‘Cleaning and greening’ issues surrounding Tenby’s South Parade area have been taken to task.

The Mayor of Tenby. Clr. Mrs. Sue Lane and her fellow members of the town council recently voiced their concerns over the poor state of the area alongside Tenby’s historic town walls, stating that weeds growing out of the pavements and the walls were doing uncontrollable damage, and that Pembrokeshire County Council had neglected the area in recent times, in light of recent budget cuts.

A report of a recent meeting of the town’s newly formed ’Gardens, maintenance and general purpose’ committee came before members of the town council at their meeting on Tuesday night, after they had met with representatives of PCC to outline the issues.

Clr. Mrs. Lane explained that the committee would be meeting once a month and that they were looking for volunteers to devote time to help with ‘cleaning and greening issues’ across the town.

It was discussed at the meeting how the South Parade was a priority and explained how the weed spraying was now the responsibility of PCC’s highways department.

Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter said that everyone was aware of the budgetary constraints faced by PCC, and felt that the team needed to make the town their priority and then filter out work to the outskirts.

Clr. Mrs. Caroline Thomas stressed the importance of the work needed to be done to combat the weeds growing out of the historic town walls.

To help with floral and gardening maintenance, it was suggested that the town council could assist by funding a standpipe, which would enable the 500 litre bowser to be filled in just eight minutes and allow more productive use of PCC staff time.

The town clerk said that he had already made enquiries and that a standpipe would cost in the region of £1,950 for six months, and estimated that during the height of summer, the bowser would need to be filled four to six times a day.

He added that Saundersfoot Community Council had also expressed interest in contributing to the funding of a standpipe as they too could use the facility for watering their floral beds.

Speaking at Tuesday night’s meeting of the town council, Clr. Mrs. Rossiter told her colleagues that immediately after the talks with PCC, weeding issues along the South Parade were dealt with.

Clr. Mike Evans agreed that it would be worthwhile and more financially viable to invest in the standpipe, and reduce the overall cost for Tenby, with Clr. Mrs. Lane agreeing that the town council should go ahead with the option.

Clr. Mrs. Lane also stated that a leaflet drop would be made to businesses in the town encouraging them to assist in keeping the resort clean by undertaking sweeping and washing down the pavements in front of their properties, pointing to the likes of cigarette stubs seemingly being a major problem for the town.

“We want to send the message out to keep the streets of the town weed free and rubbish free!” she added.