Saundersfoot and its surrounding areas are ‘blessed’ with sporting events that bring visitors to the locality, but the county needs to ensure that they ‘add value’ to communities outside of the peak holiday periods, a local councillor has stated.

County councillor for the South ward of Saundersfoot, Cllr Chris Williams said that he had recently been invited to an ‘events group’ within Pembrokeshire County Council with other local members to look at events across the county.

“This is a new group set up to look at the impact on the communities and make sure residents and businesses are on board and they are regularly updated with developments,” explained Cllr Williams, stating that he was sure that everyone was aware with issues surrounding this year’s Ironman Wales schedule, where the triathlon was brought forward to September 3, without consultation by the organisers and Local Authority, with many local businesses and residents disgruntled that the event would be held on the tail end of the summer holidays.

“Our responsibility will be to look at further dates that we can engage earlier to get the correct detail and scheduling,” continued Cllr Williams.

“This side of the county is blessed with many events that do bring in visitors into our community. We need to ensure that these events add value to our local communities outside of the busy time periods in order to extend the season for everyone.

“Ironman Wales 2024 will take place on September 22 which is a fantastic result for local communities and athletes who will get the full support that they deserve doing this amazing event which is held on our doorstep.”

Cllr Williams said that another positive was that the popular Tenby 10k will be back this year during October; as well as The Tenfoot Endurance charity swim on Saturday, July 8 - with the two charities benefiting are MND (My Name’5 Doddie Foundation) and Guide Dogs for the Blind. This is a tough sea swim from Tenby’s North Beach to Saundersfoot’s Coppet Hall).

“I would like to thank the harbour users in Tenby along with Saundersfoot Harbour and Hean Castle Estate for facilitating this challenge.

“The committee have worked incredibly hard to put this on and that wouldn’t have been possible without all the local businesses who have fully engaged in making sure this event will be a success,” remarked Cllr Williams.

“There are some spaces left and please watch out for the volunteer programme which will be released in April.

“The Saundersfoot Tri has now been confirmed for September 1 and this will take place on a Friday evening. The businesses I’ve spoken to are really keen to get behind this as this will extend their working day and hopefully bring in many thousands of people to support.

“It wouldn’t have been possible to run this on the Saturday before the Ironman as in previous years due to the complexities of the Strand, the many holiday guests leaving and the cleaners coming in to clean holiday properties.

“Saundersfoot Tri is looking to close the Strand on that Friday evening for a few hours and create a lovely atmosphere with the finishing line in the heart of the village.

“There are many locals from the surrounding areas who take part in this event as this is an introduction into triathlons.

“I would like to thank Dickie at Saundersfoot Sports Club who will open up the field for car parking. The field can hold 400 cars and this will be a major factor to the success of this event.

“My last point regarding events is how great it will be for Saundersfoot to hold the the Welsh Rowing Beach Sprints again this year on May 13 and 14. Saundersfoot will also be hosting a home international on September 9 and 10 with England, Scotland and Ireland all competing.

“This is all due to the success of the recent World Rowing Championships and the amazing local volunteer scheme,” he added.