Sir,

Well done to Lori Amos for contacting the council about the lack of social venues available for young people in Tenby.

But shame on Clr. Christine Brown for the way she belittled Lori by commenting that the youngsters would find plenty to do 'if they looked around', and continuing by saying that writing to the council 'isn't very adventurous.'

Who else does she suggest they should approach with a matter such as this?

Does it do any harm to recognise some initiative when it is shown?

This issue may not be important to Clr. Brown, but I can assure the council that it is very important to a lot of young people and their parents.

To continue, other than suggesting that the teenagers join Tenby Youth Club, which I'm not aware is open every Friday and Saturday evening, Clr. Brown offered no constructive ideas as to what they could actually do if they did 'look around'.

I'm a parent of two teenage boys and a resident of Tenby and I sympathise wholeheartedly with the young people and their predicament.

Apart from the cinema - which closes when it rains too much - where can the teenagers go?

Clr Paul Rapi is absolutely right in saying that they don't actually want to be entertained or supervised - they've had all of that at school during the week - they just want to 'chill'.

Yes, they can get a bit loud and yes, a group of teenagers hanging around together may seem rather intimidating, but surely the fact that they are asking for somewhere to go shows that they realise these problems exist?

At a time when we are trying to prise them away from the TV and the game stations, we are offering them no sensible or affordable alternatives.

I will welcome any suggestions and opportunities that the council may have towards changing this appalling lack of provision for our teenage community, and am willing to take an active part in this process, as I am sure are a number of other parents.

We're not looking for an easy way of getting rid of our youngsters for the evening, we're looking for the best way of showing them that their growing need for independence is recognised, taken seriously and catered for within our community.

We've had the long-running saga over the skate park, let's not let this issue drag on so long that our children have left home!

I shall look with interest in next week's Observer for Clr. Brown's apology to Lori Amos as well as Clr. Brown's list of available activities for teenagers to do on a Friday night in Tenby.

Jane Stewart-Walvin,

Tenby