A suggestion to further extend the period of pedestrianisation in Tenby, drew split opinions at a meeting of the town council this week. During the summer weeks, taking in the school holiday period, the centre of Tenby is pedestrianised during the day, in order to heighten the visitor experience and improve safety in the town centre, say Pembrokeshire County Council, who implemented the scheme. However, what started out as an experimental scheme back in 2002, was modified after members of the Tenby Walled Town Residents Association won a public inquiry to allow unrestricted access for residents and businesses to their shops and homes. Speaking at Tuesday night's meeting of Tenby Town Council, Clr. Lawrence Blackhall told his fellow members that he was interested in hearing people's views on extending the pedestrianisation period. "I'd like to seek the views of a range of people, from residents within the town walls, businesses, harbour users and the public, to see if they think it is worth considering extending the scheme so that it covers bank holiday periods and also weekends at Whitsun leading up to the summer," he explained. Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown said that the scheme was initially started as a trial and drew opposition from the Walled Town Residents Association, but as it worked well within an eight-week period, she felt that it could be extended further to cover May, June, July and August. "I'd like to see it extended and know a lot of people in the town would too," she said. "It's good for tourism, which is what Tenby survives on. It's very difficult for businesses in the town to adjust to a six-week period to make their bread and butter, and I believe that four months of what we've got now would work, as those months are the time that Tenby presents itself to tourists," added Clr. Mrs. Brown. Clr. Mrs. Trisha Putwain disagreed with the idea of extending the period and said that the logistics of certain days and bank holidays being added to the equation, would be just too complicated. "Its a form of backdoor blanket and when the scheme first started the residents had to fight for their rights against the draconian measures that were in place. Now the scheme works ok, so if it ain't broke, then don't fix it!" she remarked. "I'm also at a loss as to why people wouldn't visit cafés and places in the town if the centre isn't pedestrianised. I don't see what difference it makes. The town can still thrive, it's just a matter of opinion. "We don't want to drive residents out further, we still need a few living in the town, or it will just become a theme park. Maybe we should dress up as jolly sailors and pirates! "There are only three people living in my street, the rest have been driven out because of things like this," she stated. Clr. Will Rossiter agreed and said that preventing motorists coming into Tenby on random bank holidays would "enrage" visitors especially. "It wouldn't be good for Tenby, as tourists want to know if they can drive in or not on a bank holiday," he commented, with Clr. Mrs. Caroline Thomas also agreeing and commenting that lots of locals from the surrounding areas didn't feel welcomed into the town over the pedestrianisation period. Deputy Mayor, Clr. Paul Rapi, said it was "quite a radical suggestion" to extend the scheme to four months, and would require further discussion. "We've already heard some interesting views tonight and I'd like to hear more from the people of Tenby," added Clr. Blackhall.