The impact of climate change, water shortages and the cost of living crisis were just some of the topics discussed around the table when Tenby Town Council met this month.

Raising the issues with fellow councillors, Cllr Laurence Blackhall felt there were a number of things that needed to be considered, such as how to manage energy and costs, along with water usage, but also how organisations that the town council supported, including De Valence are being impacted.

Looking at costs, just in the Rotary Gardens alone, the amount of water used was equivalent to a hot tub every other day, he explained.

Cllr Blackhall said that the town council’s EPF (Enhancing Pembrokeshire Fund) plans and the work done with Cllr Sue Lane and the Tenby in Bloom organisation last year, would reduce that in these gardens, but he wondered how the council could look at water usage elsewhere.

“The Town Council has a Biodiversity Policy, but one of the questions is how do we use this to enhance areas but reduce costs and reduce the impact on natural resources?” he said.

“The Clerk has already indicated potential increased energy costs at Augustus Place but what about the De Valence?

“While they receive a certain grant amount each year, there may be additional pressures and we need to offer our support to ensure this building remains viable for the community.

“We need to start conversations so we’re ahead of the curve. If there are particular areas or pressures, we should be looking at planning ahead,” continued Cllr Blackhall, believing that long term plans were needed, with the roof of the De Valence, for example, a potential resource for solar energy.

Cllr Tish Rossiter recalled a company coming in to talk about solar panels at the De Valence some time ago, but it was let go.

The town clerk explained that the problem back then was that, as the majority of the De Valence energy was used at night time, a way to store the solar energy produced was needed. At that time battery technology was not up to this but times had moved on.

The Town Council’s community engagement officer Anne Draper confirmed that she was in talks with Mr Jones at the De Valence on this.

She asked if councillors had any solar panel contacts as she had struggled to get quotes.

Cllr Blackhall said he would like his fellow councillors to go away and think about ways they could reduce costs to redirect into other things and use our resources more effectively in the future.

He also asked as to how the Town Council could offer support to groups encountering hardships?