Sir,

'Never assume - always check', so the saying goes. As if to prove the point, in my original letter submitted to the Tenby Observer back in July of this year I incorrectly assumed that the road widening in front of the old Royal Gatehouse Hotel had been overlooked or conveniently forgotten about during the planning stage of the redevelopment of the site.

I was in particular looking for answers as to how White Lion Street would appear once all the work on site and surrounds had been completed.

Mr. Gardiner from the Tenby Civic Society kindly provided the information that I was after. However, it appears that it wasn't overlooked or forgotten about at all, far from it. The concept of keeping things pretty much as they are was considered, and agreed to, by 'the planners' under the premise of maintaining a 'visual pinch point' within the narrow street.

Details of the plans were, as Mr. Gardiner points out, available to see at the Tenby Town Council offices. However, I'm afraid that I am one of the many Tenby residents who failed to view the submitted plans in time. As to how I missed the opportunity to do so in the five-and-a-half years it's taken to get to this stage after the building was burned to the ground, I shall never know, but there we are, it's happened and that's that.

I also assumed that the authorities or architects or planners or whoever would seize the opportunity of working with a blank canvass and once and for all sort out this roadway bottleneck by removing the restriction caused by the narrowing of the carriageway. However, again I assumed incorrectly.

I can only assume therefore that the thousands of people who will navigate and squeeze their way down this stretch of roadway in the days, months and years to come will think as to how pleasant the 'visual pinch-point' is, and as to how much it improves the traffic movement in the area. I for one will not.

Mr. T. A. Griffiths,

St. Johns Croft,

Tenby.