Pembrokeshire County Council is pushing forward with plans to introduce a fixed sliding gate on Tenby harbour pier.

A planning application from the Local Authority (Reference: NP/25/0017/FUL) to install a swing gate that prevents unauthorised vehicle entry but allows pedestrian access, for Tenby Harbour Yacht Station & Harbour Office on Pier Hill, has been submitted to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority.

Local authorities took the decision over the busy holiday period in 2023 to start closing off a section of the pier at high tides with a temporary fenced gate, after serious safety concerns resurfaced with the volume of youngsters and people jumping in the water causing risk of injury from vessel movements within the harbour.

Anti-social behaviour concerns were also raised, with teenagers congregating down the pier, drinking and then diving in the sea, with some choosing to climb onto nearby premises to gain higher vantage points to jump from.

The volume of ‘boy racers’ driving to the location for meet ups during evenings and after dark had also been flagged-up by the authorities as an anti-social concern, with efforts to reduce the numbers being made, including introducing security staff to man the area, as well as the fencing to stop vehicles accessing the area unauthorised.

Members of the Tenby Harbour User's Association had it confirmed to them at a meeting last year that a proposal for a permanent fixed sliding gate at the pier was in the pipeline.

When the matter was discussed, with members welcoming the move, the chairman noted how the temporary gate had almost ‘overnight’, changed the culture and negative atmosphere emerging at times on the pier, with crowds which had been gathering at the spot, now moving elsewhere.

The application from PCC will be considered by the National Park’s development management committee in the near future.