Tenby Town Council has hit out at Pembrokeshire County Council's new director of development after he put on hold long running plans for the development of one of the town's children's play areas. The Town Council have been working closely in recent months with county council officer, Sinead Henehan, in progressing a development of the Jubilee Play Area which overlooks South Beach, a project the council has been trying to get up and running for the past six years. The town council had been given permission by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority to lease the land for the development. It had also been agreed that the council would take over the management of the site, while in return the county council would upgrade, refurbish and replace the existing play provision as required. The county council had also offered possible match-funding for the project as part of their 'community regeneration' proposals. All these plans were in place while Mr. Roger Barrett-Evans was in his role as director of development at the county council. However, the newly-appointed director, Dr. Steven Jones, recently wrote to the town council in response to their enquiry seeking clarification on what the current situation was regarding their application, as they were hoping to start work on the project ahead of the summer. "There are two key issues which need further consideration, the first being financial and relating to the overall cost of upgrading the existing facility and providing grant monies for the new proposals," explained Dr. Jones. "The second issue relates to the wider play facilities strategy and broader regeneration agenda, with further work needed to evidence the play proposals in the context of potential alternative developments," he added, also stating that the county council would continue to maintain the Jubilee Play Area while the issues were being progressed, but in the meantime were unable to recommend that the scheme in its current state be supported. This angered the town council, who could not understand why there had been a sudden change of policy. It was suggested that Dr. Jones should be asked to meet with them and letters be sent to local MP Nick Ainger, AM Angela Burns and also county the council's chief executive, Mr. Bryn Parry Jones, over the matter.
