Sir,
It is absolutely extraordinary that your correspondent Jane Stewart-Walvin (Letters, November 12) should be criticised by the Deputy Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Sandra Wlliams, and Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter (News, November 19) for expressing her views on Clr. Mrs. Brown's ill-considered comments on Tenby's teenagers.
Perhaps Ms Stewart-Walvin contravened a little-known Tenby embargo on speaking commonsense - or is it just that the councillors should be considered beyond criticism?
Clr. Mrs. Brown's response to local teenager Lori Amos was myopic in the extreme, and I fear it is all too indicative of the kind of small-town thinking that threatens to engulf Tenby.
I hope the councillors will also give consideration to another letter in your November 12 issue, in which B. Grove lamented the state of the town encountered on an annual holiday in Tenby, especially the lack of vision that had left the Royal Gate House site such an unwelcoming eyesore.
Given that Tenby relies so heavily on attracting tourists, it is especially dangerous at a time of recession if its well-being rests in the hands of small-minded officials who so readily dismiss legitimate discussion of local issues. I hope this is not an accurate description of Tenby's councillors, who no doubt put in much effort with the best of intentions. But reading remarks like those from the Deputy Mayor and Clr. Mrs. Rossiter does not create optimism.
Keith Clarke,
London.