Nic Wheeler, chief executive of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, was the guest speaker at Tenby 2020's annual general meeting held recently at the De Valence Pavilion.
Mr. Wheeler spoke of the special position of Tenby in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, and related that to the environment as a whole, including the Johannesburg summit, the concept of sustainability, the growth of the UK National Parks, the Welsh Assembly's ambitions, and the proposed Joint Unitary Development Plan. He commented favourably on the recent pedestrianisation experiment and on the new Tourism Growth Area report, though in respect of the latter he opined that the one thing Tenby did not need was another consultant's report. He spoke strongly in favour of partnership working.
Mr. Wheeler then spoke in more detail of proposals affecting Tenby, including the continuing Historic Town Scheme, traffic within the walled town, the new lifeboat station, St. Catherine's Island, telecommunications masts, and the supermarket allocation at New Hedges.
At the end of his talk, Mr. Wheeler answered questions on New Hedges, the possibility of other bulky goods shopping developments, Francis Yard, housing policy, the Bluestone project, and the refurbishment of Tudor Square.
The annual report and the statement of accounts were both accepted.
The other principal business of the annual general meeting was the election of officers. As had previously been reported in the Observer there had to be a turnaround of the officers of Tenby 2020 as the constitution only allows officer posts to be held for up to two years. There was a competitive election for only one post, that of vice-chair, which was won by Jim Fleming. Elected unopposed were Chris Osborne as chair, Christine Brown as treasurer, and Mike Thorne as secretary.
Chair Chris Osborne told the Observer: "Following the encouraging words of Nic Wheeler, we shall be making a renewed attempt over the next year to forge partnerships with the authorities, and with businesses in the town, to secure a better economic future for Tenby. Only be working together, public and voluntary sectors, residents and business operators, alike, are we going to make a real inroad into the enhancement of Tenby's future."