Developers behind a project to re-establish a Tenby landmark as a visitor attraction have confirmed that St. Catherine’s Island will once again close its gates to the public, as the scheme faces an uncertain future.

Pete Prosser, who along with his team have been behind the Tenby Island Project since 2012, managing to open parts of the island to the public over this period, revealed this week that they were very excited to be moving to a project in Pembroke.

Situated off the resort’s Castle Beach, the island and fort, which had stood empty since it was used as a zoo in the late 1970s, saw a planning application for a change of use to a visitor attraction approved by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority in July of last year.

The application included the provision of new buildings to provide supporting facilities and services, along with the improvement of access to and on the island, but the Park’s approval was subject to some 16 planning conditions.

Fourteen of these were disputed by the developers, who subsequently lodged an appeal with the Welsh Assembly Government. Following a public inquiry, the appeal was allowed, but it is believed that stringent variations on these conditions introduced by the Planning Inspectorate, may have effectively set the project back and made the development unviable.

A post on the Tenby Island Project’s Facebook page stated that the final day of the island’s opening to the public would be Saturday, August 27, while Mr. Prosser confirmed the news to the Observer this week.

“We are moving to a project in Pembroke, and are very excited, but this is all I can tell you yet,” he stated.

“The closing of the island is for a number of reasons complex, but not through a lack of wonderful support from many local people, and the 5,000 people who follow us on Facebook have blessed us so much over the last few years, as have a few wonderful people from the town committed to seeing Tenby progress.

“We are sorry we haven’t been able to get further than we have, but we have tried everything and gone through all the options,” he added.

The Tenby Island Project’s Facebook post stated that an official announcement was due to be made soon.

‘This important post is neither something we could have predicted nor could have foreseen in the last five years of working towards releasing the island’s potential. We simply wish to provide as much warning as possible for those who wish to visit the island prior to the gates closing once again,” explained the post.

• St. Catherine’s Island was recently used for key scenes shot for the latest season of the BBC’s award-winning Sherlock series, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, due to be screened in the New Year.