There are cowboys on the loose at Ceredigion County Council. That is the only possible conclusion that can be drawn when you read through the full report on proposals to allow horses and carriages on the promenade as a tourist attraction in Aberystwyth.

This half-assed horse plan is in the consideration stages by the council’s Healthier Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee, and officials have had to dust off the Town Police Clauses Act of 1847 and a similar Act of 1886 to find regulations governing horse-drawn carriages and omnibuses.

Cllr Mark Strong went so far as to the tell a recent committee meeting that “if they can do it in Vienna, we can do it in Aberystwyth.”

Another council member, Lyndon Lloyd offered that if a horse-drawn carriage “is good enough for the Queen, it’s good enough for the people of Aberystwyth”.

That thinking is certainly in line with the Victorian-era legislation to which the council staff have had to refer. They are living in a different century.

The fact is that the promenade can be difficult to walk at the best of times, and having landaus and broughams trotting the boardwalk is simply ridiculous.

During the public consultation, more than 200 people responded — the vast majority opposed to this equine flight of fancy.

In case the councillors considering this plan didn’t read the report in full, here are some of the responses:

“Stupid!!!”

“There’s hardly enough room for cars let alone horses.”

“Please do not do this, there is enough chaos in town with traffic.”

“Abandon this idea altogether.”

But no, the committee is not abandoning the idea. Instead, it is riding a horse and carriage over the objections of the vast majority of objectors in the town. That is not local democracy at work — it is the work of cowboys who are detached from the reality of trying to find a place to park in the town.

In these past months, the streets of Aberystwyth have suffered enough from poor planning decisions where safezones were introduced without full public consultation. Given the council’s high-handed disregard for input from the public when it is consulted, it seems to be a law onto itself.

This is not the Wild West and yes, there there will be a High Noon. Better this idea and its proponents ride off into the sunset. Giddy up!