PEMBROKE Dock Town Council will keep the pressure up after a permit for a waste storage and transfer station was granted in the town’s dockyard.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) recently granted an environmental permit to Milford Haven Port Authority.

The authority plans to temporarily store non-hazardous baled waste and loose wood waste on its yard before it is shipped offsite, for use as fuel in offsite energy from waste facilities.

Pembroke Dock Town Council has previously written a letter of concern about the plans, and expressed its concern after the permit was granted.

At the January meeting of the town council, Councillor Dilys Burrell said: “They’ve been granted their permit, that’s disappointing; just because they have a permit doesn’t mean they will undertake the activities. Hopefully at some time they will decide it’s not a profitable activity, all is not lost.”

Councillor Pam George said: “I think we’re all disappointed, we did have a feeling it would go over our heads; we do need to keep an eye in it, the town feels very bad about this being put on our doorstep again.”

Referring to a previous waste site operating in the town, she later added: “The trouble is what happened last time is when the boat coming in was delayed and we had an exceptionally hot summer.”

Councillor Peter Kraus said: “I’m totally opposed to this in Pembroke Dock, we’re trying to encourage tourism and they’re taking it away."

Deputy Mayor Cllr George Manning warned that any petition objecting to a forthcoming planning application associated with the granted licence would “not be worth the paper it was written on,” with individual letters of objection preferable.

He added: “Since Pembrokeshire County Council already operates refuse and waste within the dockyard, I think it would be wrong for the county council to decide any application for works within the dockyard by the Port authority.

“I have sent a letter to our MP [Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart] saying that any application for planning permission should not be dealt with by the county council; I can’t see it being dealt with in the right way; it should be dealt with by the secretary of state.”

Members agreed a letter raising concerns be sent to Simon Hart MP.

Another waste site is located on the same dockyard, operated by Pembrokeshire County Council. It recently applied to change its environmental permit to expand the area of land on which it stores waste, and to increase the types of waste it accepts in line with its new recycling regime.