Changes to this year’s Saundersfoot Triathlon have been raised after local councillors flagged-up concerns.

The event is due to take place early in September, the day before the Ironman Wales event is held in the locality - but questions had been previously asked by county councillors from the area as to whether the date change to IM would bring as much benefit to the local economy, by not holding the sporting event, further out of the summer season, rather than on the tail end of the summer school holidays.

Pointing towards discussions with Saundersfoot Tri organisers Activity Wales, the seaside village’s county councillor for the south ward Cllr Chris Williams said: “Entries for the Saundersfoot Tri were released back in September 2022 for athletes to enter for Saturday, September 2, but I did raise my concerns with Saundersfoot Harbour Commission and senior business owners along with residents on The Strand regarding this date.

“My concerns were that it’s still technically the school summer holidays and parking is at a premium. How could the village lose the main car park for four days at the end of August to host this event?

“There was also the issue of the Strand business owners along with the rental properties being caught up in a situation where they would find it extremely hard to work efficiently.

“As a village we do all work together and we want to encourage events as this adds to the vibe and gives Saundersfoot a great name of a community working together.

“With this in mind I’ve had many meetings with Activity Wales along with my fellow County Councillors for the area, Alec Cormack and Rhys Jordan.

“It was put forward that we hold this event on Friday evening, the 1st of September. We then approached residents along with business owners and Saundersfoot Harbour on how we can make this fit in with the community.

“We now have the harbour working as a car park, the bike racking will now be set up at Saundersfoot school, and the finishing line will be on a proposed closed Strand on Friday evening subject to approval from Pembrokeshire County Council,” explained Cllr Williams, stating that this would allow athletes to perform in a packed village where they will be fully supported, whilst businesses will see increased trade during the evening and there will be less disruption for residents, as the event is expected to see nearly a thousand athletes take part, with probably another four thousand spectators coming to the village.

“The positive from this will see Saundersfoot School getting a significant sum of fundraising and there has been an agreement reached with Activity Wales to fund a Radar speed sign for the village,” continued Cllr Williams.

“The Sports Club will also benefit by turning the sports field into a car park for the night if they so wish to bring in extra revenue, as the field will be free on that evening.

“Regarding the Saundersfoot Tri - this is very popular amongst local residents with both young and old getting involved. This is an ‘entry tri’ and many will go on to compete in bigger events such as Ironman.

“There are still discussions with Long Course Weekend that will be held at county level with all councillors that are affected by this event. Activity Wales have put in changes to the event and times that will affect residents and businesses in Saundersfoot.

“This will be discussed along with every other village and towns to see how this event can be run with limited disruption. Myself and councillors Jordan and Cormack are pleased with the changes locally and this will be discussed further,” he added.