Sir,
A number of issues have come to light since Pembrokeshire County Council took it upon itself to impose draconian traffic measures within the walled town area of Tenby.
Firstly, there was a very poor level of consultation by the county council to the residents and businesses within the walled town that in turn spawned an effective Residents' Association for the area.
Secondly, the so-called 'Early Warning' road signs warning motorists of access restrictions within Tenby were totally inadequate being too small, too infrequent and not set far enough out of town.
Thirdly, there was no integrated transport policy in force, e.g. buses not meeting trains, no taxi hotline and rail passengers forced to fend for themselves.
The other point worth mentioning was that residents and business were incarcerated within Tenby between 12 noon to 4 pm, and were only released by an arbitrary decision of council staff who decided what constituted an emergency. The council also set up a 'help line' which was poorly manned and very often singularly unhelpful.
The whole situation in Tenby could have been avoided if current parking regulations had been properly implemented.
I have discussed the problems of Tenby with Nick Bourne AM, leader of the Conservative Group in the Welsh Assembly and the Regional AM for the West Wales Area, David Davies AM, the Conservative's Transport spokesman, and Nigel Evans MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales.
I have advised the Residents' Association to contact the Local Government Ombudsman for Wales and to look into the possibility that Pembrokeshire County Council may be in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
David N. Thomas,
Welsh Conservative Party Prospective Welsh Assembly Candidate for Carmarthen West and South
Pembrokeshire,
Tenby Conservative Club,
St. Florence Parade,
Tenby.