The development of St. Catherine's Island as an all-weather visitor attraction, a low water landing stage off Castle Hill, the creation of a conference centre in the Butts Field area of town and the development of a shopping centre in Francis Yard are all projects which could be achieved for Tenby through Objective 1 funding, Tenby Town Council were told last week.

Before councillors at their meeting on Tuesday night was a draft consultation document drawn up by the 2020 group of projects they believe could be completed by the year 2005 with Objective 1 funding.

The main priority put forward by 2020 was the appointment of a special resort manager for the town by the end of the year whose task was not only to improve the marketing of the town and increase the number of events and increase the number of visitors, but also to co-ordinate with other agencies to achieve other projects included in the consultation.

Among these were the enhancement of Tudor Square and High Street, including the restoration of the Dyster Memorial Fountain and the Town Cross and "a substantial increase in the area dedicated to pedestrians" to facilitate the introduction of a cafe culture and make the heart of the town "more attractive to visitors."

It was hoped that this could be implemented by spring 2001, while by summer the same year, Tenby 2020 suggests improvements to the access to the town, including increasing the duration of the park and ride scheme; improvements to signage for vehicles approaching the town and the "rationalisation of on-street car parking and the enhancement of off-street."

The town could also be connected to the National Cycle Network.

Another scheme suggested which could be completed by the end of 2001 with funding could be the development of a deep water landing stage off Castle Hill. This could incorporate facilities for the RNLI lifeboat, the Caldey boats, visiting small leisure craft and visiting passenger carrying cruise boats.

Other projects included the public acquisition of St. Catherine's Island and its development as an all-weather visitor attraction; and the development of a resort centre in the Butts Field area, to include conference and entertainment facilities, a salt-water spa and health facilities, multi-level parking, lower level access to the North Beach and a residential education centre.

Final project suggested could be the development of Francis Yard as an under cover shopping centre to include craft shops and short-term shoppers car park.

Mr. Mike Thorne, chairman of Tenby 2020, explained that these were some of the projects identified in 2020's Action Plan for regeneration of the town over the next 20 years which had been formulated last year in consultation with over 70 of the town's organisations, including the Chamber of Trade and Tourism and the Town Council, while others had been drawn from 'other sources'.

"None of these ideas are new, but now is the opportunity to actually carry them out," wrote Mr. Thorne.

"The notion of a landing stage was one of your priorities and it features in the county council Vision document," Mr. Thorne pointed out. "The proposal for a conference centre at Butts Field is in the National Park's local plan."

Mr. Thorne added that the projects were not listed in any order of importance, but in the order Tenby 2020 felt they could be achieved.

"The later projects are more complicated in terms of assembling the land and/or the funding package and in obtaining all the necessary consents," he pointed out.

Success in achieving any or all of the projects would be dependent on the support of 'would-be partners', including the local authorities, public funding agencies and land owners.

"The need for public money to carry out these projects will vary widely from project to project," Mr. Thorne stressed. "Once the list has been fully discussed within the Tenby community, the next stage will be to examine the business case for each one and determine how each project will be championed and delivered.

"Each project must of course be sustainable in the long term and must achieve the outputs required by the Objective 1 programme."

As part of the consultation process, Mr. Thorne requested a meeting between members of Tenby 2020 and the town council to consider the proposals.