A call for a drastic improvement to Tenby’s sports and leisure facilities has been made, to encourage up and coming local sports men and women.

Speaking at a recent meeting of Tenby Town Council, during a discussion on what objectives members would like to see prioritised for the next five years, Clr. Dai Morgan felt that, with Tenby’s reputation for Ironman and the Long Course Weekend, the Town Council should be prioritising sports and leisure facilities to encourage local sports competitors.

He told his fellow members that he felt facilities were not good enough and that the town council should be looking at the possibilities of an all-weather 4G pitch for use by all sports.

Clr. Morgan also felt that the town’s leisure centre was not being used to its maximum potential. He understood that the main hall had been used as a Covid vaccination centre in recent times, but it was not a priority now, stating that Pembrokeshire County Council and the Health Board needed to look at another location where this could be delivered so that the main hall could once again host things such as five-a-side football.

He said that participating in sport was ‘brilliant for mental health’ and by not having these facilities available it was detrimental, feeling that the local authorities were not doing enough to provide facilities for participating.

Cllr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter said that she understood that the upkeep of a 4G pitch could be in the region of £50,000 annually, but Clr. Laurence Blackhall said he believed it to be less than that but appreciated it was still significant.

However, he said, part of the plan going forward could be to look into all these potential costs and how it could be achieved.

Clr. Charles Dale said in other areas local businesses provided 4G pitches for schools. “Earlier we had spoken about how Greenhill could generate income - if provision of a 4G pitch could be achieved at Greenhill, the school could boost its income by letting it out,” he remarked.

The Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Sam Skyrme-Blackhall commented that a 4G pitch was also on her list of priorities and she believed Greenhill was quite keen on the idea.

Clr. Paul Rapi said though, that he could not see how the town council could afford to undertake proposals like 4G pitches, and that this was a sector that was down to the county council.