RESIDENTS in an "isolated" community will gather at a collapsed bridge this weekend as they still wait for repair work to be carried out almost two years on.

This Saturday afternoon, community group Tremeirchion 2000 is staging a "light-hearted" protest at Llanerch Bridge.

The bridge, which provided a crossing over the River Clwyd between Trefnant and Tremeirchion, and was used as a route to the A55, collapsed on January 21, 2021.

Residents have had to drive seven miles around the river since the damage caused by Storm Christoph.

It is estimated that the bridge was used by around 1,600 vehicles a day as drivers avoided St Asaph en-route to the A55.

Professor Stuart Irvine, chairman of Tremeirchion 2000, said: "We are doing it in collaboration with the county councillors and the community council. We had the idea as we're a bit fed-up as nothing seems to be happening with the bridge.

"It's about raising awareness. 

"The bridge - or what's left of the bridge - is looking in a very sorry state. We do feel isolated that the bridge hasn't been rebuilt."

M&H Coaches, in Trefnant, will be providing a bus to take people to the site on Saturday.

Since January 2021, Denbighshire County Council has been in discussions with partner agencies including Welsh Government, Natural Resources Wales and Cadw to understand the considerations required before carrying out a community engagement exercise with local people to understand if a bridge was needed or wanted.

The community engagement was carried out over September and October of 2021 and 94.5 per cent of people who took part in the community engagement told the council they were keen to see Llanerch Bridge replaced.

Last November, Denbighshire’s cabinet overwhelmingly supported the principle of replacing the bridge, subject to the securing of necessary funding.

Since then, the council has been working on procuring ground surveys and other specialist work which will then enable the council to build a business case and bid for external funding to design and construct a replacement bridge.

In recent months the council has appointed consultants to look at the initial design aspects of the new bridge and to consider options for how it would be positioned.

 

Denbighshire Free Press: How Llanerch Bridge looked after storm damage last year. Picture: Liahll BruceHow Llanerch Bridge looked after storm damage last year. Picture: Liahll Bruce (Image: Picture: Liahll Bruce)

 

Cllr Barry Mellor, Denbighshire cabinet lead member for highways and environmental services, said: “The council fully appreciates how important historically Llanerch Bridge is to local residents and to the economic resilience of the area surrounding it.

“We also fully recognise the frustrations that no replacement bridge has been put in place.

"However, it’s a very complex project and the council has moved as quickly as it can to try and find a solution that will meet the needs of the local community.

“We are working with consultants to come up with designs for the bridge and those plans must be tried and tested robustly to deal with potential future flooding and to avoid any future damage to a new bridge.

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"Once this work has been completed, the council will create a business case for funding and the council has committed to spend £300,000 on doing the necessary work to get the business case to be a viable one.

“We want to assure local residents that work is progressing in the background to find the best solution and we will keep communities informed through the quarterly newsletter, through the local media and the council’s social media accounts.”

Professor Irvine added: "There was a survey in the local population last year. A questionnaire went out. Denbighshire County Council said it was a very good response, an overwhelming response, to rebuild the bridge."