Posted on June 19, 2018
A meeting has been called to urgently look at dredging options for Tenby, following concerns raised by the Harbour Users Association over ‘broken promises’ from Pembrokeshire County Council, despite claims that a plan had been agreed by the authority.
Correspondence recently came before members of Tenby Town Council, from county councillor for Tenby’s north ward, Clr. Michael Williams, who explained that he had met with the town’s ‘liaison link officer’ Richard Brown, who is also PCC’s head of environment and civil contingencies, to discuss the matter, in light of concerns that high levels of sandbanks were causing issues around the harbour pier area.
PCC indicated that a temporary dredging would be carried out of the harbour, with an estimate also being sought for a ‘comprehensive dredging’ to be carried out next spring.
Clr. Williams said that this had been discussed in light of the failure to adequately dredge the harbour entrance for the past three years, before going on to explain that a comprehensive clean-up of the harbour had also been agreed, with plans in place to tidy up areas of the North Walk and sluice to clear any ‘abandoned’ dinghies and trailers.
Tenby Harbour Users Association (THUA) chair Angus Dunlop met with town councillors at their meeting on Tuesday night, to refute the suggestion that a dredging plan had been agreed by PCC, stating that the public had been misled if they believed a plan of any merit was in place, as had been implied.
He said that the committee of the THUA had recently met to voice their concerns during a ‘heated’ meeting, and explained to members of the town council, that all that had been agreed was that a bulldozer would temporarily level out the sand for the third time this year, in an attempt to mitigate the current position, as the harbour had become practically ‘unusable’ at certain tide times.
“There has been a lot of frustration from the association that it has been heavily implied that a dredging plan is in place, when it really isn’t,” Mr. Dunlop told councillors.
He stated that a pre-dredging licence had been accepted by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), but no other licence had been granted and it was currently unclear whether one had been applied for by PCC, who were responsible for the dredging of the harbour.
“All the bulldozer has been able to do is shuffle around the sand, but there is a big difference between that and dredging, as in two to three weeks, the sand will be back to how it has been,” continued Mr. Dunlop who explained that the last time the excavators dealt with the process properly was three years ago.
He explained that there were two identified options – a land based dredging, which had been carried out previously, or a vessel based dredge, but both would potentially require different licences and budgets, and it was now time to pursue a pathway to a plan of action, with THUA seeking firm assurances from the authority that a dredging licence would be applied for urgently.
Clr. Trevor Hallett remarked that his preferred option would be to see a dredging plan in place that would allow any sand moved from the harbour area to be redeposited on the South Beach to replenish that area, which had suffered erosion in recent times.
Mr. Dunlop said that THUA had welcomed improvements to the harbour since Clr. Williams met with Mr Brown, and acknowledged that they had worked well with ‘PCC harbours line manager’ Sarah Edwards who was very supportive of what the association were doing, and had been proactive in securing funding for a feasibility study surrounding the North Walk and sluice.
“After the bulldozing this week, we’re on our own now for the summer, as dredging can’t be carried out during the bathing season, but it’s crucial that we keep up the pressure on PCC for a firm and actionable commitment detailing a complete and acceptable plan, and make a decision on what option is best for Tenby asap to give us a contingency,” continued Mr. Dunlop.
“We’ve had broken promises two years in a row from PCC, so perhaps they should be handed a financial penalty for their failure to carry out the dredging of the harbour?
“The harbour is the single most important asset to Tenby – the amount of exposure it gives to the town is of national importance to Pembrokeshire and Wales, and the local authority needs to look after it!
“We need to pursue a written, enforceable agreement to ensure we are not having the same conversation in 12 months time again,” added Mr. Dunlop, who stated that the full minutes of THUA’s recent committee meeting were available on the group’s Facebook page.
Clr. Laurence Blackhall said that he was pleased that the matter was being looked at and agreed that a ‘clear and verifiable commitment’ was now needed from PCC to ensure progress, before calling for a three-way meeting between THUA, the town council and the county council.
“The priority is to get a proper working harbour back for Tenby, as it’s costing people money,” he added, before asking that the matter be kept on the town council’s agenda.
Source: Pembroke
