The expected backlash over proposals to put a permanent gate on Tenby’s iconic harbour pier to alleviate safety concerns involving ‘tombstoning’ and anti-social ‘boy racer’ behaviour, has seen a two-sided argument unfold once again.

Boatmen and excursion operators have rightly highlighted their concerns ahead of another busy season, over an ‘accident waiting to happen’ - with more and more kids taking more and more risks to dive into the waters at peak times when vessels are moving in and out of the harbour; with those in the know desperate to avoid an almost inevitable ‘I told you so’ scenario unfolding.

Others who say generations have enjoyed jumping off the pier are fuming that the ‘fun police’ want to try and put a stop to this perceived ‘rite of passage’.

Tenby harbour no jumping
Local authorities took the decision last year to close off a section of the pier at high tides, after serious safety concerns resurfaced over the volume of youngsters jumping in the harbour water (Observer pic)

No amount of warning signs or education from emergency services will stop this action, so perhaps the Local Authorities for once have no choice but to try and implement some form of control over something that has clearly gotten out of hand in recent times.

The fear though, is some will move to more dangerous spots, bringing with it higher risks that hitting water from a greater height poses, with underwater hazards such as rocks.

However, many ‘thrillseekers’ have already moved onto riskier vantage points, even when the pier end has been free from control, so perhaps Pembrokeshire County Council can’t do right for wrong on this one, but at the same time, can those responsible for overseeing the running of the harbour be trusted to get it right?

This is after all the Authority who in recent years has squandered funding for much needed harbour improvements; and the same council who put forward an application for a new pedestrian pier, bridge and tidal pontoon back in 2013 that was laughed out of a National Park planning meeting by members who labelled it "utter lunacy".

Tenby harbour jumping
The end of the harbour pier is set to be closed off once again this holiday season during high tides (Pic. Gareth Davies Photography)

In opposing the application, developer Tim O'Donovan, who was responsible for converting Tenby's old lifeboat station called the plans "completely insane".

"My fear is that I might wake up one morning and find a pontoon in my bed! I've seen some daft ideas in my time, but this takes the biscuit," he told the planning committee.

Over 10 years on, and PCC’s proposals have never been revisited.

Unfortunately, this is a council that even when trying to do the right thing, probably can’t be trusted to do so.