Work to ensure that holiday accommodation in a popular Pembrokeshire seaside village have trade waste agreements in place, is continuing behind the scenes, with Saundersfoot set to trial a new scheme in 2024.

County councillor for Saundersfoot’s south ward Cllr Chris Williams has been working with Pembrokeshire County Council officers for the past year to ensure that holiday lets have the right procedures in place, to ensure that guests dispose of their waste whilst on holiday correctly.

Cllr Williams said that during November, he had cause to report five instances of fly-tipping issues in the village to the Local Authority.

“These properties are holiday and commercial units in the village who continue to dispose of their rubbish in the public bins situated in the village,” stated Cllr Williams.

“I explained the process to all the individuals who had no idea they were breaking the law! I then passed on their property details to the PCC team so they could work with the properties to find a solution to their waste that they were all happy with.

“The message is quite clear regarding waste. If a property is a second home and is used by the family and doesn’t charge rental at any time and they pay 100% council tax, then they are allowed to put their waste out for a kerb side collection.

“If they have a holiday home or second home for rental, then they have to have a waste management agreement in place with a licensed business to take away rubbish from the property.”

Cllr Williams said that he had conducted a walkabout with PCC’s enforcement team since to check on the properties reported.

“They have assured me that these will be looked at and followed up to make sure that all the agreements are in place,” he continued.

During November, Cllr Williams also held a meeting with Mr Thomas PCC’s Head of Infrastructure and Environmental along with Ms Edwards Environmental services and Cllr Rhys Sinnett, with a view to working together and sharing knowledge in helping to put things in place for April 2024.

“From this date all properties will have to make sure that they adhere to recycling requirements from Welsh Government through the Workplace Recycling Regulations and ensuring that properties which are managed by companies have the relevant trade waste agreements or disposal arrangements in place,” explained Cllr Williams.

“I would like to say that there has been an awful amount of work going on behind the scenes.

“Pembrokeshire County Council has held meetings with four major holiday let businesses in Saundersfoot. A trade waste compliance initiative fund had been successful back in September.

Since this time, they have had to recruit new member to the team and all the letters and documents are being reviewed by the trade waste and legal team ready to trial in Saundersfoot.

“As you can all imagine, this is a complex project which we want to get right so ensuring all the information is correct and procedures are in place is vital to the success of this new initiative.

“PCC have undertaken numerous investigations based on reports from myself and other areas of our county.

“This has resulted in the majority of businesses questioned putting the required arrangements in place, meeting their duty of care requirements and providing the Control Waste Transfer Notes – required evidence to demonstrate compliance with the existing legislation.

“PCC have also been working with numerous waste collectors in the Saundersfoot area to ensure they are following the current regulations correctly and planning for the recycling changes which are required from April.”

Cllr Williams said that a significant amount of work has been undertaken since September, surrounding points raised to PCC’s fly-tipping team, which has led to an increased understanding and compliance amongst holiday let owners and commercial waste collectors.

The introduction of workplace regulations supported by enforcement regulations by Natural Resources Wales will mean enhanced recycling and compliance next season.

“All this work and lessons learnt are being fed into the literature and model being prepared for dissemination to businesses in Saundersfoot over the next few months,” he continued.

“Personally I’m very pleased with the progress made and the fact that Saundersfoot will trial this new procedure before its rolled out across our county. I’m led to believe a letter will be sent out to all relevant properties in Saundersfoot with detailed information.

“These waste issues aren’t just contained to Saundersfoot, this is happening in every town and village in Pembrokeshire. Saundersfoot has made some significant changes and we are certainly in a better position after working closely with the Environmental team at PCC.

“I must also stress that the issues of fly-tipping are connected to a very small minority of holiday home owners who haven’t taken their responsibilities on board.

“These are the same holiday owners who don’t provide any recycling facilities and then this subsequently impacts our village,” added Cllr Williams.