News
Charges lead to decrease in car park use
CAR PARK usage in six car parks has decreased following the introduction of parking charges last year, a report has found.
In July 2015, Pembrokeshire County Council introduced charging mechanisms into six car parks that previously did not charge.
Car parking charges were introduced in High Street (St Dogmaels), Station Hill (Goodwick), St Thomas Green (Haverfordwest), Rifleman’s Field (Haverfordwest), Mart Ground (Crymych) and Station Road (Pembroke).
A review was carried out to look at the impact of the charges and that found that the usage of the car parks had decreased due to the new charges.
Only St Dogmaels experienced a rise in its usage in the past year.
It was also stated in the report that usage of the Rifelman’s Field car park had dropped considerably.
On Monday, September 12, Cabinet members were presented with the findings but they did not mention the drop in usage at five of the six car parks.
Cabinet member for Transportation, Cllr Rob Lewis said: “Cabinet carried out a review of non-charging car parks and introduced a charging structure on some of the parks in this authority. This took place due to a scrutiny report which happened on June 4.
“We introduced charging into six sites in Pembrokeshire back in July last year and we added that we have a report back 12 months later to monitor the impact the charges have had.
“Some of the findings are similar throughout all of them but I will highlight a few things that have been picked up.
“We’ve introduced pop and shop bays in quite a number of Car parks and these have proved quite successful and some of the businesses have recognised that they are being used for the right purposes.
“In St Dogmaels, we are currently undertaking further discussions on the impact of the RNLI, obviously we don’t want to impact on their very important work so we want to look further at what we can do to support the RNLI in St Dogmaels.
“In Crymych, we’re looking at taking on further discussions as the community council have come forward with a proposal on how we could manage the car park in the future so we will have further discussions to look at the options and they are quite keen.”
Cllr Huw George said: “I don’t think people fully realise the challenges we are under and I’m looking at the charges, for example 4 hours is 60p, that compares well with other authorities because if you go to other authorities you’re talking £2 for the same sort of time and I hope the people of Pembrokeshire will come forward and say how can we help in keeping a service.”
Cllr Jamie Adams said it was pleasing that the council had recognised that the council has realised that there are some areas where charging is not appropriate.
As part of a number of recommendations Charges and Tariffs in Station Hill, Goodwick, will remain unchanged.
At St Thomas Green in Haverfordwest there is no proposal to change any of the tariffs or charge structure.
There will also be no change in Station Road in Pembroke despite all three seeing reduced usage.
Only Rifleman’s Field in Haverfordwest will see a change in its 24 hour tariff to 0.80p in order to encourage workers to park and reduce some on street issues.
The 4 hour tariff will also be removed in the hope that people wishing to park for 4 hours can use the St Thomas Green car park.
News
Storm Bert aborts Pembrokeshire lifeboat in search for missing person
A major sea search got underway on Sunday evening following reports of a missing person in the sea off Rhossili.
Tenby Lifeboat received a call shortly after 11 pm on Sunday, November 24 from the coastguards, requesting the crew’s assistance.
“The volunteer crew was soon on the water and got to Rhossili in extremely rough seas as a result of Storm Bert,” commented a spokesperson for the Tenby crew
“The crew was requested to search around Worm’s Head using lights and night vision equipment.”
But after searching the coastline for around two hours, the crew was forced to stand down.
“It soon became obvious that the conditions were too rough for the lifeboat to get in close enough to be of any assistance, so with the lifeboat unable to safely provide assistance due to extremely rough seas, the crew stood down.”
News
How local rum inspired by legendary pirate has exploded into national sensation
When Jonathan Williams left his desk job in Swindon way back in 2010, his mission, to many, was impossible.
This is the man who hot-footed it back to Pembrokeshire to harvest seaweed from Freshwater West which he then used to create his multi award-winning ‘Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company.’
Using only choice produce sourced from the seas around Pembrokeshire, Jonathan’s innovative (and many would say courageous) idea began tickling the taste buds of some of the UK’s top chefs and food critics including James Martin who christened Williams as ‘the crazy seaweed man’.
Fast-forward seven years and once again Jonathan began honing yet another brain-storming idea, this time inspired by the mighty Bartholomew Roberts – otherwise known as Black Bart. After setting sail from his home in Little Newcastle at the age of 13, Bart gained notoriety as the most successful pirate in the ‘golden age of piracy’ who went on to raid 400 prize ships off the Americas and the West African coast between 1719 until his death from a wound to his throat, in 1722.
And so began Barti Spiced Rum.
“Everything was ticking along nicely at the Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company, and then in January 2017, Jonathan went off on paternity leave,” explained Barti Rum’s managing director, Fran Barnikel.
“Any normal person would have been busy changing nappies, but Jonathan, being the incredible entrepreneurial person that he is, came back to work saying, ‘Ok, I’m going to start a new company’.
“He’d read about Barti Ddu the pirate, and had always wanted to bring out a spiced rum in his honour. So he’d spent his paternity leave investigating different distilleries and bottlers and slowly but surely, Barti Spiced Rum started to come to fruition.”
Because of Jonathan’s strong allegiance with Pembrokeshire seaweed, he knew from the outset that the natural product would be used in his rum.
“Jonathan wanted his rum to be vibrant in flavour, so the seaweed is infused, giving it a real depth of flavour and enhancing the other ingredients which include vanilla, cloves, cinnamon, orange and lemon,” said Fran.
The rum is distilled in the Caribbean and then exported to Cardiff where the Pembrokeshire seaweed along with the remaining ingredients are infused.
“Out first batch arrived in late summer and initially we sold only to people we knew,” continued Fran.
“But as time went on, we could see that there was definitely a market out there for expansion.
“Obviously there was a lot less niche for the rum as there had been for the seaweed, plus the gin market was picking up at the time. But we could also see that the rum market was on the increase. In many ways, it was perfect timing. So we continued riding the wave.”
Jonathan and his team shun the rum purists who cite mixing it with coke or pepsi as sacrilege.
“All we want is for people to enjoy it,” said Fran. “And this means drinking it exactly as they want. If you want to add cola or ginger beer, that’s great. But it’s also really good with cloudy apple juice and particularly now as we’re getting closer to Christmas, hot apple juice.”
The cream liqueur is also extremely versatile for cocktails, including the Manhattan, Mojito and Daiquiri.
Jonathan has steadfastly refused to add flavour varieties to his brand, adhering rigidly to the Barti Spiced.
“From the beginning, he wanted to create a strong product that would continue to do well, rather than dilute its vibrant flavour with other ingredients.”
But in Christmas 2023, Jonathan broke away from his rule by introducing a Barti Cream Liqueur.
“This was the first addition he’d ever introduced to the range and it was only supposed to last for the Christmas period. But once again, because of the feedback we’ve received from our customers, we’ve kept it going and we’re now fully stocked for Christmas 2024.”
The Herald caught up with Fran as she travelled back to Pembrokeshire from Tesco’s headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, London. Six weeks ago the company began selling their rum at a total of 58 Tesco stores throughout Wales, but the supermarket giant is now considering stocking Barti Spiced Rum throughout the whole of the UK.
Earlier this year, Barti Spiced Rum was named the best rum in the Great British Food Awards while the Barti Cream Liqueur has won eight separate awards in the World Drinks Awards including best in country, best new launch, and three golds awards in both the taste and design categories.
One can’t help wondering, given the fact that eight years ago Barti Spiced Rum had yet to be given its first pouring, whether its success has come as a surprise.
““At the end of the day, Jonathan has that incredible ability to make everything work,” chuckled Fran. “Everything that he captures tends to turn to gold.
“But we know that Barti Spiced Rum is a really strong product and something that’s very ‘Pembrokeshire-sentric’. And the support we continue to get from the local cafes and pubs has been incredible and has really helped us to move forward. The staff reach out, time and time again, with tasters and samples, and we know that they’re genuinely behind our brand. And this is so important. We are so grateful for everything they continue to do to support us.”
Crime
Pembroke Dock woman in court for failing to remove rubbish from property
A PEMBROKE DOCK resident is due to appear before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court later today (Nov 25) for multiple alleged breaches of a community protection notice.
Sheena Deacon, of 13 Wavell Crescent, Pembroke Dock, faces charges under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, which carries a maximum penalty of a Level 4 fine.
The charges stem from allegations that Deacon failed to remove accumulated household waste from her property on several occasions. According to court documents, the breaches occurred on September 19, September 26, October 2, October 9, and October 17 this year.
The charges indicate that Deacon, despite being issued with a community protection notice, did not comply with the requirements to clear and appropriately dispose of refuse and household waste from her address.
The Herald will bring updates on the case as it progresses.
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