Sir,
I write in response to your report last week about the Tenby Town Council's 'rethink on affordable housing policy'.
As so often with this council, there was no information on which to base a rethink of the policy which they had decided on only last year. And there was no prior notice of a motion to change the policy, which is in breach of the council's own Standing Orders.
Clr. Putwain is reported to have said that 'prestigious seafront developments did not lend themselves to the LDP policy'.
So she is arguing for yet more luxury flats that will be mostly bought by incomers and in many cases left empty for much of the time. How does that help the Tenby community?
What Tenby does desperately need, as shown by a survey conducted by the town council only three years ago, is more affordable housing to provide for young families on the housing waiting list. Such families provide the children to sustain our schools, and the business for our local shops, unlike many of the occupiers of those 'prestigious' flats.
Given the shortage of land for development in the National Park, and the unhelpful approach of the county council to their land disposals (and their own objection to the National Park's policy), it is critical that every opportunity is taken to extract a substantial amount of affordable housing from each and every development scheme.
Meanwhile, the poor town clerk is lumbered with having to explain to the LDP inquiry next month why Tenby Town Council has changed its mind.
I shall be there on behalf of the Chamber of Trade and Tourism, supporting the National Park's affordable housing policy on the grounds that is good for the community, good for the economy, and good for the environment. I look forward to the debate!
Mike Thorne,
Tenby.