Tenby councillors have recommended refusal to the local authority for a licensing application submitted for the playing fields at Greenhill School.

Tenby Town Council called an Extra-Ordinary meeting, which took place on Tuesday night at the Mayor’s Parlour to discuss the licensing application from Pop Up Ops Limited which is proposing licensed events take place at the secondary school’s grounds which is situated on Heywood Lane.

The application is valid from 8 am to 11 pm, seven-days-a-week for up to 5,000 people per day.

The first type of event that has been proposed is a ‘big top tent’ entertainment festival, serving food and drink that has been run in Singleton Park previously, with the applicants requesting a ‘premise licence’ up until 11 pm throughout the six-week summer holiday period.

Swansea based company Creative Hospitality Group (CHG) are behind this application along with Pembrokeshire-based broadcasters Pure West Radio.

Residents in the locality, along with various licensed business owners in the town have expressed their concern over the proposal, and also a lack of consultation towards those living in the area, and had the chance to express their discontent at an open Q&A at Greenhil School’s hall last Thursday (May 19).

Those with concerns were also able to put their views across to councillors on Tuesday night, with the main focus of the points raised, including - general noise pollution in a residential area; hundreds of people leaving Greenhill on foot late at night passing through residential areas; anti-social behaviour; extra pressure on emergency services in the area; parking issues; risk to school children of broken glass and other sharp hazards dropped on the pitches from littering;

It was also pointed out that with a care home close by, there was a huge concern for vulnerable and elderly people that reside at the facility.

“In general this is a really inappropriate venue for this kind of event, and there are so many reasons that people are against it,” remarked one local resident at Tuesday night’s meeting.

“Are the local police force aware of this proposal, as they can barely cope with policing Tenby any way over the busy summer period!

“With people leaving the event well after 11 pm, straggling down residential streets drunk, nobody wants it here!

“With the possibility of over a 1,000 people attending each of these events, there is likely to be an accident over anti-social behaviour with alcohol involved, and this will put extra pressure on ambulance services for an area that’s health services are already stretched and doesn’t have the infrastructure to cope any way - so why should the rest of the community suffer?” another resident remarked.

One other complainant said that a school shouldn’t be promoting an event of this kind on it’s grounds, where the main focus will be alcohol sales, whilst there was also concerns raised that this type of event could attract drugs too.

“There is a lot of elderly people that live in the vicinity, and with the number of people travelling back and forth, it will have a huge impact on the local neighbourhood,” one gentleman in attendance commented.

It was also pointed out that the Welsh Government introduced a landmark law last year, meaning that school grounds, public playgrounds and other outdoor settings are required to be smoke-free, so they asked whether there would be a smoking ban at these events.

Speaking on behalf of one of the organisers Pure West Radio, sales manager Mathew Rickard said he came from Milford Haven, and that popular places such as Tenby were ‘impossible’ to visit at times over the busy summer season for others living across Pembrokeshire, so he saw this type of event as an occasion to benefit the county and the town itself.

One resident said that they’d researched the same event held in Singleton Park, and deduced that the majority of food and drink vendors that attended were owned by the Creative Hospitality Group’s CEO, so again, there was a certain amount of apprehension that this event would not be of benefit to local businesses operating in the same trade.

When it came down to determining the application proposed, the town clerk Andrew Davies told members that the Town Council was not a statutory consultee, but could make representations to Pembrokeshire County Council’s licensing department as an ‘interested party’.

He said it was up to councillors to decide whether they felt that the school grounds was a suitable place for such types of events, and that members views must be relevant to the following licensing objectives - The prevention of crime and disorder; Public safety; The prevention of public nuisance; and the protection of children from harm.

Clr. Laurence Blackhall said that he felt that the main reason for objecting to the application was the noise effect such events would have on the local community.

“There are obviously matters such as highways, parking and other wider issues, but the significant risk of noise to the residents living nearby, not just from the event itself, but caused by people arriving and leaving, along with public nuisance would by my representation for refusing the licence,” he commented.

“I don’t think this type of event is right, and I hope it doesn’t go ahead, but there are wider discussions ongoing with the school, and its positive that they have responded.

“We should next look at what we can do as a Town Council to turn around and support the school, if it comes down to raising additional funds for the facility,” added Clr. Blackhall.

Clr. Duncan Whitehurst concurred, and said that he had previously worked with school inspectors in educational settings, and he didn’t see this type of event and a licence application of this sort, as a way to promote healthy eating and drinking towards school age groups.

With councillors voting unanimously to recommend refusal for the event, the town council will now make representation to PCC’s licensing committee objecting to the application on the grounds that they feel it fails to meet the licensing objectives in relation to prevention of public nuisance, with members feeling that the potential for noise generated by the licensable activities would be detrimental to the amenity of neighbouring residents.

The Mayor of Tenby, Clr. Mrs. Sam Skyrme-Blackhall said that the school governors at Greenhill were meeting again on Thursday (May 26), and hoped that there would be some sort of way forward found, as the matter was a very important issue for the community.

Anyone who wants to make representations to Pembrokeshire County Council regarding the application should be made no later than June 14 to the Lead Licensing Officer, Public Protection Division, County Hall, Haverfordwest, SA61 1TP or by email to: [email protected]