Tenby’s ‘golden sands’ are in danger of becoming non-existent if measures aren’t put in place to alleviate the matter, a local councillor claimed this week.

During a discussion on sand dredging at Tuesday night’s meeting of the town council, Clr. Paul Rapi told his colleagues that a plan of action was urgently needed for the South Beach as it now practically had no sand on it.

“Our beaches are dreadful at this moment in time, at this rate we’re not going to have golden sands, as the South Beach has got no sand on it, with the pebbles underneath now showing up!” he said.

“We need to put the groynes back in! Fifteen years ago we were shown a picture of what could happen in 50 years time, similar to the flooding hundreds of years ago when the tide went all the way over to St Florence!

“In the last five years, I’ve never seen a change in the weather like it, and on that beach. The golf course is getting shorter and shorter too - we need the groynes back,” continued Clr. Rapi.

Clr. Laurence Blackhall thanked the harbourmaster, Pembrokeshire County Council and the harbour users for the initial process of getting some dredging done at Tenby’s harbour area recently, to alleviate some of the issues experienced by boats travelling in and out of the channel by the North Beach, but admitted that a long term plan was much needed.

“Two days of south easterly wind has already seen the sand moving again around that area - so we need a long term plan in place for dredging to make sure access is maintained for boats in the harbour.

“We don’t want to be in the same situation again next year, asking if there is a plan in place,” he added, suggesting that the town council facilitate a meeting with PCC representatives and harbour users.

PCC recently stated that the dredging operation at Tenby Harbour which involved the removal of 1,500 tonnes of sand had been ‘a success’ with the work being carried out under a Marine Licence issued by the Natural Resources Wales.