly indefensible –
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-51397956
How on earth can anyone defend a person of whatever orientation taking liberties with young people – grooming – and retaining any kind of public office. Not enough that he resigned as Minister, he should step down from all positions at once and face consequences in court. Dirty scumbag
He’s gone now, but the media went overboard. Just read Taylor on the BBC: “This is a calamity, without caveat, for Derek Mackay, for the SNP, for the first minister and for the collective Scottish government.” I’m surprised he didn’t predict the end of civilisation as we know it.
Though it’s worth asking why the boy’s family went to the Sun rather than to the police.
Well I suspect that most people are now fed up with deviants in high office feeling that they are at liberty to “indulge” their proclivities in whatever way they fancy. This probably feeds into why parents talked to the shitty end of the media as they could not rely on ScotPlod to do anything about it !
Here in South Wales we can’t even get local Plod to respond to case of breaking & entry +thefts where the victim is able to provide CCTV images of the perp engaged in using a stolen bank card, and have him identified ! Yet if you or I say the wrong word to any of the myriad “disadvantaged” groups we are blessed with Plod will be galvanized into action a bit sharpish. One gets that feeling that certain elements are protected by the law regardless of their activities, while ordinary folk are just plain ignored.
There is no such thing as grooming where the victim is above the age of consent. However, I suggest some social media advise for teenagers who are no longer minors…
The age of consent (Scotland and Wales) is 16 years if age. This is not a licence or qualification, it’s an award of personal responsibility to you, by the state. If you get “unwarranted and unwanted” attention on social media then you need to compose the following message – “Fuck off. I’m not interested. Do not contact me again” and press the send button. Most applications also have a block facility. Any further contact results in an offence of ‘stalking’ so speak to a police officer.
I find it curious that a newspaper who used to get teenagers to take their tops off and take photos of their tits to publish on page3 are the ones the parents have decided to contact.
Derek Mackay should resign for stupidity and lack of judgement.
I also think the age of consent laws are wrong. The concept of ‘proximity of age’ in consenting activity should be introduced, as applies in most of Europe. In Sweden it is 15 (same age), 16 (within three years of both parties), 18 (unrestricted). This shifts power within a liaison in favour of the younger party, and helps eliminate coersive control.
If Derek still has those rugby tickets and still wants a date, I’m available. I drink pints of shillings at Murrayfield, will tell teenage girls to put a cardigan on, can bitch all day about Nicolas shoulder pads, and insist that Welsh senior bus passes should be valid on Edinburgh trams.
Brychan Somehow I suspect that you would be too much of a rough old boy for Derek to fancy you if a 16 year old boy is an indicator of what is to his liking. There again he might find you good company if he needs protecting over the next few fixtures !
As a more serious post script to the above it crossed my mind that this could have been a case of entrapment. It may have started off with Mr Mackay’s dirty little mind taking the lead ( which should serve as a lesson to many others ) but his communications may have been shared with others at an early stage and allowed to develop thus enabling a more thorough stitch up. It remains his fault for starting the episode but I would not be totally surprised if we find at some later date that someone of that family or close to it saw an opportunity too good to miss. Ms Sturgeon’s prompt response as ever keeps her clean and Bunter’s agents will need to be much more resourceful to get her cornered.
We can expect a lot of dirty tricks in Scotland.
Yes. I suspect a Mata Hari opportunity presented itself. The same happened to Ron Davies who had his car stolen while on a liaison on Clapham Common. Subsequently, the Sun newspaper fixed up a cottaging opportunity near Bath, which he fell for. Entrapment.
Entrapment? Or absolutely piss-poor judgement and lack of self-control.
There is no requirement of self control in a consenting homosexual liaison as nobody else is adversely affected. A requirement for self-control only exists in heterosexual liaisons. It is only this that can create an unborn child. Only then are others (the child), and the wider community in the form of additional support for single parent families, affected. Homosexuals do not queue up for abortions. For this viewpoint I am accused by the ‘woke’ of being fascist, and concurrently accused by the ‘fascist’ as being ‘immoral’. However, my view is based on physical reality and scientific fact. It’s a snippet of advice I would recommend that all parents impart to their sons and daughters whatever sexual orientation manifests.
Sturgeon’s prompt response
She had a;ready ordered him to stop drinking due to previous incidents involving his behaviour so he was obviously a known problem that she had failed to deal with effectively.
At the time of his drink problem was it also known that he was partial to a bit of “youth work” ?. Bit much to expect Sturgeon to issue warnings about behaviours which he may not have exhibited at that time !
There are guidelines though as to the expected behaviour of people in positions of authority with regards young people between the ages of 16-18 and quite rightly so.
You wouldn’t think this was acceptable behavior for a Youth Worker, or a Police Officer or a Teacher, and this man is in a far higher position than them so should behave in a manner higher than expected of them.
Lead by example or buggar off. If you don’t command moral authority then you are pointless as a leader at any level.
The behaviour requirement for police officers does not arise because who they are, but as a result of the specific role they are required to perform. It relates to un-due influence, impartiality and the removal of personal advantage. It’s power invested in the warrant card. Similar requirements apply to other professions (teacher, doctor, youth worker). In the same way, barristers cannot be bankrupts. Politicians, however, do not carry warrant cards, arrest members if the public, have powers to detain children, or cut open a patient. Their primary accountability is to the public through the ballot box. It’s your choice whether to make a moral judgement on a candidate when voting.
Off topic to this post but has anyone noticed a bit of a rise in pro union social media commenters in the last few days? The 77th must be mobilising. Also are you getting my Tweets, I’m not sure if I’ve been muted by the platform for incendiary remarks, haha.
I’m still seeing your tweets. The 77th Brigade, like the poor, are always with us.