Council says safety repairs remain on programme but traffic lights will stay in place as major bridge scheme moves into next phase

TRAFFIC delays on the busy road between Neyland and Burton are set to continue into late April, with Pembrokeshire County Council confirming that ongoing bridge repairs are still underway and unlikely to finish before the end of the month.

The update came after The Herald asked for clarification following concerns from a reader about the pace of the work and whether the original target of completion by the second week of April would be met.

In response, the council said the works now underway are essential safety repairs to replace the bridge’s original parapet railings, which are more than 50 years old.

Officials said the parapet replacement is expected to be completed in the week commencing Monday (Apr 20). After that, contractors will begin replacing the bridge surfacing, which is expected to take around a week and will also require traffic management.

The final stage of the project will involve replacing the bridge movement joints. Those works are due to be carried out at night and, according to the council, will not require daytime traffic management.

Pembrokeshire County Council said the current lane closure and traffic lights are necessary to protect workers on site, adding that the only alternative would have been a full road closure.

The authority said that while a closure might have shortened the scheme by a few weeks, it would have caused greater disruption overall and risked damage to diversion routes.

The council also explained that the job is more complicated than a routine bridge repair because the parapet plinths are around 100mm narrower than modern standards. That has meant a special parapet railing system has been needed, with only one accredited supplier in the UK able to provide it.

The supplier, the council said, has committed all available resources to the scheme, but site constraints and the required sequence of works mean each side of the bridge takes several weeks to complete.

It also said there are very few trained and accredited operatives able to carry out the specialist work, meaning night-time, 24-hour or weekend working was not possible.

On the issue of delays, the council said the traffic lights are manually controlled on working days between 7:00am and 6:00pm, with contractors instructed to adjust timings at peak periods to improve traffic flow where possible.

However, with the A477 carrying more than 13,000 vehicles a day, the council acknowledged that delays at busy times are unavoidable.

A spokesperson said: “We fully understand that having traffic lights on the highway network is inconvenient and frustrating for road users and apologise for the delays experienced.”

The council added that, despite the extremely wet weather this year, the scheme remains on programme.

A SENIOR member of the Welsh Government has been accused of “passing the buck” for declining a call to directly intervene in contentious changes to Withybush hospital.

Last year, Hywel Dda University Health Board consulted with its communities on options for change in critical care, dermatology, emergency general surgery, endoscopy, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, stroke, radiology and urology.

It said its Clinical Services Plan focuses on nine healthcare services that are “fragile and in need of change”.

The proposed changes included an option for Withybush patients needing specialist critical care being transferred to Glangwili.

At a recent two-day meeting, the board, amongst its many other decisions, backed changes into emergency general surgery which will see no emergency general surgery operations taking place at Withybush, but a strengthening of the same-day emergency care (SDEC).

Members stressed the changes would not happen overnight.

Following the decision, calls for intervention have also been made by local Senedd members Paul Davies and Sam Kurtz, who wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Health & Social Care to urge him to intervene and stop the Health Board removing services from Withybush.

That response from the cabinet secretary has been criticised by Mr Kurtz.

In his letter of response, Cabinet Secretary for Health and social Care Jeremy Miles MS stressed planning and delivery of local health services, in this case “scheduled to begin in the next Senedd term, with a time horizon of up to four years to complete,” were, under statutory arrangements for NHS Wales, “the responsibility of health boards”.

Responding, Sam Kurtz said: “The response from the Welsh Health Minister is regrettably, though perhaps unsurprisingly, deeply disappointing. Rather than demonstrating leadership and using the powers that he has as Health Minister, he appears to be passing the buck to the health board despite the profound impact these decisions will have on services in Pembrokeshire.

“There is clear and justified concern among residents. After years of cuts to services at Withybush Hospital, this response will do little to reassure our communities.

“People deserve clarity, accountability, and a meaningful voice in decisions affecting vital services. Paul Davies and I will continue to stand firmly in defence of healthcare provision across West Wales.”

The Minister’s letter added: “Since the decision was taken, both the First Minister and I have set out the Welsh Government’s position in answers to questions from members of the Senedd and in debates. We have been very clear that decisions of this nature rest with the health board.”

It went on to say: “In your letter, you raise points about services within the scope of the [Clinical Services Plan] as well as the future of the emergency department at Withybush Hospital. I want to be very clear that emergency department services were not part of the CSP decision.”

The county council has also debated the downgrade plans for Withybush.

A petition to the Senedd against the changes has been created by Crymych resident Ajay Owen, entitled Urgent Pembrokeshire Healthcare & Resident Safety – Withybush Hospital & Health Board Intervention.

The petition, running to August 23, has attracted more than 11,000 signatures to date.

A PETITION call to Pembrokeshire councillors, which raises concerns at the “hefty funds” needed to support its commitment to net zero, will be heard at full council.

Last July, councillors agreed to set up a group to review its own decision to declare a climate emergency some seven years ago.

In May 2019, the council declared a climate emergency following a notice of motion by Cllr Joshua Beynon calling on the authority to back the global consensus that climate change poses a risk to the well-being of future generations.

He had urged county councillors to back a motion to take “bold, decisive action” to fight “truly, catastrophic” climate change, with the council to committing to becoming a zero-carbon local authority by 2030.

At the July 2025 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, a successful notice of motion by the late Cllr Mike Stoddart called for the establishment of a working group to review that decision.

That led to a recent petition, by Lynda Duffill of West Wales Climate Coalition, which attracted 725 signatures, calling on the council to reaffirm its Declaration of a Climate Emergency, and retain the ambition to deliver Net Zero Council operations by 2030.

That petition was considered at the October 2025 meeting of full council; members agreeing the working group be asked to ensure the petition is included as evidence in its consideration of the matters referred to it by the council resolution in July 2025.

That has now led to a further petition, concerned at a potential increase in council tax from a re-affirmation of a Declaration of a Climate Emergency.

The latest e-petition, on the council’s own website, created by Carolyn Ellis, reads: “We call upon all elected members of Pembrokeshire County Council to support and to take seriously the working group tasked with the review of the ‘climate emergency’ called in 2019 (by the-then 21-year-old councillor Joshua Beynon) and to question the hefty funds needed to spend on ‘net zero’.

“We refer to the recent petition by the West Wales Climate Coalition which purports to speak for the residents and council tax-payers of Pembrokeshire.

“There is potentially a far higher number of residents who do not share this unsubstantiated view and who are extremely concerned about the potential for huge hikes in council tax, especially if this tax is linked in future to the carbon efficiency of homes and businesses.

“This was hinted at as a possible lever for encouraging ‘compliance’ with decarbonising homes in the ‘Better Homes, Better Wales, Better World’ report. Therefore, not only could we be faced with more taxes, but also inevitable deterioration in service provision by PCC.”

The current petition ran to March 26 and attracted 753 signatures.

Any petition of between 100 and 499 signatures triggers a debate at one of the council’s overview and scrutiny committees, and any over 500 a debate at full council.