MANY residents and supporters of military organisations will be shocked at news that this year's Remembrance Parade in Penarth will not be taking place because of bureaucratic obstacles.

Traditionally, over decades, hundreds of Penarth people representing local organsiations and youth groups have marched through the town in an act of tribute.

The first official remembrance procession and dedication ceremony in Penarth took place on November 11, 1924.

Thuis year the parade was scheduled to take place on Sunday, 8 November 2026.

In its place veterans will gather informally to lay wreaths at 10am at the Cenotaph at Alexandra Park, Penarth.

An open letter to the residents of Penarth and the wider Vale of Glamorgan from the parade organisers explains what has happened.

THE reason for this decision is as follows:

The Veteran's Parade Committee could not secure a road closure order from Vale of Glamorgan highways, despite the application being made on 31 July 2026.

The most recent communication from VoGh informed us that: "In these circumstances, where South Wales Police are unable to provide support for the road closures, the organiser should appoint a suitably qualified and accredited traffic management contractor to design, install, monitor and remove the necessary traffic management measures associated with the event.

"From a highways perspective, we would expect confirmation that the road closure and traffic management arrangements have been designed and will be implemented in accordance with the approved TTRO by a suitably accredited traffic management contractor with the appropriate competencies, resources and personnel to safely manage the event and any associated risks to highway users.

"More details on this are available on our homepage: Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders (TTROs)

"In addition, we would ask that the organiser expands the risk assessment to provide further detail regarding traffic management, stewarding responsibilities, emergency access arrangements, contingency planning and any security measures that are needed for the event'.

The organisers continue:

"Although South Wales Police (SWP) has previously assisted with the road closures, we have very recently been informed by SWP: "Whilst I appreciate that policing arrangements may have differed in previous years, it is important to clarify that South Wales Police does not have the authority to implement or manage road closures for planned events.

"Responsibility for event traffic management, including any temporary road restrictions and associated safety measures, rests with the event organiser in conjunction with the relevant local authority. As such, the assessment and mitigation of risks associated with the event, including traffic management and any hostile vehicle mitigation measures, sit with the organiser.

"As such, the assessment and mitigation of risks associated with the event, including traffic management and any hostile vehicle mitigation measures, sit with the organiser.

"SWP intends to provide a 'neighbourhood policing presence at the event to support community engagement, reassurance and public safety. However, we are unable to provide officers at all closed junctions or assume responsibility for road closure enforcement'."

A dispatch from the Penarth Veterans.

Let us be absolutely clear:

Our veterans should not have to fight the system they served to protect.

These are men and women who answered the call when their country needed them. They served in dangerous places. They endured hardship, separation, fear and loss. Some came home carrying wounds that cannot be seen.

And now, years later, we expect them to battle bureaucracy just to hold a Remembrance parade?

Enough is enough.

Remembrance is not an administrative exercise. It is not a box to be ticked on a form. It is not something that should be buried beneath red tape and endless procedures.

It is about honour.

It is about sacrifice.

It is about remembering the men and women who paid the ultimate price so that the rest of us could live in freedom.

It is about your freedom, your children's freedom and freedom for generations to come.

So let us ask ourselves a very simple question:

If our veterans were willing to put their lives on the line for this country, why are we making them fight for permission to remember those who did the same?

That is a disgrace.

The people who served should not be treated as a problem to be managed. They should be treated with the dignity and respect they have earned.

When a veteran stands beneath a flag, when they march alongside their comrades, when they lay a wreath for a fallen friend — they are not asking for special treatment.

They are asking us not to forget.

And we must not forget.

We cannot stand at Remembrance ceremonies once a year, lay wreaths, observe the silence and speak proudly about sacrifice — and then turn around and hide behind bureaucracy when veterans need our support.

Respect is not something you say. It is something you show.

So, remove the obstacles.

Cut through the red tape.

Stop passing responsibility from one desk to another.

And make sure that the next time our veterans step forward to remember their fallen comrades, the only thing standing in their way is the road ahead.

Because they have fought enough battles.

They have sacrificed enough.

Now it is our turn to stand up for them.

And if we cannot even give our veterans a clear path to remember their fallen comrades, then we need to ask ourselves:

What exactly have we learned from their sacrifice?