FEARS PROJECT WOULD RISK CONTAMINATING WATER SUPPLIES, BUT DECISION LEAVES VILLAGES IN LIMBO

PLANS to replace a bridge destroyed in a storm have been scrapped. Denbighshire County Council cabinet yesterday voted to abandon plans to replace Llanerch Bridge which was destroyed during Storm Christoph in 2021, when the River Clwyd burst its banks.

- By RICHARD EVANS Local Democracy Reporter

Council officers warned that if they drilled into the riverbed, it could contaminate a water supply to 85,000 homes.

That's because the old bridge, which connected Trefnant and Tremeirchion, was above a vital freshwater aquifer that Dwr Cymru Welsh Water uses to supply drinking water to residents.

Councillors heard how drilling into sandstone layers could create fissures, contaminating the lake.

Paul Jackson, the council's head of highways and environmental services, said: "There's not been a design solution that has been found that completely removes the risk to that water asset.

"Therefore, the detailed design stage has concluded that it is not possible to construct a new bridge without the required foundations penetrating the weathered section of sandstone and putting a potential fissure in the aquifer, and again, interrupting that water supply.

"Welsh Water has stated that drilling into the aquifer would ultimately create a pathway for the risk of the water supply being contaminated, and that could lead to several factors, including risk and safeguarding their customers.

"It is a public health risk, and Welsh Water has stated that should the risk come to fruition, rectifying the issues created by drilling into the ground would be far from straightforward and extremely costly to resolve.

"It may not even be feasible to repair if we drill a physical pathway into the aquifer."

He added: "They consider this to be extremely high risk, and they would suggest we don't go ahead with this project."

Mr Jackson said every design possible had been considered.