Saundersfoot council’s chair and county councillor for the South ward have been thanked by the village’s bowlers for assisting the Club with parking issues, and in doing so, helping to attract new members.
A lack of parking spaces for Saundersfoot Bowling Club was not only hindering membership, but also those travelling to the seaside village to compete in league matches and cup competitions.
Members of Saundersfoot Community Council and the new chair Martyn Williams BEM looked into options to see if there was a way to develop some parking spaces in the vicinity for those attending matches.
The village’s county councillor for the South ward, Cllr Chris Williams said: “I reported that we needed to support the local Bowling Club, as since Covid and limited parking, membership had dropped and currently they only run one men’s team on Saturdays.
“The issue has been parking, which many in the village are finding a problem. I wrote to the Community Council asking if access could be made at the top of the Regency Hall NP car park to assist the bowlers on match and training days. The reason being that a set of woods is really heavy and that they need to park closely to the bowling green.
“With the NP car park full before 9 am most days I thought of a way of assisting them in the short term. Many bowlers have season tickets but are still unable to park. The simple solution would be to park behind the Bowling Green during the summer season,” he continued, stating he invited Community Councillors along and a representative of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority to look at a way forward.
Cllr Williams explained that the solution would be to apply for planning for the removal of the wall at the top of the car park, losing one space during Saturdays and training nights, with Saundersfoot Community Council (as landowners) applying for this as a temporary measure to assist the bowlers.
“Unfortunately, this takes time, but with the support from the Community Council and seeking planning permission it will hopefully be in operation next year,” continued Cllr Williams.
“A bonus will be that the bowlers can park behind the bowling green and not take up spaces in the NP car park, if available. Since then an architect has been on site to look at proposed drawings to get this moving forward with the correct planning in place which will help the bowlers at a time of need,” he added.
Saundersfoot Bowling Club’s secretary Paul Blayney has since written to Community Council chair Cllr Martyn Williams to offer members’ thanks in progressing the matter.
“As the Secretary of the Club on behalf of all the members, I would like to thank you for all the help that you have given us in assisting our parking issues,” wrote Mr Blayney.
“We are hopefully at last making progress and coming together as a community and without your contribution and understanding we were struggling to maintain and increase our membership,” he added, asking that appreciation is also passed onto county councillor Chris Williams for the help he has also given and for his interest and support.
Anyone looking to try their hand at the sport or join Saundersfoot Bowling Club, a reminder that every Friday evening the Club has a taster session from 5.30 pm for those wishing to try bowling, with food also available and of course the bar afterwards too.
Also, on Tuesday afternoons from 1.30-2 pm until about 5 pm, a friendly competition takes place as well, with all welcome.
