Sir, Recent changes in the employment situation in Pembrokeshire seriously challenge the original basis on which the Bluestone development was promoted and permission granted. It was claimed that the promised 600 year-round, full-time jobs would alleviate the high unemployment rate in Pembrokeshire by attracting unemployed people from within the county. However, the current unemployment rate for Pembrokeshire is below the national average for Wales and the UK, and is among the lowest in Wales. Furthermore, local labour is not attracted to existing low wage work in tourism and hotel businesses. These jobs are increasingly being filled by willing recruits from Poland and other parts of eastern Europe. Clearly the job situation has changed since the original Bluestone proposal. It seems likely that the combination of low unemployment within Pembrokeshire together with an influx of job seekers from outside the county will produce a perverse result. Thus, while Bluestone is unlikely to have a significant effect on unemployment rates within the county, it will undermine the protection hitherto given to the National Park.
John Ratcliffe,
Carreg Pen-Las, Dinas Cross, Newport.