Pembrokeshire County Council will carry out a speeding survey on one of the main routes into Tenby, after concerns were highlighted recently over motorists travelling at high speeds along Narberth Road.

Members of Tenby town council recently discussed the matter following correspondence from a local resident that came before members, where it was pointed out that those living in the vicinity of Narberth Road were ‘increasingly worried’ by the speed of cars coming along the stretch from the roundabout down towards the North Beach car park - with many motorists said to be travelling well above the national speed limit for a residential area.

At a recent remote meeting of town councillors, Clr. Trevor Hallett told his colleagues that the area had been a ‘bug bear’ for many years with motorists driving quite fast. There had been accidents and he considered that perhaps it was time for traffic calming measures to be introduced along that route.

However, his fellow member, Clr. Paul Rapi felt that introducing speed ramps in that location would cause issues, as it was one of the main roads into the town for access for locals, while also providing access to the doctors’ surgery, the Cottage Hospital and the North beach car park which was used by coaches.

He felt that maybe there was the odd person speeding but this was not always an issue as most motorists would drive in a sensible manner along that route.

The town clerk told councillors that he was aware that Pembrokeshire County Council had conducted several speed surveys on this road over the years, but that the average speeds found were always below what public perception was. However, he suggested that the town council could ask PCC to conduct another survey as things change over time.

Clr. Matthew Ronowitz said that he would have imagined since the mini roundabout was put in place at the top of Narberth Road, this would have slowed the traffic down, and perhaps this could form the basis of another survey being undertaken.

The Mayor, Clr. Mrs.. Sam Skyrme-Blackhall agreed that traffic seemed to have slowed down since the roundabout was installed.

Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown agreed with Clr. Ronowitz and the Clerk and suggested that PCC be approached to reinvestigate speeds of vehicles on this road.

Clr. Tony Brown believed that residents coming out from some of their driveways, when confronted by a car going up to 30 mph, would perhaps perceive the vehicles travelling much faster.

He suggested that speed bumps would not work as it was one of the two access roads into town and was used by lorries, coaches, cars and bikes, not to mention events.

Clr. Ronowitz suggested speaking with PCC about the possibilities of a flashing speed indication sign being introduced, as he believed these tended to work.

Clr. Rapi said that there had been a similar issue in Carew, but he believed that such a sign would cost approximately £45K and that PCC were not going to find that amount of money. Another issue he said was that research had found that these signs encourage youngsters to compete to gain a ‘highest speed’ score.

He felt that the town council could ask PCC to check speeds in the area but cautioned that there was little funding available for calming measures.

Clr. Hallett wondered if the mobile speed camera could sometimes be sited along Narberth Road.

In response to the concerns raised, PCC have agreed to conduct another survey as it had been more than four years since the last one was undertaken.