A recent meeting called to review the permit parking scheme in Tenby has left the town's Mayor, Clr. Mrs Sue Lane, feeling "disappointed with the outcome." Clr. Mrs. Lane has been campaigning for months for Pembrokeshire County Council to look into the scheme, after many areas in the town have experienced difficulties, with a number of residents and traders unhappy with the way the scheme has been run. Discussing the meeting, which was attended by Tenby councillors and officers of the county council, Clr. Lane said at Tuesday night's meeting of Tenby Town Council: "I felt that the PCC representatives present at the meeting didn't want to look into the grievances that I and many other locals have about the scheme. "Although the scheme suits some streets, it certainly doesn't work on others, and there are plenty of people out there, along with myself, who would like to see it totally re-thought," she continued. At the meeting on the residents parking scheme, Clr. Mrs. Lane had draw the county council officers' attention to a number of letters received on the issue of why people could not park in other permit areas, which had available spaces, when their own streets were full. PCC officer Mr. G. Sutton said that there were three views on the scheme from permit holders; one was that things were fine, two was the number of permits issued in relation to spaces, and the third was the provision of the opportunity to park in other permit areas. However, the views of residents in most permit holding streets seemed to be that they would not like the thought of them not being able to find a permit space in their street because a permit holder from another street was parked in the permit area. Clr. Mike Evans welcomed the schemes, as they identified legitimate parking areas and the town needed some form of traffic management, but he also pointed out that some areas were a mix of commercial and residential, which caused concerns amongst bed and breakfast providers over the provision of parking for guests. Mr. Sutton responded by saying that the premise of the permit scheme was that visitors should be using the car parks, but added that properties did have the option of applying for a week-long 'visitor's permit'. Clr. Mrs. Lane went on to explain that following a walkabout by town councillors, the scheme in Heywood Court appeared to be problematic, with people parking opposite the bays rather than buying permits, thereby obstructing the bays for legitimate permit holders. She felt that there was plenty of space on the estate to create parking bays, rather than have residents parking, and wondered if some of the designated permit bays could be removed. Mr. Sutton admitted that Heywood Court was a problem area as residents were 'circumventing the system', and said that officers would look into the matter. He concluded by saying that the issued permits were up for renewal in November and the county council would look at the scheme again with a view to reducing the permit areas in a way which would still address the reason why the scheme was asked for in the first place. At Tuesday night's town council meeting, Clr. Mrs. Lane concluded by still encouraging residents and traders to write in with their views on the permit scheme and any problems they may have incurred in their area.
