Sir, Like so many other people in Tenby, I would also have liked to see the Royal Gatehouse Hotel restored to its former glory as one of the finest hotels in south west Wales Unfortunately, both the holiday hotel industry in this country and the Royal Gatehouse Hotel have seen better times, which are sadly unlikely to return to Tenby in the short term, but they are even less likely to return while the Royal Gatehouse Hotel remains at the gateway to the town in such an appalling state, and to my mind will be in an even sadder state if it is covered in scaffolding for the foreseeable future! This will seriously affect Tenby's ability to recover from the damage done to the town's businesses over the Easter weekend by the Gatehouse fire. Over recent days, I have walked around the town speaking to other business owners and the people who work in the town, just to see what the people think. I felt a little bit out of place doing this, as I am a relative newcomer to Tenby, and have only managed the cinema in the town for the past four years. Nevertheless, I feel that Tenby is my home, and because of this, I cannot stand by and watch it be degraded by the events which are in play at the Royal Gatehouse remains. One-third of the hotel has already been totally lost to the fire and demolition; there is a great deal of concern over the remainder, but surely if they now have to support it and save it from falling down, then it is foolhardy to waste months, or even years, causing the town untold damage to its reputation as the beautiful destination that it is, and continuing to put countless small businesses through even greater hardship than they have had to endure over one of the most difficult winters for many years. A very high percentage of the businesses in the town are already on the market for sale and several are sitting empty; this situation could significantly increase if the main arterial roads are not open as soon as possible. My petition is intended to put public pressure on Angela Burns to ensure that the Royal Gatehouse situation is resolved as soon as possible and not allowed to develop into that of the Commers House in Haverfordwest, which was a similar case, where the building was covered in scaffold for four years and then it was pulled down in the end. The feeling in the town is of overwhelming support to demolish what remains of the Royal Gatehouse Hotel. In fact, out of all the businesses I contacted (almost 100 and 300 signatures collected so far from the people directly affected - not visitors who were also wanting to sign), only two refused to sign my petition on the grounds that it is a listed building and it should be saved. However, there are a number of issues with the Gatehouse. One is the condition of the building which has been allowed to deteriorate over many years; the other is the restriction of the road on the corner, which has resulted in numerous collisions over recent years. As I have said, one-third of the hotel is lost, which will have to be rebuilt, so why not rebuild the whole building, then the new development could be moved back 10 feet from the road, which would resolve the long-time issues of the traffic problem on the corner which continually causes problems with large vehicles servicing the town's shops. The new building would, of course, have to be sympathetic to the original design, as it would have to be passed by council planning. In several years, people will not know the difference. As long as it is a quality building, what does it matter? Tenby has hundreds of listed buildings, we can afford to replace this one in the name of saving the town's business. If the trade continues to drop, there will be a lot more buildings that will not be maintained because of lack of funds. I suggest that public pressure should be put on the Welsh Assembly to make the earliest decision and take down the remainder of the hotel as soon as possible and level the site which could be used as a public car park until such time as the new plans for the proposed development are approved. This would give the town the needed boost from the hundred or so car parking spaces which could be created close to the centre. I am sure the new building would be as much a credit to Tenby as the old one has been in the past, but not the eyesore that we have had for so many years. Apparently when the Pam Pam was rebuilt there were a number of complaints, but I personally did not know that it hadn't always been as it is today, and so it will be with the new building after several years. Please do not misunderstand me, I fully agree with saving our heritage; I personally renovated a 16th century coaching inn in North Wales prior to moving to Tenby. But I honestly believe Tenby's heritage would not suffer for the replacement of the Royal Gatehouse Hotel, with a new building that would reflect the splendour of a bygone age, but using modern, superior materials. If completed quickly, this could be the catalyst for a new beginning for the town. The phoenix from the ashes!
Stephen Williams, Manager, Tenby Cinema.