Tenby Town Council has agreed to add two members to their Planning Committee to boost numbers - after struggling to be quorate to make decisions on applications for the seaside town.

Members heard at their meeting this month, that due to the number of apologies and absences, the planning committee - which acts as a statutory consultee to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority on applications for the town - has struggled to have enough councillors present to hold meetings recently.

On the night, councillors Michelle Evans and James Phillips both agreed to sit on this committee to bolster numbers, but it was agreed that the council neeed to look at membership of committees and sub-groups to ensure they are quorate.

“As we have heard, we were struggling with planning today,” commented Cllr. Laurence Blackhall, who has stood in as a late substitute in the past when given enough warning to enable him time to peruse the plans in advance.

“It is great that Cllr Evans has joined the group - but today, the meeting ended before it had begun as it was not quorate.

“The idea to have committees and sub-groups was to work in a more agile way and move things forward quicker.

“Maybe we need to rethink as to whether more could be done online for some of these.

“While not getting in to attendance records, there are some that don’t bear scrutiny,” Cllr. Blackhall continued.

“If people aren’t able to commit then, perhaps, they should consider whether they should be on planning for example.

“I’m not suggesting for a minute they come off as getting a quorum is sometimes difficult enough, but planning is important.

“While illness and unforeseen events cannot be helped, it is most frustrating that planning is a set time and day every month.

“We even decided to move meetings to the same evening as full council meeting so that the commitment was one Tuesday a month for everyone.

“Do we need more councillors to go on this committee?”

Cllr Phillips said he would be happy to go on this committee, and it was proposed that the planning committee now be made up of nine members.