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.

Volunteer crew launched for searches, police incidents, a medical evacuation and a grounded yacht during a busy spell from mid-February to early April

ANGLE RNLI volunteers were called out to a series of incidents across the Milford Haven Waterway in recent weeks, including missing person searches, a medical evacuation and assistance to vessels in difficulty.

The first of the incidents took place late on Sunday, February 16, when the crew was paged at 11:04pm to assist St Govan’s Coastguard Rescue Team and Dyfed-Powys Police with a missing person search at Cleddau Reach, Llanion. The launch was later cancelled after the casualty was located safe and well by police.

In the early hours of Tuesday, March 11, at 1:12am, the lifeboat crew was tasked alongside Dale Coastguard Rescue Team to assist with an ongoing police incident at Hakin Point, Milford Haven. The lifeboat launched and stood by within the marina lock until the incident was safely concluded. The crew was back alongside and ready for service again by 2:00am.

A further launch followed on Friday, March 21, at 1:09pm, when the crew was requested to assist a seven-metre motor vessel with three people on board suffering machinery failure off the Behar Wreck in Dale Roads.

Once on scene, the volunteer crew assessed the situation and decided the safest course of action was to establish a tow. The vessel was taken under tow before the line was handed over off Hobbs Point to a workboat from Rudders Boatyard for the remainder of the journey back to the slipway. With no further assistance required, the lifeboat returned to station and was ready for service again by 3:30pm.

Just after midnight on Tuesday, April 1, at 1:15am, Angle RNLI was again paged to help Dale Coastguard Rescue Team and Dyfed-Powys Police, this time in the search for a despondent woman in the Milford Haven area. As the crew prepared to launch, the casualty was found safe and well by police and the launch was cancelled.

Later the same day, at 9:52pm, the lifeboat was requested to assist with a medical evacuation after reports of a man suffering chest pains on board a harbour tug moored off South Hook.

A Port Authority pilot boat had already transferred the casualty from the vessel and was making for its jetty. The lifeboat rendezvoused with the pilot vessel, where casualty care-trained crew members boarded. Supported by Dale Coastguard Rescue Team, the man was assessed and extracted from the vessel before being handed into the care of colleagues for transport to hospital.

The lifeboat was back alongside her berth and ready for service again by 11:30pm.

Most recently, on Monday, April 6, at 1:05pm, the crew was tasked to assist a fourteen-ton yacht with one person on board which had run aground and was listing near Mill Bay.

With the tide still ebbing, the immediate concern was the welfare of the lone skipper. The lifeboat launched shortly afterwards and located the yacht around twenty minutes later. With the vessel by then listing significantly, the crew deployed the inflatable Y boat to speak with the skipper and discuss the options.

The owner, who was understandably reluctant to leave the yacht, was helped to deploy an anchor. With no further assistance required, and the skipper content to remain on board and await the returning tide, the crew was stood down. The lifeboat was back alongside and ready for further service by 3:00pm.

Report finds previous recommendations led to better management of public money, but warns more work is needed by health boards and councils

AUDIT WALES has said the Welsh Government has made clear improvements in the way it manages the Regional Integration Fund, but warned that health boards and local authorities still need to strengthen their oversight of how the money is spent.

A report published by the Auditor General for Wales found that positive action taken in response to earlier audit recommendations has helped improve the use of public money.

The Regional Integration Fund supports efforts to better join up health, social care and housing services across Wales.

Audit Wales said the fund helped 181,922 people live independently during 2024-25 by supporting the management of their health and care needs.

The latest report follows an earlier 2019 review of the Integrated Care Fund, which identified both positive impacts and weaknesses in the way the fund was managed. That earlier review made six recommendations to the Welsh Government, all of which were accepted.

Since then, the Welsh Government has replaced the Integrated Care Fund with the Health and Social Care Regional Integration Fund, introduced in April 2022. Capital elements of the previous scheme were replaced by a new Housing with Care Fund.

According to Audit Wales, five of the six original recommendations have now been fully implemented, with the sixth partially implemented.

The report says the Welsh Government has improved the speed of its decision-making, strengthened monitoring arrangements and helped Regional Partnership Boards share learning and good practice.

However, the report also found weaknesses in how health boards and local authorities oversee the work of Regional Partnership Boards and the way Regional Integration Fund money is used.

Between 2021-22 and 2026-27, Regional Partnership Boards will have had access to £1.45 billion in Welsh Government funding, including £731 million through the Regional Integration Fund.

As statutory members of those boards, health boards and local authorities are responsible for oversight of the activity and spending. Audit Wales said more needs to be done to ensure that responsibility is being carried out properly and in line with Welsh Government guidance.

Auditor General for Wales Adrian Crompton said he was encouraged that the Welsh Government had taken the findings of the 2019 report seriously and acted on the recommendations.

He said the follow-up report showed clear improvements in the management of public money by both the Welsh Government and Regional Partnership Boards.

Mr Crompton added that, as more funding is channelled through Regional Partnership Boards, it is important that the Welsh Government continues working with partner bodies to make sure public money is being overseen and spent wisely.

The report also includes further recommendations intended to help shape the future management of the fund.