Society urges Tenby councillors to 'make a stand' against services cuts

Tenby Civic Society has urged local councillors to ‘make a stand’ against the withdrawal of facilities and services for the seaside town.

The organisation has written to the Town Council voicing concerns of members that the withdrawal of facilities and services for the seaside town seems to be just the beginning of more cuts to come, which will lead to a ‘decline in the cleanliness’ of the resort, with very little, or no public consultation carried out.

In correspondence from Tenby Civic Society that went before town councillors recently, the executive committee of the Society which was set up some years ago with the aim to protect elements and features that make Tenby so special by promoting high standards of planning, preservation, development and architecture - said it wanted to ‘put on record’ its continuing concern about the withdrawal facilities and services in the town, in particular public toilets, library services, litter bins, flower beds, and street furniture, which seem to be progressing without any public consultation from Pembrokeshire County Council.

Neil Westerman vice chair of Tenby Civic Society stated: “On the proposals to close public toilets located at Upper Frog Street and North Beach, we note that these facilities listed are the only free public toilets in Tenby. The permanent closure of toilets on the North Beach may result in the permanent loss of Blue Flag status for said beach. Was a public consultation carried out?

“Further reductions in Library opening hours are proposed. The library is already closed on Wednesdays and on Saturday afternoon. The proposal is to reduce services by another day. Many visitors use the library's internet facilities. Again has a consultation taken place?” he continued.

“Several litter bins around the town have been removed, for example, the junction of the Glebe and Narberth Road and the bin at the bottom of Warren Street near the railway station.

“This will simply lead to a decline in the cleanliness of the town.

“Flower Beds - Tenby has an excellent record in the Wales in Bloom contest. We are unlikely to win in the future if the changes introduced to the Rotary Gardens alongside St. Catherine's Terrace are an example of future plans.

“What is the purpose of the crowd control type scaffolding introduced into the garden? Once again what consultation took place before these changes were introduced?

“The number of benches around the town has been reduced. For example The Croft junction with the Norton had two benches and now has only one. Again we are not aware of any consultation?

“A reduction in bus services also risks social isolation and does nothing to help the climate change emergency the country is facing.

“Our concern is that these cuts are just the beginning. With inflation running at over 10% per year these cuts will almost inevitably be followed by more cuts next year and the year after. In five to ten years time facilities and services in the town may be very limited.

“Surely you must agree it is time to take a stand and make strong objections to the barrage of cuts being proposed,” continued Mr. Westerman, asking what positive action Tenby Town Council is taking to protect and maintain the current level of public services for the town, and if TTC is actively working with PCC to maintain the current level of services?

“Are consultations undertaken before the introduction of changes to services? added Mr. Westerman.

“Have you considered working with other Town and Community Councils to present a united front to resist these cuts?

“We believe action is needed now before it is too late. Once lost these services are unlikely to be restored.”

Discussing the correspondence around the Town Council table, Cllr Sam Skyrme-Blackhall told members that PCC is looking at toilet provision again following a members’ ‘call-in’ as every town in the county was set to lose a toilet facility.

“We cannot afford to lose ours and will continue to put pressure on PCC so this is in hand and out there in the public domain,” she said.

“In relation to library services, the Clerk has had a conversation with Mike Cavanagh at PCC and the current service was safe for this year, If there is any change, they will return to us in good time for us to consider it to allow for it in our budget.

“We don’t want to be in a situation where PCC are drip feeding certain assets to us bit by bit, they need to come back to us with what facilities they cannot sustain in good time for us to consider what we can and cannot support, and they have committed to doing that,” she continued.

Public bin removals she said, are due to the facilities being abused on a daily basis.

“PCC boys work hard but they find street bins continually overfilled with domestic waste which has a knock-on effect on what they are trying to do.

“They have been removing bins to try and educate the public and they do intend putting them back but this is a discussion for the future,” continued Cllr Skyrme-Blackhall.

“We all know the story of the flower beds,” she continued, stating that she felt this had been ‘blown out of proportion’ and was something that had been agreed a long time ago and was a work in progress.

It was noted that the bus service provision had already been sorted out, with PCC negotiating with the operators and the 352 service, amongst others, safe for now.

In relation to the removal of benches the Clerk Andrew Davies told members that it was simply a matter of benches being removed as they were damaged beyond repair and at the ‘end of life’.

“On the Esplanade, for example, the old Victorian style roll top benches were removed because they were rusted through and unsafe,” he explained.

“PCC are keeping vacant spots for those wishing to purchase memorial benches and it is just a matter of waiting for these to be replaced.

Cllr Charles Dale said he felt ‘slightly disappointed’ with this letter. He praised the Civic Society for their wonderful work but 90% of these questions could have been answered by reading the minutes of the council and the local press, he remarked.

“Anybody who has read either knows how furious and concerned we are about losing toilets, our library and litter bins and will know the plans for flower beds but there is a fake [Tenby Town Council] Facebook page which is publishing made-up stories which are stoking public concern!” he stated.

He said that he knows whoever is behind the spoof Town Council page are trying to be humorous and funny - but the public have gotten upset because of what they read on this fake Facebook page.

“Councillors have constantly been asked questions as to the truth. Well, this is that we have been working with PCC constantly. Sometimes, we will not always get a response, and there is certainly a feeling we are not getting enough bang for our buck, but we will persevere,” continued Cllr Dale.

“Are consultations undertaken - they are but people don’t seem to bother to respond to them. We are constantly talking to PCC attempting to do the best for our town.

“Please read minutes and read what goes into the Observer and you will have the genuine answer. We are working actively to do our best,” he added.

Cllr Duncan Whitehurst said that he believed the closure of public toilets is of major concern to the public.

“They are not a statutory duty so therefore, when there is money to be cut, they will always be in scope,” he remarked.

“It is an essential service, it is a basic human right to use a public convenience, we should not have to pay for them. We all pay council tax, and this should be funding basic facilities. PCC seem to be keen on community asset transfers of these facilities, and others, but this usually means the town council has to bear the complete cost of the service.

“In St Ives, Cornwall, their unitary authority has transferred the toilets to the town council to manage but they give them a full grant to do so,” continued Cllr Whitehurst, suggesting the Town Council bypass PCC and write directly to Welsh Government asking them to consider making provision of public conveniences a statutory service with central funding so nobody in Wales pays to use the toilet.

“They did for use of hospital car parks, he said. Wales could lead the way on this,” he said, with Cllr Emma Lewis seconding Cllr. Whitehurst’s proposal.

Having worked in community transport, when taking vulnerable folk out and about, access to toilets was an important issue, said Cllr Lewis.

“Some people cannot leave home if there is no access to public toilets. It is a well-being issue that disproportionately affects people with protected characteristics.

“Children and the elderly are most in need of quick access to toilets when making any form of journey plans.

“This is surely a basic human right in a civilised society!”