Tenby Town Council has been criticised by a former Mayor for the way it came to a decision on refusing to allow a meet of the South Pembrokeshire Hunt to be held in Tudor Square.

At their previous meeting, councillors were told that South Pembrokeshire Hunt Master, Hugh Harrison-Allen, had been in contact to see if the Hunt would be invited back into the town again this year as part of their annual Hunt Week programme.

However, after a tied vote of four against the Hunt returning and four in favour, the Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Julie Evans, used her casting vote to decide that they should not be invited to hold their meet in Tudor Square this year.

A letter addressed to the Mayor, from former Mayor and councillor, Mr. John Griffiths, concerning the matter, was brought before councillors at their meeting on Tuesday night.

"I was more than slightly disappointed to read that the town council had decided to refuse to allow the meeting of the Hunt in Tudor Square and then somewhat alarmed to read that there was a tied vote and that the Mayor had cast the deciding vote," wrote Mr. Griffiths.

"The application to hold the Hunt meet in Tenby was not on the agenda for the last council meeting, so members of the public were not given the opportunity to address the council in support or in opposition to the subject," continued Mr. Griffiths, who also made reference to Clr. Mrs. Trisha Putwain's comments against the Hunt, suggesting she should have declared "an interest" in the matter due to her involvement with the anti-hunt lobby at the previous year's meet in Tudor Square.

"In view of the political and emotional sensitivity of the subject, the lack of opportunity for public consultation and a split vote in the council, I would respectfully suggest that the appropriate course of action for you, a Mayor, would have been to defer the issue to the next meeting. I understand that there was thought to be some degree of urgency to reach a decision, but that should not have over-ridden fair play and open democracy," continued Mr. Griffiths in his letter.

"May I reiterate that I personally hold no strong views on the issue of hunting and I do not in any way wish to impugn the integrity of any member of the town council, each of whom is perfectly entitled to their opinion and I would happily defend their right to their own opinion, however I do think that the issue was not handled in the most appropriate manner," he added.

The Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Evans, was not present at the meeting, with Deputy Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Sandra Williams, taking the chair in her absence, however the town clerk, Mr. Andrew Davies, told members that the council had received several letters on the matter, nine in support of the council's decision and two taking issue with it.

He also explained that he had contacted Pembrokeshire County Council's monitoring officer, Mr. Laurence Harding, to see if a procedural error had been made on making a decision on the matter.

"The item came up under 'clerk's items' on the agenda, but although I've yet to hear back from Mr. Harding fully on this matter, the procedural issue is a moot point," said Mr. Davies, with Clr. Mike Evans concurring that it was a bit of a "grey area".

Clr. Mrs. Sue Lane pointed out that, although the Hunt had contacted the town council out of courtesy on the matter, at the end of the day there was nothing to stop the organisers from getting permission to return to Tudor Square from the county council.

Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown felt that a decision on the matter should return to the table.

"I agree with Mr. Griffiths's point about it not being political. It's nothing to do with politics, we invited the Hunt back previously for the social aspect of the meet. Whether hunting is illegal or legal is nothing to do with us; the social side of the Hunt is something that has been a part of rural Pembrokeshire for years.

"It's a meeting of the Hunt, not an actual Hunt, so the anti-hunt lobbying is immaterial to a social meet in Tenby," she said.

Clr. Mrs. Putwain said that she took issue with some of the comments that Mr. Griffiths had made about her in his letter.

"The police complimented the protesters on their demeanour when campaigning against the Hunt in Tudor Square last year.

"The subject in no way affects me more than any other public matter I may have strong feelings on. If we all as councillors had to declare an interest on all matters in the town, then we would have to say we couldn't care less on any matter!" remarked Clr. Putwain.

Another letter received on the matter, taking issue with Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter's comments in support of the Hunt returning, was also brought before members.

"I am not naive about hunting laws and animal rights as the letter suggests, I have dogs and cats that rule my house," she responded.

"We are all entitled to our own opinions and I respect this lady's opinion. An article in a national newspaper this week refers to Tony Blair admitting in his memoirs that he had made a grave error with the hunting ban; that's not a political statement from me, just something I thought I'd mention because politics were brought into this discussion," said Clr. Mrs. Rossiter.

The town clerk, Mr. Davies, said that bringing the matter back to the table was all academic now, as he had spoken to Mr. Harrison-Allen since the decision and he had informed the council that the Hunt now had no plans to return to Tenby this year.

Clr. Mrs. Caroline Thomas said that the South Pembrokeshire Hunt should be advised to go through the proper procedure next year and write to the town council well ahead of any plans to hold a meet in the town.