County Councillors of a Pembrokeshire seaside village are set to hold a meeting this month with Natural Resources Wales and Welsh Water, after bathing water quality concerns resurfaced heading into the busy summer period.

Last month, just ahead of school summer holidays, the campaign group ‘Surfers Against Sewage’ issued a warning that storm sewage had been released from an outlet near Saundersfoot beach, issuing a pollution alert, warning beachgoers to stay out of the sea.

However, County councillor for Saundersfoot’s south ward, Cllr Chris Williams believed that there had been some confusion, where some apps and websites may have interpreted this situation wrongly as meaning that water was unsafe for swimming, and that info he had accessed showed the history of all water quality tests performed at Saundersfoot, and he was satisfied that all the samples taken so far were in line with the last 5 years when the water quality has always been assessed as ‘excellent’.

The recent alert for Saundersfoot was sparked following a spell of stormy weather for the County, with Natural Resources Wales stating that storm overflows are needed during times of heavy rainfall to prevent possible flooding of sewage works and the potential for sewage to back up and flood peoples’ homes and businesses.

“We understand that some of the recent online pollution reports are related to automated monitoring of overflow drains which open to release pressure after storm conditions,” said Cllr Williams

“These overflow conditions happen every year - although haven’t always been published online. Pembrokeshire County Council have confirmed that they have not issued any warnings or advisory messages against bathing at Saundersfoot in the past year.”

Despite Cllr Williams' stance, clean seas campaigners flagged-up another aleert this week stating: 'Saundersfoot has been affected by storm sewage, discharged from a sewer overflow at 02.35 am on August 14'

A meeting with the water companies has now been scheduled for August 23, which Cllr Williams said would enable both he and his fellow county councillor for the locality, Cllr Alec Cormack, and members of the Community Council, a better understanding of the various online alerts that have appeared about bathing water quality across the County, some of which specifically mentioned Saundersfoot.

Cllr Williams said that he’d also proposed that the clerk invites the Pembrokeshire County Council Public health team officer responsible to make a presentation at the September meeting of the Community Council too.