Plan for work on historic beach is turned down

PLANS that would result in heavy plant machinery travelling along a historic beach known for its Ice Age features have been knocked back by councillors on Anglesey.

Meeting on Wednesday, Planning Committee members rejected the locally contested plans to shore up sea defences along part of the Menai Strait which protects a private property near Penmon, on the eastern tip of Ynys Mon.

According to the owner of Cerrig, the work is necessary in order to replace the existing sea defence which was said to be in “poor” condition.

But aspects of the proposals had ruffled feathers locally, with all three local county councillors raising objections over plans to use a public car park as the works compound which would mean heavy machinery would need to travel back and forth along Traeth Lleiniog.

The beach has long been known as an area of interest for geologists, archaeologists and historians due to the presence of glacial-age rocks and boulders said to offer vital information on how glaciers behaved.

Anglesey Council was criticised after some of the boulders were said to have been moved during flood relief work in 2018, with locals claiming that postglacial peat beds were ruined by the bulldozers.

But determined to stop any such scenes being repeated at the designated area of Special Scientific Interest, committee members went against the advice of planning officers and rejected the plans.

“If this work were to be permitted, people would be left in amazement how it was ever given planning permission,” said Cllr Carwyn Jones, one of the members representing the Seiriol ward.

With some members deciding to abstain due to the lack of information provided, the decision to go against the advice of officers will mean that the proposals will be presented once again during October’s planning committee meeting following a month’s ‘cooling off’ period.