Pembrokeshire County Council’s head of highways has agreed to hold a meeting with councillors in Tenby following concerns raised about the running of the town’s pedestrianisation scheme.

The Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Sue Lane, recently called for an urgent review of the town’s summer pedestrianisation scheme, after pointing out a number of failings that had occurred with the initiative over the 2017 holiday season.

The scheme prohibits unauthorised vehicles from entering the town walls between 11 am and 5.30 pm, during the summer, with restrictions in force to coincide with the school holidays.

Speaking at a recent meeting of Tenby Town Council, Clr. Mrs. Lane told her colleagues that a review of the scheme was required, as many people who lived and wanted to visit the town seemed to be suffering, due to budget cuts in local bus services and the ‘park and ride’ scheme.

Fellow councillors also pointed out that there were failings in the way that vehicles entering the town were being monitored, as many motorists without permits seemed to be able to enter the town walls.

The town clerk, Andrew Davies, told councillors that they had had more complaints than ever this summer about the running of the scheme.

Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting of the town council, Mr. Davies said that PCC’s head of highways and construction, Darren Thomas, and other relevant officers had agreed to meet with town councillors at the end of the month to discuss the pedestrianisation scheme, with the meeting set to take place at the De Valence on Friday, September 29.

Mr. Davies also told members that he had received a response from PCC’s passenger transport co-ordinator, Owen Roberts, with regards to the reduced bus service for the town.

“Unfortunately, due to the reduced budget and the low numbers that were travelling on the 380 bus, the county council is not in a position to provide a replacement bus service,” he explained.

“We already fund the Tenby Town Rider Service which is available Monday, Wednesday and Friday for residents to use to take them into the town shopping, doctors etc.

“Just to provide you with some background details, the county council’s budget for public bus services has had year-on-year reductions since 2011, with a total of over £500,000 saved.

“This has resulted in changes to bus services, with evening and Sunday services removed, along with the frequency of some services being reduced.

“Further budget reductions are expected over the next few years and this is likely to result in further bus service reductions,” added Mr. Roberts.

Clr. Laurence Blackhall told his fellow councillors that he was confused by the bus issue.

“We were told by PCC that when Silcox stopped, the bus services were reduced, not because of budget cuts, but because a provider could not be found. At what point was the decision made to make these cuts, and why weren’t we consulted or informed on the matter.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s been cut by stealth, and it needs looking at again,” remarked Clr. Blackhall.

Clr. Mrs. Maureen Ward said that she’d heard that one bus driver had told passengers that services had been cut, as they were used by ‘pensioners’ mostly and no money was being made from the service.

“It’s discriminating against elderly people and those with mobility issues from getting down to the town’s harbour, the hub of Tenby!” commented Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter.

“PCC are cutting their nose off to spite their face,” she added, with Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown agreeing.

“This is a poor response from PCC. It’s bad for the town and bad for tourism. Some people are prisoners in their own town during the pedestrianisation period, and they need to strive to come up with a way to find funding for the bus services,” added Clr. Mrs. Brown.

Mr. Davies explained that the Wesh Government once provided a subsidy to PCC for the bus services, but that was some time ago.

Clr. Mrs. Lane said that all matters could be raised when they hold the meeting with PCC representatives next week, to see if a solution could be found when they review the pedestrianisation scheme in general.