Reports of holiday businesses receiving visitors and second homes
being occupied locally continue to be received by Pembrokeshire
County Council.
The regulations are clear that residents should stay at their primary
residence and that travel to holiday accommodation or second homes
is not essential travel.
Police officers have the power to issue fixed penalty notices and turn
those travelling around.
Across the Easter weekend police and Council officers stopped 1,660
vehicles with 39 fixed penalty notices issued to those deemed to have
left their homes without reasonable excuse.
Further traffic checks are continuing day and night.
Travelling to a second home or holiday accommodation risks
introducing the virus to rural communities from areas where the
disease might be more prevalent.
It also places additional strain on local health services where
provision is based on resident population.
There are also concerns of increasing anxieties and possible tensions
in rural communities.
For clarity, all holiday accommodation businesses listed below are to
remain closed to the public until further notice, apart from the certain
limited exceptions described.
Holiday sites
Camping sites
Hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation
Other holiday accommodation (including holiday apartments, hostels
and boarding houses)
These businesses can be specifically requested to operate by the
Welsh Ministers or by Local Authorities for a limited number of
reasons. Such reasons include:
accommodating key / critical workers (as defined by Welsh
Government)
accommodating those who have been displaced or are
homeless, or;
providing accommodation for health patients.
If a business is specifically requested to open by Welsh Ministers or a
Local Authority, this provision should not be taken to mean that the
whole site or business can reopen.
Any permitted re-opening will be specific and limited to the purposes
set out in the request.
The fact the Welsh Ministers or Local Authorities may request a
business to open for a specific purpose does not authorise it to open
for any other purpose and nor does it oblige the business to open.
Some holiday businesses in the County are currently accommodating
key workers but if such businesses have not yet been asked to do so
by the Welsh Ministers or a Local Authority, they must make
Pembrokeshire County Council aware of this as a matter of urgency.
They need to ensure that a written request is forthcoming from the
Welsh Ministers or Local Authority and they may only remain open in
response to such a request.
Enforcement action will be undertaken against any holiday
accommodation business that continues to operate without such a
request having been made.
Our communities continue to be monitored in partnership with Dyfed
Powys Police and officers of the Council’s Public Protection team for
compliance.
If you have information that causes you concern in your community
relating to the use of holiday accommodation and buildings please
contact the Council at [email protected]
There is also currently a particular challenge in terms of securing
sufficient accommodation for vulnerable groups.
Holiday accommodation businesses in Pembrokeshire are being
requested to consider providing accommodation for such groups.
If you currently own or manage holiday accommodation businesses in
Pembrokeshire and would like to make this accommodation available
for this purpose, please email [email protected] with
contact details.
If you have already responded to the Welsh Government’s request,
please let the Council know to update records.
If you are operating a business in Pembrokeshire and want to make
sure that you are only operating within the correct permission under
The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) Regulations
2020 please contact email [email protected]
