Councillors in Tenby are to ask Pembrokeshire County Council to look into the possibility of changing restrictions that ban dogs from the North Beach for five months of the year.

The local authority’s bye-laws prohibiting dogs from areas of certain beaches across the county exists primarily to protect the interests of bathers during the summer season, with the restrictions in force between May 1 until September 30.

Bans in other seaside resorts across the UK, such as Cornwall, only have restrictions on beaches between ‘peak times’ such as between 10 am and 6 pm.

On Tenby’s North Beach (to include harbour beach), the restriction covers the whole of the beach, apart from the area surrounding the lifeboat stations, when the tide is out. Dogs must also be kept on a lead in the harbour, promenade and North Walk areas too.

There is a partial ban on dogs on the South Beach, with pooches allowed on the sands from Salty’s Beach Bar heading right towards the Penally end. The ban also applies to Castle Beach, although dogs are permitted to enter the walkway to access the Caldey boat trips.

Cllr Duncan Whitehurst recently suggested if an idea to amend the times dogs were allowed on beaches could be considered, stating that rather than a total prohibition from May to October, just have ‘dog free’ times, say from 10 am to 6 pm only.

At this month’s meeting of Tenby town council he told his colleagues that this request had come from a delegation of dog owners who live in the north of Tenby and during the summer are restricted by walking over to south beach.

“Many residents tire easily and have to return home again before getting to the South Beach,” he said, stating that his proposals were similar to those in place on Blue Flag beaches in Cornwall.

“People can enjoy a dog free beach during the main part of the day but it is also available for dog owners at certain times too,” he continued.

Cllr Whitehurst, having carried out considerable research, said he had received an email response on the matter from Keep Wales Tidy, which stated: “To allow dogs the bylaw would need to be changed, a long process which the local authority would need to undertake.

“The criteria is there to protect the public not only from dogs themselves but also the mess that is left behind which is not only a problem on the beach but it can also affect the quality of the bathing water.

“Having said that, we think a dog ban during the day would be acceptable for a Blue Flag beach, the problem for the Local Authority would be enforcing it as to our knowledge there are only two dog wardens for the whole of the county.

“If the ban is not enforced it would create an issue for the Blue Flag status and could result in the award being withdrawn which is not good publicity for the town.

“As a side note, although not dog related North beach lost its Blue Flag status this year due to loss of water quality which is still under investigation,” added the correspondence from Keep Wales Tidy

Cllr Whitehurst said that he believed the issue resulting in the loss of the Blue Flag on North Beach was down to a storm water sewage overflow on three occasions.

He appreciated the question of enforcement and suggested that the town council could investigate funding from the EPF grant to provide a dog warden.

“This would cover much of the EPF criteria, raising overall standards of achievement, healthy communities and safeguarding the environment,” he remarked, explaining that he had spoken to a member of a council in Cornwall where some town councils still employed their own wardens.

Cllr. Whitehurst suggested that a public consultation could be promoted to begin with.

Cllr Mrs Rossiter, a dog owner herself, said she would be concerned as many children were afraid of dogs, feeling that the proposal would not work, and that the status quo should be retained.

Cllr Charles Dale said that outside of the hours that Cllr Whitehurst had proposed, you did not see many children on the beach. However, he said that the current prohibition was not being enforced now. As a dog owner too, he knows you cannot take them on the North Beach at this time of year, but if you confront those that do, they will tell you where to go.

“If it is currently not being enforced, what is the point of amending the restrictions?” he added.

Cllr Laurence Blackhall said that it was interesting that PCC would have to go through a consultation exercise, feeling this was worth pursuing to get the public’s views going forward.

“There seems to be some popular demand but there are equally some concerns, let’s see what people say,” he remarked. He did agree however, whatever restrictions were in place, the key issue was enforcement.

The Mayor, Cllr Sam Skyrme-Blackhall said she herself is down on the North Beach by 6.45 am to join many other sea swimmers, but when they point out to dog walkers that they shouldn’t be there they are faced with aggression from some.

She stressed however that the Blue Flag was not lost on North Beach due to dog fouling. It was, as Cllr. Whitehurst said, down to storm water overflow on a few occasions which was enough to fail it as the testing criteria has changed.

Cllr Sue Lane said she would be concerned for the health of children. “Having brought up children in Tenby, it is absolutely horrible when a child has stood in dog mess that has been covered over with sand and not picked up. Not every dog owner is a considerate person,” she said, stating that more focus was required on making sure that waste was picked up, as even though the ban in place it is not being enforced.

The Mayor said she had asked for dog waste bins in specific locations but had been told there was no need as waste could be placed in regular bins. She still felt, however, that specific dog waste bins would raise the profile of helping to tackle the issue.

Cllr Whitehurst thanked his colleagues for their feedback, and said that as a child growing up in Tenby during the 70s, you looked down as you walked, and dog mess was everywhere.

“The situation has improved since the ‘70s but there is still some way to go, perhaps a dog warden would be the way forward,” he said, proposing that the town council make a request to PCC to look at the possibility of amending the restrictions on North Beach to only exclude dogs from 10 am to 6 pm during the prohibition period and allow access outside of these times, and carry out a public consultation.