Following communication from a concerned resident about a potential long-term move of the Angle lifeboat, councillors held a discussion about their role at the June meeting of Angle Community Council.

One of the busiest lifeboat stations in West Wales, is seeing operations from its village site “becoming increasingly challenging” owing to its remote location and declining population.

An RNLI spokesperson said: “We will still require the services of the Angle RNLI volunteer crew, but continue to review the situation in order to ensure the long-term viability of the station.

Angle councillors acknowledged the depth of feeling and commitment of many generations of families within the community. The use of Maroons was a way residents were made aware of the ‘shouts’, and this brought the community together. As maroons are no longer used, residents are often unaware, which could be seen as detrimental to engage people in becoming crew. 

Demographically, there are fewer people within the eligible age range to become lifeboat crew. 

Cllr Williams reported that some communication with local industries in the area regarding their support for local lifeboat crew indicated that due to ‘onsite safety’, carrying pagers within the workplace is not allowed. This therefore limits availability of crew, especially during usual daytime working hours. 

Councillors say there is nothing on the RNLI website regarding Angle and promoting crew or volunteer crew opportunities. And crew have been lost because of lack of support from Pembrokeshire County Council to allocate full-time crew housing in the village. 

As an emergency service, Angle Community Council believes it is something that should be seen as a priority. Whilst there are concerns about alleged delays in processing the applications of interested locals, without evidence councillors are not in a position to write in support of maintaining the Lifeboat in the village. They will instead actively encourage individuals to discuss grievances directly with the RNLI. 

If the trial period of basing the Lifeboat in Milford Haven becomes permanent, the Community Council will request that any historical information and documentation relating to Angle crew be displayed in the Village Hall.