Geotechnical report into Newbridge landslip awaited before solution and cost known

Wrexham Council are waiting on a consultants report into the damage at Newbridge before any further steps can be taken to resolve the issue.

The B5605 between Newbridge and Cefn Mawr was severely damaged during Storm Christoph in January, when torrential downpours caused part of it to collapse down an embankment. Further cracks have appeared in the road, with residents currently forced to take lengthy diversions to get to work or school.

Images released by Wrexham Council in September showed that more cracks are developing as the road’s condition continues to worsen, with fears unless there is some urgent progress the road could remain closed until 2023.

This week Mark Isherwood, Welsh Conservative North Wales MS, asked Minister for North Wales (and Wrexham’s MS) Lesley Griffiths about the issue.

Following on from his comment on the Wrexham Gateway project (as we reported yesterday) Mr Isherwood queried, “Earlier this year I visited the site of the landslide between Newbridge and Cefn Mawr, caused by storm Christoph, with the B5605 there closed.

“When I wrote to the Welsh Government about this damage to key infrastructure, the Deputy Minister for Climate Change’s response in July stated that Wrexham council’s funding application to the Welsh Government was’unsuccessful because repair works would not reduce the risk of flooding to properties and would only benefit the highway’.

” Wrexham council’s environment and transport lead then wrote, ‘We anticipate a repair cost of circa £1 million and are concerned that without some support the council will be unable to fund these storm-related damages.’ But, as an affected constituent wrote this month, ‘Many in these villages do not have cars, needing transport that involves walking miles to the nearest bus stops or having to hire costly taxis.’

“Earlier this month, the council confirmed they had secured Welsh Government funding for advice from geotechnical consultants, and will be submitting a business case for Welsh Government funding. How, therefore, do you respond to their statement that the biggest obstacle will be securing funding this financial year to enable them to plan and carry out the works as soon as possible?”

Lesley Griffiths MS, responded, “My understanding, when I last had a discussion around this issue with the deputy leader of Wrexham County Borough Council, was that they believed the ball was firmly in their court, and they were processing their application. So, I don’t recognise that.”

We asked Wrexham Council on the comment, with Cllr David A Bithell, Deputy Leader of Wrexham Council telling us: “We are still awaiting the final report from our specialist geotechnical consultants.

“When we have this detail we will be in a position to determine a solution and will be requesting adequate funding from Welsh Government following storm Christoph.”