Battle continues to scupper traffic ban (From Western Telegraph)

Battle continues to scupper traffic ban

Although Tenby's two-month summer pedestrianisation scheme ended on Sunday, residents will still be continuing their battle to have their views acknowledged by Pembrokeshire County Council.

The Tenby Walled Town Residents Association (TWTRA) which is in favour of a traffic management scheme, is now biding its time until the council's next Cabinet meeting on September 15th.

That is when the decision will be made on whether the authority will go for a public inquiry ahead of a permanent Traffic Order for pedestrianisation. Last month, TWTRA dropped High Court action against the council after being told it would consent to an inquiry.

Then, in an apparent backtrack, the council said that the letter giving this information was merely the personal view of an officer. TWTRA is now building up a fighting fund to meet the cost of retaining a professional traffic engineer to advise on the scheme.

At the most recent meeting of the association, members agreed that generally - and perhaps mainly because of the kind weather - pedestrianisation had been popular with visitors.

But there were serious concerns about the daily traffic chaos and the threat to pedestrian safety during the two hours before the scheme started and immediately after it ended.

Said TWTRA vice-chairman Alistair Mackay: "Hopes were expressed that any future scheme would be much less restrictive and allow residents reasonable access to their homes."

Residents are being asked to fill in and return TWTRA's survey form to record their view of the present scheme and give their opinion for future traffic management. Pembrokeshire County Council will also be distributing a questionnaire to residents and businesses in Tenby and district.