Question marks over Tenby’s floral displays have been raised by the resort’s councillors, who have stated that some of the town’s normally vibrant, colourful and award-winning gardens have been a let down this summer.

Speaking at Tuesday night’s meeting of the town council, Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown told her colleagues that she had received ‘numerous complaints’ about the quality of some of the planting and the state of the gardens.

“It’s very disappointing, considering the town council pays to the tune of several thousands of pounds towards this aspect of Tenby; I feel we and the town didn’t get value for money,” she said.

“I’m raising it now, as it will be a concern again for next year. The memorial gardens looked like a tractor had been over them, and I was ashamed of the way the Paragon gardens looked!

“I just didn’t feel proud walking around the town and viewing some of our gardens this year, and neither did a lot of people. I’m not knocking the gardeners themselves, it seems they just didn’t get the right flowers to set Tenby ablaze with colour, but we need to do something about it ahead of next year,” she continued.

The town’s Mayor and chairman of Tenby in Bloom, Clr. Mrs. Sue Lane, said that the resort did not enter the Wales in Bloom competition this year, as they had taken some time out, due to a programme of sustainable planting being initiated by the county council, and they wanted the shrubs as part of that project to settle.

“I agree that we have not got value for money this year,” she commented. “The Tenby in Bloom committee have raised a lot of money towards the town’s floral aspects, and we feel that there is nothing to show for it. It’s soul destroying really!

“We shouldn’t be paying for the town’s flowers any way, but due to the cuts by PCC, we’ve been prepared to try and do our bit.

“It’s not the boys that do the gardening, it’s the fault of the financing that goes behind it. The town just hasn’t been given the manpower, and we’re not getting the standard that we’re used to

“Some of the plants and flowers don’t look anything like the ones we asked for! It’s absolutely gutting. The display by the ‘Welcome to Tenby’ sign is meant to be vibrant, but we’ve been given small begonias instead of long stork begonias! I felt the sustainable planting would be a good move, but the shrubs planted at the Paragon just look like dried up green, and they haven’t been watered enough.

“We need to meet up with the relevant officers at Pembrokeshire County Council and thrash it out, as this just hasn’t been good enough for our town,” added Clr. Mrs. Lane.

Councillors agreed that one of the only success stories had been the flower plinths displayed along the South Parade, which Tenby in Bloom had funded.