Sir, With reference to your article 'Council concern over Channel dredging', I would like to applaud the local councillors' decision to oppose an application by the Resource Management Association (RMA) to dredge 1.8 tonnes of sand per annum for a 15-year period. Over the last 50 years of both holidaying and now permanently living in Pembrokeshire and having spent many, many long hours on local beaches, along with both family and friends, we have noticed over the last decade a gradual shelving of some of these beaches, and as a result, areas of South Beach as well as the Penally end of the beach seem to be losing their renowned soft sandy environment and becoming more and more stony. Every year more large stones appear, making the beach a much less friendly environment for young children. Where I live at Manorbier the shelving is becoming quite dramatic. As a result, when the tide is high, this steeper sloping of the beach becomes a hidden danger and a child can be quickly out of their depth, especially if they happen to be a visitor to the area and are unaware of the hidden dangers. If the tide is low, the beach is exposed and more level and therefore safer. Many believe (and I have heard many people comment on this) the constant dredging in the channel is to blame for the dramatic erosion of our beaches. If this proves to be true, any further dredging allowed in the area could be catastrophic. Common sense should tell us that to extract these huge amounts of sand regularly from our channel is going to have a severe environmental impact on our local beaches. There should be no more dredging in this part of the channel, full stop! Even if a temporary five-year licence is granted, it is more than likely that when this period is up, then yet another five-year licence would probably be granted and so forth. Pembrokeshire's major asset is tourism; Tenby itself has long been known for its beautiful stretch of golden sands and safe swimming for young families. This image will be no longer viable if this man-made erosion of our beaches is allowed to continue! I would urge our local Assembly Member Angela Burns to oppose the application to dredge in this part of the channel, and to implore the Welsh Assembly Government to employ more stringent Environmental Impact studies and assessment into the effects of marine aggregate extraction in the Bristol Channel.

G. A. Lane,

Manorbier.