Tenby's police chief has been praised by a local councillor for finding the funding to put a full-time seasonal traffic warden on the streets of the town. At Tuesday evening's meeting of Tenby Town Council, Clr. Mike Evans said he "welcomed the sight of a traffic warden on the streets," praising Insp. Les Clark for finding the funds. "It's certainly been a welcome sight seeing a full- time traffic warden patrolling the streets of Tenby, both inside and outside of the town walls," said Clr. Evans. "I think a letter of thanks should be sent to Insp. Clark for making this happen on such a restricted budget and I believe there will also be another warden starting duty soon." Clr. Evans also re-opened the debate on the residents parking permit scheme at the meeting, stating that he had always supported the scheme. His comments follow a recent barrage of letters sent to the council from local residents unhappy with the proposal to scrap the scheme which had been agreed at their last meeting. "I personally have never been against the resident permit parking scheme and have always been very vocal in supporting it," he said. "I've yet to meet a resident in Tenby who has a permit and is actually against the scheme, and as we're here as a council to represent the views of the people of the town, I think the letters we have received this week from residents continuing to back the scheme show that it is working," continued Clr. Evans. Indeed, the public response led to many councillors re-thinking their decision on the matter, with Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown stating that she planned to submit a notice of motion to rescind their earlier resolution. "I think the feeling in the town is very strongly against the decision we took, and we're big enough to admit that we might have been wrong, so now is the time to look to ourselves to consider if our decision was correct or indeed incorrect," said Clr. Mrs. Brown. Clr. Mrs. Caroline Thomas was also happy for the debate concerning the scheme to be re-opened. " think it would be wise to open discussions on the way the scheme is run. For instance, I don't think that anyone is happy with the way it's policed for a start, so we should listen to all sides in trying to make it more workable," she stressed. FOOTNOTE: At the same meeting, Clr. Mike Evans backed a request from residents in St. Mary's Street for the introduction of on-street parking. "I've been approached by many residents of St. Mary's Street who would like to see the introduction of an unrestricted parking scheme, many of whom are elderly people who have lived there all their lives," he said. "Surely it can only be of benefit to these people and I fully support the scheme if it goes ahead." Clr. Evans's comments followed a letter from Pembrokeshire County Council's traffic manager, John Price, seeking the town council's views on the proposal.
