Members of Tenby Town Council have accepted the offer of a meeting with Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery and officers to flesh out the timescale for delivery of the planned Brynhir housing development.

At their last meeting, Tenby councillors were given a progress report from the Local Authority but were concerned about the timetable of the scheme, with members criticising PCC for not moving fast enough in getting ‘spades into the ground’ to help alleviate Tenby’s housing crisis.

Last year, PCC’s Housing department asked the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority to modify the Section 106 legal agreement ahead of an official updated application, relating to the number of affordable houses associated with the development.

It is now expected that only 125 houses out of the previously proposed 144 will be built, with just under 90 being affordable.

At their meeting this month, councillors in Tenby were given a progress report from PCC’s Lauren Price which stated that an ‘Invitation to Tender’ for potential contractors should be ready to ‘go live’ some time this month.

In response, Cllr Laurence Blackhall said he’d had too many ‘anguished conversations’ around the table about Brynhir, stating: “One thing that is a delight is the acceptance of the need for social housing and the commitment of PCC to deliver it, but my real concern is that it is not moving fast enough.”

“Expectations have been raised; local families are facing dire conditions in regards to housing and things are only getting worse!” he continued, expressing ‘real concerns’ about the timetable of the development, calling for ‘rigour’ in relation to dates and deadlines to ensure everything is being done to get ‘spades into the ground’.

“These houses are needed now. We need rapid movement from county through the final stages to deliver Brynhir. They need to step on the gas to get it done before the end of this council’s term,” stressed Cllr Blackhall.

Councillors agreed to write to Cllr. Jon Harvey asking for ‘rapid progress’ through the final stages to see the development completed before the 2027 election.

In a response provided at this month’s meeting of the Town Council, Cllr. Harvey said that while PCC would continue to provide updates, he would be more than happy to meet with the town council to discuss the development timescales and local lettings policies in more detail.