Plans to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee in Tenby are in the pipeline, with the prospect of a large street party in the centre of the seaside town to mark the occasion.

On February 6 this year Her Majesty The Queen became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth.

To celebrate this unprecedented anniversary, events and initiatives will take place throughout the year, culminating in a four day UK bank holiday weekend from Thursday, June 2 to Sunday, June 5.

The bank holiday will provide an opportunity for communities and people throughout the United Kingdom to come together to celebrate the historic milestone.

The four days of celebrations will include public events and community activities, as well as national moments of reflection on The Queen’s 70 years of service.

Tenby town council have set up a ‘working party’ to discuss ideas for events in the town to mark the occasion, and after meeting up, have agreed to take some of the ideas forward, offering support to other organisations and groups if they want to take some other suggestions up.

Clr. Jim Cornwell showed his colleagues some relevant information from the official Platinum Jubilee website, which is envisaged as a four-day event starting with a proclamation at 2 pm on Thursday, June 2.

A ‘beacon lighting’ is on the list of ideas for the town council, possibly with a firework display to follow. For the Queen’s 90th birthday the town council had lit the beacon on the pier at Tenby Harbour. It was also suggested that bunting be placed around the town.

Clr. Mrs. Sue Lane suggested other ideas such as - encouraging estates to hold a street party – with a possible donation to each from the town council to assist with costs; commemorative mugs or similar memorabilia to be given to local primary school children; a concert at St Mary’s Church; planting of a commemorative tree; clearing of the shrubbed area of St Florence Parade to introduce seating which would include a commemorative bench, and if possible, the renaming of St Florence Parade to Queen Elizabeth the Second Parade.

If this was not possible, possibly re-naming The Green public space, Queen Elizabeth the Second Gardens.

It was also proposed to close off Tudor Square for a large street party, which would see premises allowing food and drink purchased to be consumed at any seating provided by them. This would also include entertainment in Tenby town centre, similar to the Christmas lights switch on. A ‘Design a hat for the Queen’ and a cake competition could also be incorporated, to be judged at the Tudor Square party.

Deputy Mayor, Clr. Mrs. Tracey Evans felt that these were brilliant ideas, adding that there was already an official plan relating to tree planting. However, she wondered if commemorative mugs were a thing of the past and if some other type of memorabilia could be considered. She also suggested some ideas of her own, which included: a parade through town from the train station led by Samba Doc involving local organisations; a picnic with bands on Castle Hill and local businesses selling take-away teas; the possibility of Rotary, Lions and Round Table clubs combining to stage a joint one-off event on the Harbour like the Summer Spectaculars.

Clr. Mrs. Lane told her colleagues that she was concerned that there may not be the support they really want from organisations.

“We need to be aware that this is a bank holiday and many people may be working in hospitality but it is worth considering,” she said.

Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter also wondered if St Florence Parade and The Green were not options for renaming, that Paxton’s Walk be considered. The town council could then consider utilising EPF for enhancement of the garden.

Clr. Laurence Blackhall wondered about utilising some of the other areas of town, for example, The Esplanade, for stalls, entertainment etc. This was a Bank Holiday weekend after all and town was likely to be busy.

He commented that the working party had been asked to come up with some proposals for council to see what could be taken forward.

However, with councillors concerned about the timescale, it was felt that they did not have to organise everything that was suggested. For example, the idea of a concert at St Mary’s could be discussed with the church and Tenby choir. If the idea was not supported it would be dropped.

Clr. Mrs. Lane said he would liaise with some of the businesses in Tudor Square, and the town clerk said he would liaise with the chairman of the Royal British Legion and the Sea Cadets in relation to a parade and assistance in the beacon lighting.

The town council agreed to offer the larger estates in Tenby a £50 starter funding to help with the costs if they want to arrange their own street parties.

Councillors have also agreed in the interests of public safety that, due to it being a four-day celebration and likely to be very busy, they will ask Pembrokeshire County Council to consider pedestrianising the town centre over those days.