A volunteering scheme ‘Time for Tenby’ has been set up by local councillors to call on the community to come together to help give the seaside town a spruce-up.

Pembrokeshire County Council has come in for some heavy criticism of late for seemingly lacking in providing a level of basic services for the town’s taxpayers, noticeable throughout Tenby which in the past has been labelled ‘the jewel in Pembrokeshire’s crown’.

County councillor for Tenby’s south ward, Cllr Sam Skyrme-Blackhall explained that ‘Time for Tenby’ has come about for a variety of reasons.

“Firstly, I have always emphasised the importance of protecting and supporting our community - so what is important to recognise about #TimeForTenby is that it is members of the community coming together to help make our town better,” she said.

“The second is a real frustration about the condition of the town and the lack of resources to get things done.

“We are very lucky in some ways – we have a fantastic team of boys in the Area Maintenance Team, who work incredibly hard. But there are only so many hours in the day and so many days in the week.

“Every time they have to go and pick up a shopping trolley from the Ritec river or a black bag dumped by street waste bin, is time taken away from the gardens, time taken away from other jobs that need doing.

“So, I found myself in a position where I shared everyone’s frustrations, and felt I was left with two choices – one option was to join in the complaining or alternatively try and find a solution.

“TimeForTenby is part of a solution. It brings individuals, organisations, Councils and businesses to work together. And it can make a difference.

Cllr Skyrme-Blackhall said that the volunteering programme of cleaning the pavements in the Town Centre is just the start.

“We are ambitious that through people working in this way we can a make a difference to a lot of the challenges that we face. So, we can come together more as a community and have the satisfaction of knowing that Tenby looks better for it,” she continued.

“And we shouldn’t forget that lots of people are already doing these things. People who do beach cleans every day, volunteers who look after our gardens and many more besides.

“So over time, we think by getting everyone working together we can achieve more.

“Now none of this means we don’t continue to try and get resources directed our way and to flag up where needs work needs doing. But when people are saying our streets are filthy, we simply can’t just ignore it!

More details can be found on the ‘Time for Tenby’ Facebook page, with details of how to get involved.

In the pipeline soon will also be an announcement of a ‘Big Weekend of #TimeForTenby’ which will be in the early Autumn.

Cllr Skyrme-Blackhall informed members of Tenby Town Council of the scheme at its recent meeting, explaining that volunteers had been up at 5.30 am in recent days, power washing the pavements in High Street outside businesses.

“Our pavements are filthy but Pembrokeshire County Council have no money and no manpower to do it,” she told members.

She said PCC had loaned the equipment and although the project was starting with the pavements, the scheme was looking to expand to cover other aspects where the town required some TLC, estates as well as the town centre.

Members felt it would be interesting to have a breakdown of what PCC is actually spending in the town.