Pembroke councillors have complained about the state of the town

At a recent town council meeting, Councillor Mel Phillips raised a motion complaining about the state of buildings in Pembroke.

Cllr Phillips said that weeds were growing into some buildings potentially causing damage to the fabric of the building, while others were in a state of general disrepair.

“This end of town is looking extremely rough,” she said.

“As you know the co-op has closed and that started the rot - that is an absolute eyesore.

“Then you’ve got competition from, you can guess who, the “ex-Chinese” and various buildings surrounding it.

“One of the mentioned buildings, I thought they were entering Chelsea in Bloom because every single windowsill is covered in American Valerian - It’s absolutely disgusting.

"We are an historic town - it’s looking like all you need is some tumble weed and steam boat for it to be the wild west.”

Cllr Phillips said that she had already delivered a letter, written by the town clerk, to the offending properties.

The councillor complained that one resident she delivered a letter to “said they couldn’t care and he wasn’t going to do anything about it.”

The councillor is hoping that a new, more strongly worded letter can be delivered to the offending properties and, if possible, an enforcement officer sent out to ensure that changes were made.

So far, the councillor said she had only one positive response to removing the offending weeds.

Mayor Linda Brown queried with the county council link officer whether an enforcement officer could be sent out if the weeds were causing structural damage to the windowsills, saying that they could become a danger to the public.

The link officer said that there may be no option but to put up with the buildings, but that she would look into what they could do in regards to absentee landlords, or to protect the environment.

Councillor Jon Nutting also asked the town clerk to check with her counterpart in Tenby to see how they ensure the look of the town.