With six months of work upgrading gas pipes set to start in Pembroke on March 31, County Councillors have had ‘a flood of backlash’ from traders anticipating a drop in footfall and traffic.

Wales and West Utilities’ upcoming gas pipe upgrade work in the Pembroke St Michael and Pembroke St Mary South areas “will make sure the gas network is ready to transport green gas like hydrogen and biomethane.”

“We’re investing £500,000 to upgrade current metal pipes to new long-lasting plastic pipes,” said the energy company.

“We know our work can be disruptive, so we have worked closely with Pembrokeshire County Council to keep disruption to a minimum,” but they added:

“Traffic management will be in place as we work to upgrade the pipes in Holyland Road, Gooses Lane, Grove Hill, Main Street, Orange Way, Rock Terrace and Well Hill.”

The local community has been invited to attend a drop-in information day in the Town Hall foyer on Monday, March 24, between 1.15pm and 5.45pm.

With the disruption expected to continue to September, Aaron Carey, County Councillor for Pembroke: Monkton and St Mary South, wrote to the company to urge them to reconsider carrying out the works during the tourist season:

“Carrying out these works during peak season in a seasonal town is likely to cause lasting damage to the local economy and character of the town.

“After forwarding the information I received, within minutes I and my fellow Councillors have had a flood of backlash about the expected drop in through traffic and footfall.

“As a town, we rely heavily on the summer months to bring in tourists, some who travel and stay here and many who stay in the local area (Tenby, Saundersfoot etc.) who will choose not to come to our town if there are queues of traffic and roadworks to get through,” the Councillor explained.

“We have sadly already lost several shops in town over the past year due to declining footfall as a result of previous works which made the town a no-go area for several weeks. The damage that months of work could cause is unimaginable.”

The response from Wales and West showed engagement with the issues and should prove, to some extent, reassuring:

“I am very sorry to hear that some local traders are already experiencing declining footfall. One of the purposes of our drop-in centre is to engage with traders and guide them towards our loss of revenue form; our customer support officer will be able to provide guidance if anyone’s business is detrimentally affected by WWU’s gas mains replacement project.

“Unfortunately, our works are risk driven and mandatory with these mains needing to be replaced as they are at end of life; it is not possible to delay these works.”

The reply further stated that work on Main Street will be minimal, with further non-urgent work planned for a more convenient season.

“It’s good to see Wales and West engaging with local stakeholders and hopefully listening to local traders, listening to their concerns, and acting accordingly,” commented Cllr Carey.