SLIPWAY WORK TO HELP PREVENT RIVER TRAGEDIES
A NEW slipway for emergency services and water rescue crews has been completed at a notorious danger spot on the River Towy in Carmarthen.
The ramp to allow rescue boat access and lifesaving buoys has been put next to an area of the river known locally as the 22, where 11-year-old Cameron Comey is believed to have fallen into the river in February 2015. He was never found.
Creating an access to the water for search and rescue teams at that 22 point will speed up response times to incidents on the river, it is hoped.
The scheme was spearheaded by the Carmarthenshire Water Safety Partnership and a planning application was lodged last year with Carmarthenshire Council by the South Wales Trunk Roads Agency (SWTRA).
Recent years have seen children repeatedly warned of the dangers of swimming in the river and especially entering at the 22, where currents are strong.
There have been a number of tragedies in the Towy over the years. In 2011, Kieran BennettLeefe, aged 14, died after falling into the Towy, near Capel Dewi.
Carmarthen shire Water Safety Partnership is a charity which aims to promote water safety education and to raise awareness of the dangers of waterways.
Chairman Adam Whitehouse said: “This new ramp means rescue teams can get access to the river at a point that is upstream and in an area that will become busier with the new Towy Valley path being developed.
“Launching a boat upstream will cut the time it takes to get a boat up to that part of the Towy.”
The night Cameron Comey disappeared the fire service launched a boat at the 22 area, although they had to carry the craft over fences and through sodden ground to get it onto the water.
In the following days search and rescue boats were launched from the Quay in Carmarthen.
Mr Whitehouse explained: “In the case of when Cameron disappeared the boat was coming up from Ferryside and further down the river so this will cut times by having an access at that point on the river for rescuers.
“In the past it hasn’t been a quick turnaround for the swift water rescue or others on the river.
“You are looking at probably an hour once they get kit sorted and travel up the river,
“There’s 10 miles from where the 22 is and Ferryside.”
The access ramp will be open to emergency ser- vices and local water rescue teams and wider search and rescuers.
Mr Whitehouse explained the new addition of a ramp and new vandal-proof lifebuoy cabinets follow barriers which have already been placed on the banks of the 22 to discourage children and youngsters playing in the areas.
He added: “The buoys will also be in locked cabinets which will only be accessed once someone calls 999 and they will have to ask for the access code to get the buoys.
“They have been trialled in Bath city centre and Grantham, but Carmarthen will be the first place in Wales to have these access-coded buoy cabinets.”