FISHGUARD is celebrating a major boost for its town centre after 25 new businesses opened in just 18 months.

North Pembrokeshire Trade and Tourism (NPTT) is marking Small Business Week by highlighting what it says is a remarkable period of growth for the town, with a further two businesses expected to launch this month.

The organisation said the figures reflected growing confidence in the local economy and showed Fishguard’s continuing development as a vibrant destination for residents, visitors and independent traders.

At the recent It’s Your Pembrokeshire event in Narberth, representatives from NPTT spoke about Fishguard’s transformation and the role the organisation has played in promoting the town.

NPTT said its work had supported the vision and determination of local business owners who had chosen to invest in Fishguard despite difficult trading conditions.

The group has promoted the town through visitor information points and marketing campaigns across the county, showcasing Fishguard’s independent shops, attractions and coastal location.

This month, Fishguard is also being featured in Visit Pembrokeshire’s county-wide promotional campaign.

NPTT chair Andy Linforth said: “The opening of 25 new businesses in just 18 months is a tremendous achievement for Fishguard.

“It demonstrates the resilience, creativity and confidence of local entrepreneurs and shows that our town is an increasingly attractive place in which to live, work and invest.

“We are delighted to celebrate their success during Small Business Week.”

The town’s growing reputation has also attracted political interest.

This week, Kerry Ferguson MS, Deputy Presiding Officer of the Senedd, is due to spend much of a day with NPTT and local businesses to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the small business sector.

NPTT said the continued growth of independent businesses was helping to strengthen the local economy, create employment opportunities and improve Fishguard’s appeal as a year-round destination.

AHEAD of World Environment Day (June 5), Specsavers Haverfordwest has introduced a new recycling initiative, giving customers a simple way to responsibly dispose of their unwanted glasses, case and contact lens packaging.

The initiative forms part of Specsavers’ national roll-out of recycling boxes across all UK stores, supporting the business’s ambition to reduce waste and work towards becoming a climate-positive business.

Delivered in partnership with recycling and waste management company MyGroup, the scheme ensures hard-to-recycle plastics that might otherwise end up in landfill are separated, sorted and repurposed into new materials for products such as joinery boards and furniture.

In 2025, Specsavers and MyGroup recycled 72 tonnes of material, equivalent to the weight of a mature blue whale. The amount, collected from 659 stores and labs, represented an increase of almost five tonnes compared with the previous year.

Head of Sustainability for the UK and Ireland, Helen Curran, says: “At Specsavers we believe that sustainability must show up in our everyday operations. Investing in customer recycling in every one of our UK stores is exactly that: a practical, tangible step that keeps valuable materials in circulation and makes it genuinely easy for our customers to be part of the solution. We look forward to seeing the positive impact of the increased roll out in the years ahead.”

The expansion of the scheme means a further 300 stores now offer recycling facilities and marks the latest milestone in the initiative, which began in 2022.

Wayne Jones, retail director at Specsavers Haverfordwest, adds: “As a business serving the Haverfordwest community, we’re always looking for ways to have a positive impact beyond eye and hearing care. We’re proud to introduce this initiative locally and hope customers will support it by bringing unwanted items into the store during their visits.”

Haverfordwest residents wishing to donate old glasses can visit the store seven days a week.

To find out more information about Specsavers in Haverfordwest, request an appointment or browse the online store, visit www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/haverfordwest.

Additionally, to make eye health accessible to all, the store offers a Home Visits service for those unable to leave their homes unaccompanied due to disability or illness.

A CALL to let a north Pembrokeshire coasteering business, which had an adventure centre scheme overturned on appeal and has recently been served a trespass notice by the National Trust, keep a farm building for accommodation has been refused.

In an application to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Jethro ‘Jet’ Moore, through agent Harries Planning Design Management, sought permission for the retention of existing bunk barn accommodation associated with outdoor activities business Adventure Beyond, previously temporarily approved, at Morawelon, Moylegrove, near Cardigan.

A supporting statement said Mr Moore runs his agricultural enterprise on some 100 acres at Morawelon, also running outdoor activities business Adventure Beyond, which provides outdoor activities including kayaking, coasteering, mountain biking etc, and training courses.

“The business caters for small groups from a variety of backgrounds and purposes, including youth groups and schools, Duke of Edinburgh, corporate grounds and tourism groups.

“The business utilises a variety of locations based on the services able to be provided, including locations within all three Welsh National Parks, the Gower Peninsula but also across the UK, including Dartmoor, Exmoor and further afield.”

It said, since 2013, the outbuildings at Morawelon have been used in connection with Adventure Beyond, as a satellite location for overnight accommodation and for for educational/training purposes; temporary permission being gained in 2019 for five years, the application seeking “to regularise the previous change of use of these buildings”.

Objections to the scheme were received from local community council Nevern, referring to a judicial review of a related Old Bus Depot application by the applicant for an adventure centre in Moylegrove.

Back in 2024, the national park approved an application by Adventure Beyond Ltd for an outdoor adventure centre, and associated works at The Old Bus Depot, Moylegrove.

It was later ruled by a high court judge to have been granted unlawfully following a legal challenge brought by Wild Justice, who claimed the scheme would see nesting birds and breeding seals disturbed by ‘noisy’ coasteers, a position disputed by Mr Moore.

Objections to the Morawelon scheme were also received from 20 members of the public, claiming it “constitutes corporate expansion rather than farm diversification,” along with claims of antisocial behaviour by site visitors, and “the adverse impact the commercial activities have” on the local biodiversity of Ciebwr Bay and surrounding nationally protected sites.

An officer report recommending refusal said: “The proposed development has resulted in unacceptable landscape impact on the National Park and could potentially disturb species and habitats within the coastal zone.

“The proposal would not be compatible with the National Park’s purpose of conserving and enhancing its natural beauty, wildlife, and cultural heritage, nor would it protect its Special Qualities or its landscape.”

It went on to say there was insufficient information to assess the full scale of the proposed farm diversification, or “whether the diversification is at a scale that prejudices the main agricultural unit, which would constitute a reason for refusal”.

The application was refused on the grounds of landscape and habitats impact, “a lack of information regarding the functionally linked business use of the development, and the interaction between the outdoor activities the business offers, and the proposed development on this site,” and the previously outlined diversification issue.

A trespass notice was recently served on Adventure Beyond by the National Trust stating that continued use of Ceibwr Bay would be considered trespass on its land, the objection centring on concerns that coasteering activities could disturb breeding seabirds at Ceibwr Bay.

Adventure Beyond has challenged the notice.