Sir,

My home on the outskirts of Tenby has a garage and during the summer season I have a reserved space in the multi-storey car park, so the pedestrianisation scheme has little direct impact upon me. If I want to do some serious shopping it is no inconvenience to go to New Hedges, Kilgetty or to Pembroke Dock. Therefore from a purely subjective viewpoint I find much to commend the scheme.

The afternoon Harbour at full tide is a scene of peaceful tranquillity with all the boats bobbing idly at their moorings. Tudor Square and the High Street, on a fine day, are thronging with day trippers and the colourful cafe culture adds to the picturesque ambiance of the walled town.

Admittedly the turnover of some business outlets is down on previous years, but this is balanced by the increase in business for the public houses and cafes. Some less flexible business outlets might close, but more tourist oriented outlets can always replace these. In any event any business that is seriously inconvenienced could always relocate to the proposed new business park at New Hedges. Some hotels and guesthouses might suffer initially but a definitive effort to become more visitor friendly would overcome this. A small minority of residents who are elderly or infirm might be inconvenienced but this is the democratic price of freedom of the streets for the majority.

The small community on Caldey Island may encounter some supply problems but these are not insurmountable and, as a last resort, they could always consider moving their supply base to Saundersfoot.

If the price of residential properties within the town walls falls, then this is to the benefit of the youthful first time house buyers who are the future of the town.

The county council have been subjected to much adverse comment about the scheme, but I feel that they should take credit for recognising that Tenby can no longer compete with the Costa Del Sol for cheap holidays in the sun and the future lies with the day trippers for whom the scheme is designed.

There is an added benefit with the additional income accruing to the council from its fully utilised car park, the reserved spaces in the multi-storey have more than doubled this year. Hopefully this will serve to reduce any increase in council tax.

An objective perspective of the scheme raises a number of issues. In a letter dated July 30, 2002 Mr. Roberts stated that the scheme had been introduced in response to the "fact that Tenby had asked us to resolve the problems of traffic in Tenby" and made reference to the "current accident record within the walled town alone shows 13 injury accidents, one of them involving serious injury. Damage only accidents and near misses are not recorded on our system."

One does not have to be a traffic management expert to realise that the scheme only served to increase the parking/congestion problems outside the town walls, nor did it have any affect of the "problems of traffic" for the other 46/48 weeks of the year.

Enquiries showed that the "current accident record" covered a period of 11 years and that most of the accidents occurred outside the walled town. So much for the justification.

The scheme was introduced without any reference to the problems that arose in previous schemes - Mr. Roberts when asked about them merely replied that he had only been in office two years.

Initially, Mr. Roberts stated that only emergency vehicles would be allowed access during the scheme, which clearly displayed his lack of local knowledge and the serious health and safety issues this raised.

To his credit he did prove more flexible as the problems were brought to his attention, but any competent traffic manager should have foreseen and factored in the problems before any scheme was imposed upon the town.

If, and it is a big "if," the objective of the scheme was to reduce traffic problems via illegal parking and congestion within the walled town then the scheme is an abysmal failure. If the scheme is merely a cosmetic attempt to make Tenby a more attractive holiday venue then it does have some merit subject to deeper and more thorough research and a more flexible approach.

Finally, may I suggest a compromise with the ban on heavy vehicles within the walled town being enforced and no on street parking being allowed within the walled town except in designated metered parking bays. This could be enforced throughout the year and would, I believe, significantly reduce the existing problems.

J.H.T. Griffiths,

3, Scotsborough View,

Tenby.