A ‘palm tree’ that has sat in one of Tenby’s popular picturesque seafront gardens has been removed this week due to a lack of upkeep costs - but will be replaced in the long term planning.

Councillors in Tenby were informed at the end of last year that the Paragon gardens overlooking the South Beach, would need to be reviewed with regard to ongoing upkeep, after Pembrokeshire County Council told the town council that they were no longer in a position to maintain the floral displays in the gardens, due to financial cutbacks.

The bottom level down of the gardens were at threat from being closed off altogether unless PCC and the town council could come up with a scheme that needed no maintenance, so it was agreed that a colourful stone scheme could be introduced to replicate floral beds.

After reiterating the difficulties of maintaining the town’s high floral standards without spending as much, the chair of Tenby in Bloom Clr. Mrs. Sue Lane stated at the time that she welcomed any new ideas for planning ahead, as they would be once again working with tighter budgets due to the cuts made by PCC.

This week the Cordyline palm tree like species which sat in the bottom of the garden was removed by council maintenance staff as part of the works, but the town clerk has asked the public to please bear with the authority, as the site is still a ‘work in progress’.

“Pembrokeshire County Council informed the town council that they were no longer in a position to maintain the floral displays in the gardens, so we had to come up with a low maintenance alternative to allow people to still enjoy the gardens, or the alternative was that they would be locked!” explained Andrew Davies the clerk to Tenby town council.

“We did look to try and move the tree into a more central spot in the garden as part of this renovation but this proved impossible. It will be replaced with the same species.

“The area is still a work in progress, please bear with us.

“When PCC first told us of their plan to stop maintenance we did, through the press, ask for ideas from the public as to what we could do, but none came forward,” he continued.

“The town council already pay for the floral bedding around the town and we were happy to continue to do so for the Paragon, but PCC said it was an ‘access and maintenance’ issue rather than the bedding plants themselves.

“Floral displays in those gardens required approximately 250 litres of water every two days - more in hotter weather - as well as constant weeding and deadheading. Continued budget cuts to the service mean that they did not have the manpower.

“As stated we did look to see if we could move the tree to centralise it as part of the renovation work but it would have been unlikely to survive, hence the decision to remove and replace,” added Mr. Davies.

The removal came after it was also announced that the distinctive ‘umbrella’ ash tree that overlooks the North Beach in Denzil Griffiths’ Gardens along the Norton will have to be removed due to ash dieback, after it was inspected by a Pembrokeshire County Council tree officer last week following concerns over its condition.