Senedd Member backs STUN’s £500k alternative to protect coast without harming village

SENEDD Member Paul Davies has joined growing opposition to Pembrokeshire County Council’s £40 million Newgale road realignment, branding the project “ill conceived” and urging the authority to reconsider a more affordable, environmentally sensitive alternative drawn up by the local community.

The Newgale Coastal Adaptation Project (NCAP), developed by the council in partnership with consultants AtkinsRéalis, proposes rerouting the A487 inland through the Brandy Brook valley. The scheme is aimed at mitigating future storm damage and sea-level rise, but critics say it will devastate the landscape, split the village in two, and waste tens of millions of pounds.

Mr Davies is working with the Newgale campaign group STUN (Stand Up for Newgale), who have drawn up a rival plan costed at just £250,000–£500,000. Their proposal would see a 400-metre stretch of the existing shingle bank moved around 10 metres seaward, maintaining the existing A487 route and drastically reducing environmental and financial impact.

“I’m very disappointed that the Council is pushing ahead with its plans rather than working with the community on a much more affordable scheme,” Mr Davies told The Herald. “We know the Council is struggling financially and yet somehow, it’s content to find millions of pounds for a scheme that the local community opposes.

“In my view, Pembrokeshire County Council’s plans are ill conceived. Any changes to the infrastructure in Newgale must meet the needs of the local community and should aim to be as environmentally sensitive as possible. I’ve raised this at the Senedd, and I will be doing so again, urging the Cabinet Secretary for Transport to intervene and support the local community.”

‘We just want the council to talk to us’

Peter Keeling, who submitted STUN’s alternative plan, told The Herald that the council has ignored legally required procedures and failed to properly engage with local people.

“We want the council to communicate with us and properly assess our alternative plan,” Mr Keeling said. “Realigning the shingle bank 10 metres seaward would protect the road for the next 80 to 100 years, improve beach access, and save tens of millions of pounds that nobody in the village wants to see spent on a new road through Brandy Brook.”

The STUN proposal includes drainage measures, improved beach access for disabled users, and avoids any disruption to existing businesses such as the Duke of Edinburgh pub, surf shop, and campsite. It also claims to meet every target laid out in the Welsh Government’s Future Generations Act and Net Zero commitments—unlike the council’s more invasive plan.

Expert: Council’s modelling is flawed and alarmist

STUN’s report is backed by a detailed independent assessment from Professor David Keeling, a retired academic who examined the coastal data underpinning the council’s justification for the new road. He concluded that the predictions of the shingle bank migrating inland were “unnecessarily alarmist” and based on “extreme upper-end climate scenarios” that do not reflect local conditions.

Professor Keeling states that moving the shingle bank 10–12 metres seaward would delay any significant landward movement by at least 80–100 years, while allowing real-time monitoring of sea level changes in future.

Historical evidence ignored, say campaigners

The group’s report also highlights historical records, dating back to 1795, showing that storm damage to the A487 from pebble over-topping has occurred only a handful of times in centuries—and was always remedied quickly and cheaply.

The 2014 overtopping event that prompted the NCAP plan, for example, incurred a one-off clean-up cost of just £13,000. STUN argues that even if such events doubled in frequency, it would still be more cost-effective to maintain the existing road than to spend £40 million on a new one.

Local business owners worried

Local surf shop owner Rhys Morgan told The Herald: “This road scheme could finish us. Most of us here would rather see that money spent protecting the beach and improving access—not destroying what makes Newgale special.”

Legal concerns over council’s process

STUN has also raised concerns that Pembrokeshire County Council may have breached its obligations under the Welsh Transport Appraisal Guidance (WelTAG) and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. They claim that their realignment proposal was never properly considered at any stage and was later dismissed on a technicality.

The group is calling on the council to restart the decision-making process, re-evaluate the modelling data, and consult the public on the cheaper, less destructive option.

Consultation open until May 11

The statutory pre-application consultation on the NCAP scheme remains open until 11th May 2025. Residents are being urged to submit feedback and demand that all options—particularly the STUN proposal—are properly reviewed.

How to have your say:

Email: Newgale@atkinsrealis.com
Post:
Newgale Coastal Adaptation Project Team
AtkinsRéalis
Floor 4, West Glamorgan House
12 Orchard Street
Swansea
SA1 5AD

Online: www.newgalecoastaladaptation.co.uk

Printed copies of the consultation documents can also be viewed at St Davids Library, City Hall, SA62 6SD:

Tuesday: 10:00am–1:00pm and 2:00pm–5:00pm

Thursday: 10:00am–5:00pm

Saturday: 10:00am–12:00pm

With mounting public opposition, academic backing, and growing political scrutiny, pressure is building on Pembrokeshire County Council to revisit its controversial plan—and engage with the community before it’s too late.

A ROUTINE training night for volunteers quickly took a turn which saw them participate in two service launches before going home.

On Wednesday 23 April volunteer crew from Fishguard RNLI launched for a routine training exercise being co-ordinated by HM Coastguard in Milford Haven.

The exercise saw the charity’s Fishguard based Trent class all-weather lifeboat (ALB) Blue Peter VII launch and travel up to Cemais Head near Cardigan where it would meet with lifeboats from New Quay and Cardigan.

When conducting a search for a casualty, multiple assets may be sent to the location to cover a larger area quicker than one vessel. Colleagues in HM Coastguard must demonstrate that they are able to coordinate such a search, managing the assets which are on scene which was the purpose of this exercise, but also provided excellent experience for all crews involved.

Having completed all actions requested by HM Coastguard the ALB returned to the station to end the exercise. Whilst crew were placing the lifeboat on to the moorings a query was received from HM Coastguard as to whether crew had observed anything in the direction of Newport following a report to them of a red parachute flare being seen in the area.

Crew were asked to standby as HM Coastguard made further enquiries. At 10.35pm the volunteer crew were paged with a request to launch both Fishguard’s ALB, and the D class inshore lifeboat (ILB) Edward Arthur Richardson. The request was to conduct a search of the area around Newport with the ILB conducting a search close to shore and the ALB further out conducting a search using the lifeboats radar.

With no further reports and no sign of anyone in distress the lifeboats were stood down and returned to station.

The volunteer crew of the ILB had just begun to refuel and wash down the lifeboat when at 12.15am a second request to launch was received. This time the request was to assist in a multi-agency search involving HM Coastguard and Dyfed-Powys Police for a missing person in the area of Fishguard Bay. The lifeboat launched and made its way toward Lower Town. Once on scene the lifeboat conducted a shoreline search using spotlight and night vision scope covering the whole stretch of coast from the North side of Fishguard Fort, in towards Goodwick and around both breakwaters whilst other agencies searched onshore.

With nothing located the ILB was stood down and was able to return to station where it was refuelled and made ready again for service at 2.00am.

For two volunteers these launches were important. Nick who joined the crew in 2024 and dedicated hours of training to pass his first assessment saw his first service launch crewing the ALB. Jayne, who recently passed out as a Launch Authority was on duty at the time and saw her first launches as the Coastguards point of contact at the station.

Volunteer Launch Authority Jayne Griffiths, said:

‘The training gives you the information you need and prepares you for that moment the pager goes, but it’s still a rush when it does for the first time, and to get your first and second back-to-back really is something.

The volunteer crew really showed their dedication to helping those in need having been out once, and ready to go again straight away. One crew member spent 7 hours at sea that night having been crew for the ALB on training, and then crew on the ILB for both shouts. Others remained at the station to help recover, refuel and wash the ILB when it returned the second time demonstrating great teamwork and the ethos that we are all one crew.

Whilst nothing was located on the first launch, and the individual in the second was located safe by police, if you see anything which indicates distress, or see anyone you believe to be in distress at sea please call 999 or 112 and ask for Coastguard.’

WALES has become the first nation in the UK to trial automatic voter registration, as four local authorities launch a new pilot scheme aimed at increasing democratic participation.

The groundbreaking project, unveiled this week, seeks to make voting more accessible and inclusive by reducing the barriers to registration.

Carmarthenshire and Powys will create a replica of the local government register using existing council-held data. This approach will help determine which data sources are most effective at identifying eligible voters without altering the official electoral roll.

Gwynedd, Newport, and Powys will go further by identifying and verifying potential electors directly from council data before adding them to the actual register. In Gwynedd, the pilot also includes targeted outreach to engage communities traditionally underrepresented in elections.

First Minister Eluned Morgan said the pilot reflected the Welsh Government’s commitment to democratic inclusion.

“Whilst we see other countries try to discourage electoral participation for political gain, we in Wales want to see as many people engaged in our democracy as possible,” she said.

“When I first became First Minister last year, I said accountability and delivery would be the watchwords of my government. We’re getting on with delivering on the areas that matter most to the people of Wales, and with these pilots, more people can hold elected officials accountable for what we’re doing.”

Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant MS, added:

“Other parties talk the talk on democratic participation, but it is Welsh Labour that is leading the way on strengthening our democracy – bringing in votes for 16- and 17-year-olds, and now automatic voter registration pilots.

“Would any other party be happy to stand up to scrutiny like this?”