Sir,
I suppose that the county council should be complimented on initiating long overdue renovation work on the dreary, ill-designed monolith that passes for a multi-storey car park in Tenby. Undoubtedly the sting will be a significant raise in the parking rates.
It was inevitable that the county council should commence this work with little or no thought given to the consequences to the general public. As far as I am aware, the only advance warning was a brief notice in this newspaper and there were no notices posted within the car park to assist/advise motorists, in other words there was a complete absence of consideration for the long suffering motoring public.
Normally in the region of 100-plus cars are packed daily in the upper floors whilst the owners attend their place of employment in the town. Many of these contribute to the council coffers by leasing reserved parking spaces for the summer season.
Where are these motorists supposed to park whilst the work is in progress? The ground floor is prohibited to them as parking is only permitted for two hours in any 24-hour period. I know of three persons who have been recipients of £50 excess parking charges in the last week after parking on the ground floor. The only alternative being to take a chance on the double yellow lined streets and add to the existing traffic congestion.
Could not the parking fees for the ground floor be suspended for the duration of the work? The council might lose some revenue, but this would be more than balanced by the revenue accruing from unwitting payments made on the upper floors during winter and from the goodwill such a gesture would generate.
An approach to the church agent to open the Rectory Field car park to provide alternative parking might have received a sympathetic response. Is it really asking too much of the traffic management experts in Haverfordwest to exercise a little imagination and consider making some alternative arrangements?
John H. T. Griffiths,
3 Scotsborough View,
Tenby.