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Residents’ concern over Newgale defences

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Addressing the crowd: Cllr David Lloyd

Addressing the crowd: Cllr David Lloyd

AROUND 100 North Pembrokeshire residents packed into the Solva village hall on Wednesday night (Feb 18) to attend a public to discuss the future of the pebble bank at Newgale. The discussion, arranged by Pembrokeshire County Council, follows a number of breaches of the defences in recent years which has left residents questioning its effectiveness. Speaking at the meeting were Pembrokeshire County Council’s Head of Highways and Construction, Darren Thomas, and Assistant Engineer, Emyr Williams.

The officers gave a presentation on a projector screen which explained about climate change, and the impact on the Pembrokeshire Coast. The Authority explained that a consultation exercise was underway with the public over what to do about Newgale. The council said that they would be seeking funding for a £70,000 report on the future of coastal defences either from external sources, or from the council’s own capital expenditure budget. Mr Thomas said: “There’s a history of over-topping, in 1989 and more recently in 2014 and our management approach over the last 20 years has been to rebuild the bank.

In terms of the future we have come along today to talk about a vulnerability study we have commissioned.” County Councillor David Lloyd also addressed the crowd saying that he thought that a causeway could be constructed across the Newgale valley, and this should be built using money that the county should receive from the closure of the base at Brawdy. Cllr Lloyd later said: “My thanks to Darren Thomas and Emyr Williams of the Highways Department for staging this crucial meeting in Solva on the unsustainability of the shingle bank in Newgale and the dire potential consequences for the adjacent arterial road to Solva and St. Davids.”

Cllr Lloyd added: “In my view the creation of a causeway bridge across the valley is the only answer to the inevitable advance of the sea and the disappearance of the road, sooner than later. The cost of such a construction would, of course, be an issue. I would encourage the local population, however, to get behind a campaign to persuade government of the equity of funding such a bridge in the light of the huge public investments in transport infrastructure currently being proposed for the city regions of Swansea, Cardiff and Newport.” “Finally”, Cllr Lloyd said, “there is the matter of the military base in Brawdy, which is to close in 2018 after 65 years of underpinning the economy of the St. Davids peninsula. Pembrokeshire County Council is already considering the future potential uses of the site. Without a serviceable road access, however, there would be no future for this monolithic cold war edifice, which would slowly rot in perpetuity.

Would it not, therefore, be an appropriate legacy on the closure of Brawdy for government to fund a new, secure road access to Solva and St. Davids by way of a defence dividend to replace the considerable economic loss of the base to the community?” Mr Williams, who has been working on the Shoreline Management Plan, said that there are four options for coastline management: hold the shoreline, advance the shoreline, manage realignment of the shoreline or do nothing. The current approach at Newgale is management realignment, but Mr Williams told the packed meeting: “Eventually that will change to a no active intervention policy because there will be nothing there to manage. “We will keep putting it back, but only for a limited time.” The severe storms of January and February 2014 proved too tough a test for the pebbles, with a combination of howling winds and high tides collapsing parts of the bank. The road was left impassable for days, with motorists having to endure lengthy diversions. Last year, the Prime Minister, David Cameron has visited Pembrokeshire to survey the damage caused by the recent storms.

His visit included an unannounced stop The Duke of Edinburgh public house in Newgale. Speaking at the time the MP said: “Today the Prime Minister has paid tribute to the County Council’s workers who helped keep Pembrokeshire open during the recent storms, during which the County Council got a lot of things right. “It is a sad day that the County Council is in the news for the wrong reasons.” Jasper Slater, the owner of the pub for fourteen years told The Herald: “The Prime Minister arrived by helicopter and landed in the car park. He was greeted at the door of the pub by myself and was shown around the damage by landlord Chris Lugg and his partner.

He looked around and spoke with the workmen inside such as plasters and electricians. He was very interested to see how the bad storms had effected the community and offered his concerns.” The Prime Minister joked to Mr. Slater last year that he may be back to enjoy a pint with him once the reconstruction work was completed.

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Business

Stephen Crabb leads inquiry on retaining community bank services  

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PRESELI Pembrokeshire MP, and Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee Stephen Crabb is leading an inquiry in Parliament that will investigate the closure of high street banks in Wales, as well as access to cash.

In November 2023, Pembrokeshire saw the closure of Lloyds Bank in St Davids, and in the coming months both Barclays Bank and Halifax in Haverfordwest are set to close. In recent years, Wales has experienced a rapid decline in the number of high street banking services available to the public. Already in 2024, 23 high street bank closures have been announced in Wales, while automated teller machines (ATMs) declined by nearly a quarter between 2018 and 2023.

The Committee willconsider how declining high street banking services are impacting vulnerable people and small businesses across Wales, who are often more reliant on cash than digital banking. It will also examine how Wales is being affected by the loss of high street bank services, and whether the problem is worse in Wales than other parts of the UK.

Mr Crabb is a staunch advocate for retaining community banking facilities, especially in rural communities like Pembrokeshire where many local branches remain the only source of face-to-face banking provision for miles.

Recently Mr Crabb challenged Barclays Bank senior management on their decision to close the bank branch in Haverfordwest– a move that will see Barclays not only pull out of the county town, but means they won’t have a branch left anywhere in Pembrokeshire. He has also engaged with LINK – the UK’s largest cash machine network – and continues to campaign on the basis that a Banking Hub is established and that ATM machines should be retained or installed, especially in areas worst affected by the closures.  

Following the launch of the inquiry, MP Crabb added: “It is really sad to see so many banks across Wales closing as online banking grows in popularity. Despite the advantages of online banking, for a rural community with an ageing population like Pembrokeshire, bank branches hold huge importance as they offer face-to-face customer service.”

“I am acutely aware of the inconvenience that the bank closures locally have already caused following hundreds of replies from constituents to my ‘online banking survey’ ”

“I am looking forward to gathering further evidence on this subject through the committee’s inquiry, and will continue to put pressure on the relevant stakeholders to ensure that adequate alternative provisions are made through the establishment of banking hubs as well as the instalment of ATM machines where necessary.”

“In this inquiry, we are particularly keen to hear from those likely to be directly affected by the shift away from cash and physical banks. I encourage anyone with first-hand experience of losing banking services to give evidence to the Committee”

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Business

Trains resume between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock as works end

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TRAIN services resumed this morning (Thursday 28 March) after ten days of essential round-the-clock work to upgrade track and drainage between Carmarthen and Pembroke Dock.

The railway was closed from Monday 18 March to Wednesday 27 March to allow Network Rail teams to replace more than 200 metres of track and 300 tonnes of ballast (track stones) between Pembroke station and Pembroke Dock.

Work to improve the drainage between Narbeth and Kilgetty stations was also completed at the same time.

Nick Millington, Network Rail Wales and Borders route director, said: “This essential work in Pembrokeshire demonstrates our commitment to improving the reliability of the service we provide to passengers along our route.

“We know that replacing the track can be disruptive and very noisy, so I would like to thank the residents of Pembroke for their patience while our team carried out this crucial work.”

Colin Lea, Planning and Performance Director at Transport for Wales said: “We’re pleased that our colleagues in Network Rail have completed this essential work and that Transport for Wales rail services resumed today.

“We’d like to thank passengers for their patience while this work has progressed and look forward to welcoming passengers back in time for the Easter weekend.”

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News

Welsh Water has increased sewage discharges into waterways ‘by 40%’

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NEW figures released by the Environment Agency have shown that Dwr Cymru discharged sewage into waterways for a staggering 23,354 hours last year, a 40% increase on 2022. 

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are now calling for tougher action against sewage dumping in Welsh waterways.

The party has also called for a halt on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage into waterways.

Conservative MPs have consistently voted against measures which would have helped to tackle the crisis.

The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said: “It is a complete scandal that filthy sewage is being pumped into our nation’s rivers and waterways without consequence.

“It’s beggars’ belief that both the UK Conservative Government and the Welsh Labour government are allowing water firms to get away with this environmental vandalism.

“We as a party are calling for tougher action to stop sewage being dumped in local waterways. We have also called for a halt on bonuses for water company fat cats whose firms have pumped filth into our waterways.”

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