Sir, Does Tenby realise that NOW - before Monday, May 16 - is the window of opportunity to lodge summer town closure objections to the director of transport at Haverfordwest? This is a matter not just for residents, but for trades persons and businesses throughout the Tenby region that care about the town's future. There are a number of reasons that Highways wish to promote the proposals, few of these reasons bear up to scrutiny. Safety: There is virtually no record of a poor road traffic accident history in Tenby - neither is there any pending danger to pedestrians within the town walls. I would challenge the department to prove otherwise. This access issue is a spurious assumption - based on no record of fact. Visiting cars tend to drive very slowly through the narrow streets, or park in the nearby multi-storey. Drivers only enter the town because they need access - Tenby's streets not being required for 'through' traffic. Visitors that know better avoid the centre altogether at busy times. Drinking in the streets: It appears that 'pedestrianisation' is, part and parcel, tied to the so called 'enhancement' proposals. The restrictions are designed to allow the cafes and pubs to spill out into the streets during the day - on the continental model. Unfortunately, the climate is unsuitable and the spaces (exposed streets - not squares) are awkward and windswept. The litter resulting, the seagulls diving to steal chips and the stench of beer has proved in the past to result in a vulgar and untidy display. The proposals are only to the advantage of the cafes themselves, perhaps producing a marginally improved profit. Pedestrianisation, over the past three years, has proved only to exacerbate excessive drinking and unsociable behaviour in the town. Evidence is in the well-publicised letters to the Observer and police records. The town's growing notoriety extends nationwide. Traffic management: Pedestriansation has simply given rise to chaos in the morning and evenings immediately before and after town closure hours. Huge delivery lorries battle for access and rarely make it in and out in the allotted time. It is most uncomfortable for the residents and visitors with suitcases having to arrive in Tenby or leave to an absurd or impossible timetable that neither tallies with reasonable working days nor train times. Residents, delivery drivers, trades-people, hoteliers, church-goers and visiting families complain bitterly. Surely it is an infringement of a basic human right to prevent or discourage access to a person's home, especially if they are old, young, disabled or infirm? Enhancement: Plans shown for one day (an unreasonably short consultation period at the De Valence a year or so ago) show the road surfaces altered in front of pubs and cafes. The thinking here is impoverished. To form permanent links by tinkering with paving between the National Park historic townscape and temporary licensees' premises is crude and short-sighted. It will spoilt the town's streetscape and the sensitive relationships between streets and buildings. It is artless meddling. There appears to be an imbalance in Pembrokeshire's budgeting in that that the Highways Department have such moneys to lavish on pavements and parking bays, when the gardens, cliff landscaping, access routes to many of the beaches and car parks are in dire need of basic maintenance. And what of the streets outside the town walls? The enhancement and pedestrianisation, by restricting deliveries, will make the running of normal shops, services and businesses impossible. Tenby, as a market town or shopping centre, will have no future whatsoever as businesses are driven out. With fewer shops, residents will be forced to use centres outside the town - and this appears to be happening already - increasing the use of cars or public transport, with the resulting environmental and social damage. This has been clearly proved in studies of other out-of-town shopping centres elsewhere in the British Isles, such as Aberystwyth. Conclusion: Tenby is an important residential centre and a shopping centre catering for a large area as well as a holiday town for more than two months of the year. This mixed use is critical to its character and functioning all year round and not just in the summer. Any permanent threat to the structure, pattern of use or habitability of the town for the critical summer months will upset the happy balance and future of the town. Any changes must be undertaken only with proper consultation, experiment, research and study and with a sensitive eye to the long-term consequences. Whilst I sympathise with and support Pembrokeshire's desire to manage traffic, I am concerned by the means by which they do it. The proposals will damage the very thing they seek to protect. If others feel this way then they should make their voices heard TODAY.
Murray John