Sir, Thank you to plumber Phil Whitaker for his letter in the Observer last week. Both he and Peter Kidney, who wrote the week before, have realised in writing a problem that we as an association have been striving to make clear to others since the inauguration of the pedestrianisation experiments. No-one wanted to listen. Far from claiming any victory, we are fighting for residents' rights of access to their home, to load and unload - rights everyone outside the walls take for granted. There is no similar scheme or restrictions on residents anywhere else in the UK. The very small concession gained this year was for the few residents with off-street parking to have one journey in and out per day. This we also advocated for Harbour users and visitors with parking within the walls. We asked everyone entitled to the concession not to abuse the authorisation. This is fine for some, but divisive to many residents who still have no access for seven days a week, all July and August. The association applauds Phil Whitaker as he is one of a few from the crafts and service trades who are trying to access works for residents and businesses within the walls in the summer. He should know that at no meeting we have attended to date have any problems been raised by businesses regarding access. The council says no-one has complained, therefore no-one has a problem. We were always aware of the difficulties he highlights, but we can only represent residents concerns at these forums. There are other organisations to represent business interests. If a resident asks for help for a service trade, we can help on their behalf, but not the actual supplier. We are well aware that premiums are already being paid during the summer months and some residents have even paid parking fines for tradespeople. Craftsmen and service trades need proper representation before the county council makes the scheme permanent. We agree with everything Mr. Whitaker has raised and hope he will recognise the time we have already spent on this matter. Some residents are happy to hold all work between June and September, but our members are not. The restrictions could be for longer hours, days or months in future. Clear criteria for access needs to be agreed. Let's hope more of you will actually say what you want before the chance to influence any decisions are gone. We concur that we need sensible provision for registered craftsmen to go about their business. The association has several other issues still outstanding which are to be resolved as a community group working in partnership with the county council. The council are finally conducting surveys and traffic counts to establish a definite base for any statistical analysis. In the past, figures and reasons have been plucked from the air with no sound backing. As for the introduction of individual street resident parking bays, we have always advocated a zone scheme with services/visitor concessions that both the town council and county council rejected for two years running. Finding a parking space outside the walls as things are presently organised will only get worse.
Richard Walker, Walled Town Residents' Association,
Sheerwater, 4 St. Julian Terrace, Tenby.