THE HERALD FRIDAY JANUARY 27 2017 Like us on Facebook facebook.com/thecarmarthenshireherald


5 News Tyler goes for Olympic gold in Austria Burry Port Harbour investment backed


Burry Port Harbour: Dredging and repair plans backed


put to rest,” he added, pointing out the valuable contribution the harbour made to the local economy through fishing and tourism. Cllr James said that local people


were ‘angry with the state of the harbour’ and had set up a Friends of Burry Port Harbour group consisting of local businesses, people who used the marina and councillors. Cllr Hugh Shepherdson (Ind,


THERE is no certainty with the


weather as we all know. The Herald stocked up on candles,


flour for breadmaking and powdered milk after the last forecast of snow. There were some, more than others, hoping for a whiteout in Llanelli. Heol Goffa pupil Tyler Charleston would have been one of those people as she gears up to represent Wales at the Special Olympics Winter Games in Austria. Tyler is swapping the dry ski slopes for the the snow-laden mountains of Schladming in the the beautiful state of Styria, Austria. Aged just 17, she is the only


Welsh representative of 3,000 Special Olympians from 110 nations worldwide competing in the Special Olympics World Winter Games 2017. She has gone off with the eight


members of the GB squad to train on the slopes she will be competing on for gold in March in the slalom and giant slalom. Mrs Alex Williams, Tyler’s coach and former deputy headteacher at Heol Goffa Special School, said: “We are so proud of


what Tyler has achieved. She has worked hard putting everything she can into her weekly training sessions.” Tyler is a regular visitor to Ski


Pembrey and has been away with the squad to ski snozones all over the country during the last year. During the last four years, Tyler has


been to Austria skiing with Heol Goffa’s school skiing community three times and she goes again in two weeks time to hone her skills a month ahead of the World Games. Tyler’s Olympian status selection


came after trials with the Special Olympics of Great Britain athletes squad in France in March last year. Eight Heol Goffa pupils, including Tyler and her twin sister, Ruth, competed for places at the World Games with others from across the UK. Tyler secured her selection by


winning two gold medals at the trials, just pipping her twin sister Ruth into second place for silver.


Heart of Wales walking trail underway A REPORT detailing £3m of


spending needed at Burry Port Harbour was endorsed by the Community Scrutiny Committee last Friday (Jan 20). The report was backed by local


County Councillor John James, who attended the meeting to speak on the subject. Introducing the report, which was


based on work carried out by civil engineering firm Atkins, Director of Leisure Ian Jones said that in 2015, the matter had been taken to the Executive Board, who were ‘clear that the harbour formed part of the Masterplan for the town and surrounding area’. This report, he added, was designed


to provide a sustainable solution to the maintenance issues facing the harbour, which mostly centred around the harbour walls and the need for dredging. The need for dredging was ‘not


something that will go away’, he added, pointing out that the East Dock currently couldn’t be used due to the condition of the harbour walls, and that of the 137 berths unoccupied in the outer harbour, around half were unusable without dredging. Mr Jones added that in terms of


revenue for the authority, 50 extra boats using the harbour on a full-time basis would net around £40,000 per annum extra. This meant that an extra £250,000 could be earned in revenue if the harbour was operating at maximum capacity. Currently, he explained, the only


dredging work carried out was to the approach channel, which was done annually with a mechanical digger at a


cost of around £50,000. Even this work would need to be carried out two to three times a year, increasing the cost. It would cost £750,000 to dredge the


silt from the harbour, but only £400,000 had been set aside in the capital programme, meaning a significant shortfall. Mr Jones added that section 106 receipts for the area could be put towards this, but there was ‘conflicting demand’ from other projects in the area, and it would fall to Burry Port Town Council to determine how this money would be best spent. He pointed out that the major


expenditure at the harbour – repairs to the walls – would still have to be carried out, because they were listed and the responsibility of Carmarthenshire County Council. Failure to do this could mean that CCC ‘found itself in hot water with CADW’. He added that due to the probable


need for a licence for disposal of the dredged silt, no dredging would be able to take place until autumn at the earliest. However, this would not be required if a water-injected dredge (WID) which removed the silt by agitating it so it was removed by tidal action was used. Mr Jones also told councillors that


the RNLI would be opening ‘an iconic new base’ and they had agreed that their old base could be used as a harbour office, replacing ‘a portacabin which is not in the best condition’. Local member Cllr James said that


while at present the marina had been a ‘short-term success’, issues with silting up had made its future uncertain. “The choice is simple – invest or


Pembrey) added that the Masterplan for the region was dependent on the harbour being operational, and if this plan failed, it would be ‘a disaster for the region’. It did appear that support for


the project was perhaps less strong among councillors whose wards were further away from the coast. Cllr Ken Howell (Plaid, Llangeler) remarked that the harbour ‘is taking money every year but we have got it, we can’t get rid of it, so we have to deal with it’. Cllr Howell also pointed out that


NRW had expressed concerns about the effect of the dredged material on cockle and mussel beds in the area. However, he admitted that he could see the harbour’s potential. Cllr Edward Thomas (Ind,


Llandeilo) also confessed that he had been one of those sceptical about the harbour, but added that ‘we have to move forward, and this report sets out the best way to do it’. In response to a question from


Cllr Anthony Davies (Ind, Llandybie) about when the harbour was likely to become self-sufficient, Mr Jones replied that an extra £170,000 of revenue was needed annually - 200 boats - but that when the harbour first opened ‘we were close to that level’. “I am worried that in five years


time we will still be sitting round this table looking for money,” Cllr Davies remarked. Mr Jones responded that if


nothing was done for five years ‘the silt would go up, and the number of berths would go down’. The report was unanimously


endorsed.


A new long-distance walking route: Will take in some of the stand-out attractions like the Cynghordy viaduct


A NEW long-distance


walking route which will connect Shrewsbury and Swansea is in the process of being developed, after a feasibility study was carried out last year. The proposed trail will follow the


129 miles (207km) of the Heart of Wales railway line and, following the study, a new walking route between Craven Arms and Llanelli is in the process of being developed. Organisers said work on the first


sections of the trail - from Craven Arms to Knighton and Garnswllt to Pontarddulais joining the Wales Coast Path to the National Wetland Centre Wales in Llanelli - is expected to begin in early 2017.


The route has been planned to


make use of existing public rights of way, and link with established trails like the Offa's Dyke Path and Beacons Way.


A crowdfunding campaign has


been set up to help fund the next stage. Money raised from the campaign will help pay for gates, footbridges and signs as well as route maintenance. The route will allow walkers to


experience the landscape of rural Mid Wales, as well as some of the stand- out attractions like the Cynghordy viaduct, and will link with the Twyi Trail near Llandovery, before continuing to Llanelli via Llandeilo, Ammanford, and Pontarddulais.


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