A response given to Tenby Town Council by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority's director of planning, has "missed the point," a local councillor stated this week. Councillors received correspondence from Jane Gibson at their meeting on Tuesday night, after Clr. Mrs. Trisha Putwain had requested at a previous meeting that a letter be sent to the authority, to state that she was concerned about the discrepancy in the times allocated by the authority on planning matters. Clr. Mrs. Putwain asked that that residents' comments are requested by the same deadline as those of statutory consultees; and for comments by email to be allowed, as well as in writing. She also requested that comments received be passed onto the statutory consultees by email in time for their meeting, and for residents to be warned that their comments may not get full consideration unless they submit them at the earliest possible opportunity. "You are correct, neighbours do have longer to respond than our statutory consultees," wrote Mrs. Gibson in response. "The 14-day period is required by Welsh Government. We are the same as PCC and of course there is merit in ensuring that all planning authorities are governed and apply the same rules for consistency. "You will also be aware that your council's response has the ability to change process - from delegation to committee - depending on the nature of the response and if it differs from the case officer's recommendation. We therefore need your response in good time to factor into the process "I would not necessarily expect the issues raised by residents to be similar to those raised by town/community council which would have more of an overview on behalf of all of the community," she continued. Responding to the letter, Clr. Lawrence Blackhall said he couldn't help feeling that it had "missed the point." "We're making a decision based on what we know, but also based on the opinions of neighbours and those adjacent to properties, who might put an objection in not at the same time. If we considered such an objection, it could affect what our decision would be on any application," he explained. Deputy Mayor, Clr. Paul Rapi, asked if a letter explaining this could go to the National Park Authority again.