St Florence councillor calls for much needed road safety improvements for village

A county councillor for St Florence has written to Pembrokeshire County Council, urging them to carry out much needed highway safety improvements for the village which sits on the outskirts of Tenby.

Cllr Rhys Jordan said that he remains ‘frustrated’ by the difficulty involved in securing what are, in many cases, relatively modest improvements for St Florence.

“There are a number of measures that could be undertaken at relatively small cost but which, in my view, would make a substantial difference to safety within the village,” he stated in correspondence to PCC.

“St Florence residents contribute a significant amount each year through Council Tax and, comparatively, ask for relatively little in return. It is therefore particularly frustrating that I continually seem to have to battle with PCC to secure relatively small highway improvements.

“I struggle to understand why there appears to be less enthusiasm for investing in improvements within our smaller rural villages than there is within our towns.”

Cllr Jordan states that the last significant highway investment in St Florence that he can recall was the improvement works outside the village school in 2023, together with the improvements at Ridgeway View, which he states were welcome.

He continued: “I fully recognise that PCC has finite resources and that you have to balance competing demands across the county. However, I do not believe that this should prevent relatively modest, proportionate measures from being progressed where they have the potential to make a meaningful improvement to village safety.

Cllr Jordan has requested that PCC to progress the following measures:

• A shared footway on the one-way system alongside the Sun Inn, to provide a safer route for pedestrians through this section of the village.

• A mini-roundabout, or another appropriate highway improvement, at the Longstone / High Street / Woodland Close junction.

• The extension/relocation of the 40mph signage on the B4318 on both approaches to the village.

“More broadly, I must say that I find the recurring argument that there have been ‘no reported incidents or accidents’ particularly frustrating when highway safety concerns are raised.,” explained Cllr Jordan.

“Taken to its logical conclusion, it can feel as though we need to wait for somebody to be seriously injured or killed before there is sufficiently compelling evidence to justify an improvement. I do not believe that is the right approach to road safety.

“Residents use these roads and junctions every day. When they repeatedly raise concerns about dangerous situations and near misses, I believe that information should itself be sufficient to warrant proper investigation and consideration of proportionate preventative measures.

“Near misses may not appear in formal accident statistics, but that does not mean the underlying risk does not exist.

“Prevention is, after all, better than cure, and I would hope that the Council’s approach to highway safety reflects that principle.

“I am not seeking unrealistic or disproportionately expensive schemes. I am asking for a small number of practical interventions which I believe would make a considerable difference to the safety of residents, pedestrians and motorists,” he added.