Don’t blame the gulls - “it’s a different form of pest altogether - human beings!” stated Tenby’s Mayor this weekend, in light of the seaside town and surrounding communities continuously being hit by littering and fly-tipping, with three local county councillors at the end of their tether now vowing to join forces to try and take the issue to task.

Tenby’s Mayor and county councillor for the South Ward Cllr Sam Skyrme-Blackhall, Saundersfoot’s south ward county councillor Cllr Chris Williams and Cllr Rhys Jordan who represents St Mary Out Liberty (New Hedges), which sits in between the two seaside towns, have stated that they are going to look at ways of tackling the problem, when they sit down with Pembrokeshire County Council officers this week.

Street litter bins are provided by Pembrokeshire County Council and town centre bins are emptied up to five times a day at the height of the holiday season, but these bins provided for the public and not intended for domestic waste, are constantly being abused.

The latest incident to highlight the ongoing issue came on Sunday morning, when rubbish dumped alongside a bin situated outside the grounds of Tenby’s St Mary’s Church was strewn across the High Street, which saw the Mayor herself conduct an impromptu old fashioned clean up with a broom.

“It was household waste, left by a bin, and the culprits had not even bothered to try and stuff it inside the bin!,” said Cllr Skyrme-Blackhall.

“It is not the seagulls at fault. It is a different form of pest altogether - human beings!” said the Mayor, who had also been sent photographic evidence the same morning from County Council refuse collection staff of a similar scenario on South Parade, alongside Tenby’s historical town walls.

“We know it's residents, businesses and visitors. Residents have home collections, businesses should have trade waste arrangements - as should holiday lets,” continued Cllr Skyrme-Blackhall.

“As I have said before, letting agents should ensure there is a trade waste agreement in place before advertising a property for let,” she added.

Earlier in the week, Cllr Rhys Jordan put a cry out on social media to his ward on St David’s Day, after he’d received a call from County Council officers informing him that once again, public bins in the village of New Hedges were being used to dispose household waste.

“Please be reminded that household waste should be sorted and put out for kerbside collection each week. If this continues we will lose more bins which is the last thing the village wants. The lack of respect by a few will spoil it for the many,” stated Cllr Jordan.

“And before someone says ‘what’s a bin for’ please read on. A public bin, otherwise known as a litter bin, lets you dispose of waste whilst you are on the move.

“This could be when you are out on a walk, or when using public spaces such as parks and play areas. Public space bins are also a means of helping us meet our statutory duty to clear litter and refuse (as far as practicable) from public places for which we are responsible for, both litter and bagged dog waste can be disposed of in our public litter bins.

“Please contact me if you wish to discuss this or report anyone who is abusing our public bins,” he added.

Cllr Chris Williams said that he was astonished to find that an organised litter-pick of Saundersfoot last Saturday morning (February 25) saw ‘an incredible’ 39 sacks of rubbish collected by volunteers, in just the space of a couple of hours, mainly from roads and lanes outside the village centre.

He also said a discussion had come up recently with Saundersfoot harbour staff, and he was shocked to find out that the harbour collects over 11,000 bags of rubbish annually!

“During this month I had another positive meeting with PCC and Head of Environmental Services along with supervisors operating in the area. Saundersfoot is blessed to have a dedicated team who regularly keep on top of the bins and streets of the village,” said Cllr Williams.

“It has become apparent however that a minority flaunt the rules and spoil it for everyone else. During the summer months there is a weight of two tons every day from the village bins. Unfortunately, some contaminate the recycling process which in essence, contaminates the whole bin.

“We also have the five steel oil drums on the slipway and it is a shame that these are abused daily. Numerous times locally, trade waste has been found when full bins have been ripped open to investigate. PCC staff have also caught local residents and holiday let apartments abusing the system,” he continued.

“I have another meeting with PCC and hope to have an officer from the licensing department to look at ways that holiday apartments/homes have measures in place to correctly dispose of their waste.

“It’s not up to the local residents to pay for this service, it needs to be a joined up approach with all parties so every holiday home/holiday let is accounted for,” remarked Cllr Williams, who went onto say that he recently challenged two persons emptying their waste into the bins.

“Both were on holiday with notes in their apartments telling them to place rubbish daily into the local bins. This is totally unacceptable for the local tax paying residents to have to pay for this service,” he explained.

With cuts across the board this money could be better spent on services important to all residents. I have asked PCC not to put the bins back onto the slipway. We will look at alternatives in the village and on the harbour near the slipway, where we have had an excellent response to helping the situation.

“There is also the offer in the future that if this continues then potentially this area could be covered by CCTV. We have to find a better solution than the current one that is abused daily. I’m happy to meet groups or individuals who could offer alternative options,” he added.

Councillors in Tenby recently stated that a solution to litter and waste concerns across the town needed to be addressed urgently ahead of another busy holiday season.

They were left less than impressed after it was highlighted that Pembrokeshire County Council’s answer to the matter at the moment seemed to be by removing problematic public bins that had been abused, and that had attracted fly-tipping and unwanted waste.

Town councillors felt that this was not the solution, after they had been informed that the bin next to Tenby train station car park, had been one such bin that had been removed, with claims that the facility had become a dumping point for those leaving holiday lets after their stay.

Issues with waste and littered being scattered across the town of a morning, before waste collections are made, have blighted Tenby for years, with solutions sought to tackle the ongoing problem.

Back in October, Tenby’s Mayor, Cllr Skyrme-Blackhall even wrote to letting agencies marketing properties in the seaside town to urge them to make sure that there are proper arrangements for the collection of waste from their properties at the end of each letting period, after town councillors had once again heard reports of overflowing street bins being used for household waste and black bags being dumped near to bins.

According to the Mayor, council staff emptying the bins had noticed more and more people bringing all their waste to the bins, with some explaining that there were no bins provided at their holiday let.

“I have been made aware of holiday properties where the welcome pack for guests specifically tells people to use street litter bins for all waste. This is not acceptable,” said the Mayor at the time.

“Owners of properties should be planning for the disposal of waste. There are many options open to them including getting a trade waste agreement for weekly collections.

It is not fair on the residents of Tenby. We pay our Council tax to have our own domestic waste collected and we also pay for street waste collections. Why should Tenby residents subsidise holiday let owners who refuse to make proper arrangements for waste collection.

“I am sick and tired of being in town early each morning and seeing rubbish strewn across the streets because it has been left by bins or dumped. Why would you come to such a beautiful place and treat it with such little respect? It is also not fair on our hardworking staff who try so hard to keep the town tidy,” she continued.

Cllr Skyrme-Blackhall explained that it was not all holiday lets responsible, with many having arrangements in place for waste to be collected or removed by cleaning teams at the end of the week and disposed of properly.

She added: “It is now time for the letting agencies to be clear with their clients that everyone must deal with their waste.

“If they don’t do this, I will be discussing with the Local Authority to see what enforcement action can be taken.

“Tenby being beautiful helps sell their business and many are making a lot of money. All we are asking is for them to do is help keep Tenby tidy.”