A local county councillor has suggested that a charitable partnership be formed in Tenby to ensure the upkeep of the town’s listed buildings and historic monuments.

Councillor Michael Williams, who represents Tenby’s North ward has contacted the town council and Tenby Civic Society to see if they would consider the possibility of setting up a ‘Tenby Town Walls Preservation Trust’.

Concerns over the upkeep of Tenby’s historic town walls led to former town councillor and Mayor, Mrs. Caroline Thomas proposing last year that a ‘town wall trust’ could be the best way forward to help maintain them, after she had met with Pembrokeshire County Council’s Building Control and Structural Engineer Manager, Richard Lawrence, to embark on a ‘walkabout’ of the town, which also included Tenby’s Castle Hill area.

Mrs. Thomas at the time pointed out her concerns that the walls were ‘deteriorating rapidly’ after suffering extensive weed damage, but after enquiring if any funding could be uncovered to help preserve the resort’s historic town and castle walls, under an ancient landmarks or heritage scheme, she suggested looking into other organisations in the area to set up a ‘town wall trust’ to raise money, similar to what has happened at Pembroke, after conceding that funding for such projects were tight at PCC.

Clr. Williams has now made a similar proposal after recently attending a Strategic Asset Management Group at County Hall, where there was a detailed discussion relating to the number of listed buildings and historic monuments within the County.

“It is an amazing fact that in Pembrokeshire we have 10 per cent of all of the listed buildings in Wales, and last year the total budget within the County to maintain some of the buildings owned by PCC was unbelievably £4.700,” he stated.

“In the forthcoming year it has been increased to £57K, still barely a drop on the ocean. The situation now is that over 70 per cent of the PCC budget is spent on education and social services, leaving little to other vital services.

“Bearing this in mind, would Tenby Town Council, possibly in partnership with the Civic Society consider setting up a Tenby Town Walls Preservation Trust?” continued Clr. Williams in correspondence sent to both organisations.

“This charitable body would possibly be able to raise grant funding which would not be available to a Local Authority, in a similar way to a similar body set up in Pembroke which is now showing signs of delivering improvements to their walls.

“It should be borne in mind that I believe it is far more difficult in Pembroke due to a range of ownership issues.

“In the past CADW has always been the first stop in applying for such funding, but I afraid that they have been reduced to such a degree they now are unable to offer almost anything, this together with the loss of ERDF is hugely concerning.

“I note that in recent years there has been some criticism of the condition of our walls, and I am particularly concerned about parts of the Castle Hill. With the financial constraints now placed upon local authorities, we have to look for other ways of looking after our built heritage,” he added.