Concerns have been raised once again on the poor condition of one of Tenby’s prominent seafront hotels.

Cllr Charles Dale raised the matter regarding the Royal Lion Hotel which sits on the corner of the walled town’s High Street and White Lion Street at this month’s meeting of the Town Council, as well as asking what the state of play was with regards to the former petrol station site on Deer Park, asking for an update on any developments.

The clerk reminded members that the Deer Park site formed part of a five-phase development from the land owners, which included - the former Royal Gatehouse hotel; the Playhouse cinema; the Delphi along South Parade; as well as the Royal Lion Hotel.

In recent years work has taken place to introduce the Paxton Court apartments and Premier Inn in place of the Royal Gatehouse Hotel (which was destroyed in a fire back in 2008); with the Poundland store now situated at the former cinema building; and new flats and the Domino’s Pizza premises at the Delphi site.

In relation to the Deer Park site, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority development management team leader Kate Attrill responded to the query by stating that with regards to plans to demolish the former petrol station and associated buildings, to build nine houses, there was a presumption that the discharge of conditions in relation to the demolition works, meant that a material start had been made on the site, but she would check with the Authority’s building conservation officer Rob Scourfield.

On the Royal Lion, Cllr Dale said that he was concerned about the conditions of the windows at the premises, particularly as any future development no longer had planning permission. He said that he felt the windows were a danger to the public.

Back in the summer of 2021, in response to complaints received, officers from Pembrokeshire County Council’s Public Protection Team made several visits to the Royal Lion, with ‘improvement notices’ subsequently served on the Hotel by the Council’s Food Safety and Standards Team.

Giving an update, the clerk told members of the Town Council that under the Town and Country Planning Act, a Section 78 notice was served on the current leaseholders of the hotel, just prior to Christmas and some remedial work had been carried out.

He said that the leaseholders were working with the conservation officer on applying for CADW grants to upgrade the windows and ‘listed building’ consent was in the process of being applied for.