Toilet provision in Tenby is to be reviewed by Pembrokeshire County Council's director of transportation and environment.
In a letter to Tenby Town Council, which was brought before members at their meeting on Tuesday night, Mr. Ian Westley acknowledged that councillors were concerned about the future of toilet facilities in the town centre and at the request of county council's chief executive had agreed to look at the matter. "The chief executive has asked me to review again toilet provision in Tenby and in particular the benefits of a town centre location compared to peripheral car parks," wrote Mr. Westley, who also said that as part of the review they would be surveying the premises at the Market in Upper Frog Street to determine whether the re-establishment of full facilities could be effected. The Upper Frog Street toilets were closed in 2002, with the reason at the time being the difficult access down a steep flight of steps to the ladies' and gents' facilities.
A recent request by town councillors to make the disabled toilets at the facility available for all users was refused by the county council on the grounds of concern over vandalism and reference to the code of practice on disabled facilities. Town councillors have been campaigning for some time to get further public facilities opened within the town walls, and recently sent a petition to the county council, with over 2,500 signatures obtained from residents and visitors to Tenby backing their request.
Speaking in response to the letter, Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter said that councillors should be encouraged, as their requests had previously been dismissed, while Clr. Mrs. Caroline Thomas felt that a town council representative should be present when the facility was surveyed.
"It's encouraging that they are going to have a look, so we will hold our breath and see what develops," remarked Mayor, Clr. John Griffiths, who said he would write back to the county council thanking them for their response on the issue.