Councillors in Tenby have welcomed a plan of action from Pembrokeshire County Council to tackle abuse of public bins when it comes to disposing of waste from properties such as holiday lets - but they have warned, that the matter needs to be taken with the level of seriousness that the problem demands.

Members of Tenby town council recently wrote to Pembrokeshire council’s Head of Environmental Services requesting that the authority write to letting agencies around the seaside town to remind them of their legal obligations on waste disposal, with Clr. Laurence Blackhall telling his fellow councillors, that he and others, had noticed more and more people emptying their domestic rubbish into bins around town before returning to their holiday let property.

Clr. Blackhall said that it has also been pointed out to him that many holiday lets had signage in place instructing holiday makers to put their rubbish in the council’s street litter bins, whilst Clr. Trevor Hallett said that the cleaners of many properties were not necessarily taking away the rubbish, and quite often the ones that were, were also guilty of abusing public bins.

“The owners of these letting properties are not paying council tax as they are businesses,” remarked Clr. Blackhall.

“They claim full business rates relief then do not properly arrange for the clearing away of their rubbish.

“Five tonnes of waste is being taken away from the street litter bins per day in Tenby and part of the problem is that not all holiday lets are getting trade waste agreements in place.

“Some are abusing the system. This is not fair on the people of Tenby and it needs stamping out,” he continued.

Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown agreed with the points Clr. Blackhall made. “Letting agencies need to make visitors properly aware of how to dispose of their rubbish and, as businesses, they need proper trade waste agreements,” she stressed.

Councillors resolved to write to PCC’s Head of Environmental Services requesting that the Authority write to letting agencies reminding them of their legal obligations to enter into a waste management agreement with a registered waste transfer operative for the disposal of waste from a business property.

A response to the concerns came before town councillors at a recent meeting, with PCC’s Chartered Waste Manager Sarah Edwards stating said: “I can confirm that we are cognisant of the issue and have set up a dedicated task group to problem solve the matter and put into place a plan of action.

“Due to the level of resources currently available a short term plan has been put in place including a communications campaign with graphics.”

Social media posts to be scheduled will remind businesses of the offence of using public litter bins and duty of care requirements, whilst the updating of information surrounding holiday accommodation requirements will also form part of PCC’s plan, explained Mrs. Edwards in her correspondence.

“In addition to this we will be implementing a longer term plan as it is a complex area with types of businesses and ownership and especially identifying all premises that would need to be targeted to ensure businesses are disposing of their waste correctly and legally,” she continued.

“This will also include investigations based on evidence obtainable surrounding any offences committed when available.

“I would just like to point out a large amount of work has been done in the area historically working with letting agents and businesses across Pembrokeshire – contact was made with businesses and owners of properties used as holiday accommodation at the time of service change.

“But due to the increase in staycations there has been a huge surge in holiday accommodation businesses now operating across the County since the unlocking of the tourism industry,” she added.

Responding to the correspondence, Clr. Trevor Hallett said that he felt that it was ‘high time’ that the issue was sorted out. He stated that it was sad that all in the town have to put up with seeing seagulls ripping bags to shreds. He also suggested that CCTV cameras across the town could be utilised to identify the culprits.

Clr. Blackhall said that he felt that PCC’s actions were a start but was not sure it was being taken with the level of seriousness that the problem demands, whilst Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown told her fellow councillors that she believed the correspondence was more like a ‘shut up’ letter, feeling that the matter was not being taken seriously at all by PCC.

“They should take our advice and test these properties to see who is domestic and who is trade and then sort the matter out from there. Surely PCC could work with their own trade waste department!” she remarked.

Clr. Paul Rapi said that he had also witnessed public bins being filled up by locals and certain businesses early in the mornings and the county council had resorted to taking bins away because of the abuse.

“PCC have now placed big green bins around that are open to seagulls - it just doesn’t make sense!” he commented.

He said that it was up to the town council to place pressure on PCC to sort these issues out, as taking bins away was not a solution he felt.

Clr. Mrs. Sue Lane said that while the majority of local businesses dealt with their waste ‘sensibly and legally’ some had been reported for putting black bags out when they thought no one might be looking.

“Details of these offenders are known to PCC so why are they not being fined? PCC don’t seem to be doing anything about it!” she told her colleagues.

The Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Sam Skyrme-Blackhall said that PCC blaming the situation on ‘staycations’ was just a big excuse she felt, while her Deputy, Clr. Mrs. Tracey Evans agreed with all that had been discussed, and suggested counteracting the correspondence from PCC with a far more strongly worded letter, outlining once again the concerns of the tow council.

“Let’s invite them to a meeting to allow us to express our concerns,” she added.

Clr. Blackhall said that it was not a complex issue to tackle at the end of the day.

“Simply look at houses in a street, check if they pay council tax and if not, ask to see their trade waste agreement, and ask them to demonstrate how they are disposing of their waste.”

“The majority are doing it but there are too many examples of who are not,” he continued.

These issues should be taken to County Hall said Clr. Rapi, whilst Clr. Mrs. Lane suggested that a meeting should take place on a Sunday evening or first thing on a Monday morning at 6 am, so that the relevant officers at PCC could witness the situation first hand.

The town clerk Andrew Davies said that while Sunday night and Monday morning were the worst periods, due to midweek breaks, it was an ongoing daily problem.

It was proposed that the town clerk liaise with county councillor for the South Ward Clr. Mike Evans to co-ordinate a meeting with PCC’s Head of Environment and Civil Contingencies Richard Brown or Sarah Edwards in Tenby.