Tenby Town Council have called an Extra-Ordinary meeting for next week, to discuss a licensing application submitted to Pembrokeshire County Council, which is proposing ‘pop-up events’ taking place at the playing fields of Tenby’s Greenhill School over the summer period.

Councillors will consider the licensing application from Pop Up Ops Limited and agree action in response to the proposals, which appear to propose that a number of entertainment events, featuring food and drink, will be held on the grounds of Ysgol Greenhill located on Heywood Lane, with the applicants requesting a ‘premise licence’ up until 11 pm.

The Extra-Ordinary meeting of Tenby Town Council which will take place at 7.30 pm on Tuesday (May 24) at the Mayor’s Parlour in the De Valence, will be open to members of the public.

Residents in the locality have expressed their concern over a lack of detail included in the application, and also a lack of consultation towards those living in the area.

However, a press release from Swansea based company Creative Hospitality Group (CHG) who are behind the application seeks to alleviate any concerns, and subsequently, invites anyone with concerns to an open Q&A which will be held at Greenhil School’s hall at 5 pm on Thursday (May 19).

CHG state that they have ‘earmarked’ Pembrokeshire as one of the places they hope to call home after running a succession of successful food and drink events across the areas of Swansea and Cardiff, including outdoor events under a big top tent at Singleton Park, explaining that they intend to bring the ‘same event to Pembrokeshire’ choosing Ysgol Greenhill School as it’s location.

“CHG look forward to bringing together iconic food and drink brands with the synergy of local traders, entertainment and an unrivalled atmosphere all taking place in the heart of Tenby,” reads the statement from the company’s CEO Bruno Nunes.

Addressing any concerns, he went onto say: “CHG’s vision is to be a force for good in the life of our working family, our customers and also our neighbours” - stating that the purpose of the correspondence is to not only introduce themselves, but to also offer some work over the summer to anyone who lives within walking distance, and to also invite any neighbours who may have any questions or concerns over events being held in the school’s playing fields.

“We understand that you may naturally have concerns over parking, noise and general disruption, but we’re very confident that our plan has mitigated for all the issues, however, we’re here to learn and your feedback as our neighbour will be vital to us running successful ‘pop up food and drink’ event,” added Mr. Nunes.

One concerned resident of Heywood Lane, contacted the Observer, stating that they and many living in the area were up in arms about a lack of consultation on the proposals: “Being in the middle of a residential area and away from the town centre, the school grounds seems a totally unsuitable site to have large scale outdoor events that will run until after 11 pm.

“The application is valid for 8 am to 11 pm, seven days a week for up to 5,000 people per day, all year round - does that sound like something you want?

“Once the licence is granted it will be much harder to remove it.

“It seems the local police, ambulance and fire service have not been consulted,” they continued. None of the few members of the Town Council I have been able to speak to have been consulted. No Tenby businesses have been notified, or given the opportunity to contribute to the events.

“It's also worth noting that the licence application is also being pushed through in a very underhand way, with hardly any signage on the school grounds, the signs they have put up are partially obscured being on the inside of the school fence. Local residents have received very little notification about the plan. Greenhill school is not responding to enquiries.

“There is no information about the licence application on the council website, and the council’s licensing team are not responding to telephone phone or email enquiries despite the deadline for representation against the application being June 9. It seems there is a deliberate effort to obscure the details of the plan,” they continued.

“There are numerous concerns about the plan by local residents, that include - general noise pollution in a residential area; hundreds of people leaving Greenhill on foot late at night passing through residential areas with narrow pavements - such as Heywood Lane, Serpentine Road and Marsh Road.

“Safeguarding of school children who can (and do) get onto the playing fields after hours. It's a large un-lit area with lots of dark corners where it would be difficult to police underage drinking and worse.

“Risk to school children of broken glass and other sharp hazards dropped on the rugby pitches (even if the event does not use glass, will they be able to police people bringing their own).

“Large volumes of litter and plastic waste in an open and windy space will be hard to manage without daily litter picking of the whole site,” they added.