A meeting with ‘stakeholders’ to discuss their responsibilities towards the upkeep of Tenby’s historic town walls has been held.

A project to set up a ‘Town Walls Preservation Trust’ for Tenby was recently set in motion, with Clr. Viv Perry organising a meeting last week to discuss the matter with representatives from Pembrokeshire County Council, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, and CADW.

In a report from those discussions that came before members of the town council at their meeting on Tuesday night, it was explained that the purpose of the meeting was to gather information about the multiplicity of ‘stakeholders’ responsibilities, processes and inter—dependencies in the management of funding and control mechanisms together with quality and safety of the town walls.

“A full and open detailed exchange of information proved to be very fruitful,” stated Clr. Perry in his report to fellow members.

“Whilst PCC have a meagre maintenance budget covering the whole of Pembrokeshire, any maintenance is only undertaken on ? ‘reactive’ basis.

“The triggering of any work can be from the general public, casual visits by ??? surveyors or from the interested stakeholders such as CADW and PCNPA together with TTC.

“It should however be clearly stated that there is no longer any regular inspections, scheduled maintenance or planned repairs. It would ?????? that funds are extremely limited on any of the Pembrokeshire monument structures.

“Furthermore, walls which do not meet the ‘monument’ status included in scope of this project e.g. the footpath wall around the bandstand to the Lifeboat Station are not covered whatsoever except for a health and safety risk.

“The written submissions provided from CADW clearly identified where they are in process together with their documentation requirements which was extremely helpful.

“PCNPA were unable to be present or provide any written submission so this will be the subject of further analysis with conservation officer Rob Scourfield in the near future,” he continued.

Clr. Perry went on to explain in his report that ownership seemed to be a ‘contentious issue’ in that all stakeholders agreed that the majority of the walls lies with ???, however, so far it had not been possible to identify the ‘line management’ responsibility and accountability.

“Further work is needed to ascertain as in the matter of safety, public health, conservation work, maintenance and repair etc. of ownership.

“There is little doubt that all stakeholders are very clear on their roles and responsibilities that has been shared with the project.

“Moreover, whilst CADW have scheduling and there is clear ’division of duties’ - there does not appear to be an overall ??? controlled process. In the main process dependences are on ‘goodwill’ across ??? departments, which relies heavily on individuals. This is an area for concern especially in change or personnel.

“To establish a ‘Preservation Trust’ with a constitution covering the control of money, this would be essential,” he added.

Clr. Perry said that he would also be meeting with the Pembroke Castle project leader this week to get an understanding of their project, and tap into their knowledge and expertise, as well as Richard Tree the approved contractor in order to understand the completed work and cost.

Clr. Paul Rapi said that he was on his roof recently overlooking the town walls, and couldn’t believe the amount of ‘junk’ attached to them.

“You only really get to see fifty per cent of the town walls, but from up there, seeing the other fifty per cent, I couldn’t believe how much stuff has been screwed or hammered into the walls, such as air conditioning filters etc. These people responsible, don’t own the walls!” he stated.

“The walls have been compromised, but CADW have been excellent so far and have agreed to take on a status report on the walls,” continued Clr. Perry.

“I expected to see from the experts at PCC some form of routine inspection report on the walls as a ‘duty of care’ to public safety, but I found nothing, and if Richard Brown, head of environmental services is the town council’s focal point on such matters, then he’s not doing his job, as I’ve not received a response from him,” he stated.

“It’s good news that CADW are interested at last, and if they want to come and carry out a survey, we’d welcome that,” remarked Clr. Mike Evans.

Clr. Laurence Blackhall suggested calling a meeting of the town’s ‘regeneration committee’ to tap into the useful expertise out there from people who knew ‘an awful lot’ about the town’s historic walls.