Denbighshire council leader to revisit decisions on Llanerch Bridge, recycling, libraries and toilets

Denbighshire’s new council leader has said he would revisit decisions made on Llanerch Bridge, recycling, libraries and public toilets.

Leader Cllr Hugh Evans was responding to questions from Cllr Gwyneth Ellis during Tuesday’s Denbighshire County Council cabinet meeting at the authority’s County Hall HQ in Ruthin.

During the meeting, Cllr Evans said he would be reviewing “lots of decisions made” and couldn’t “promise anything” at this stage, highlighting the budget as a risk.

Cllr Ellis questioned the new leader about several issues facing the council, including its recycling service and the future of Llanerch Bridge.

The bridge was swept away during Storm Christoph in January 2021, severing a route between Trefnant and Tremeirchion.

Under the previous administration, the authority abandoned the plans despite the council spending £1.5m of Welsh Government funds designing the new structure.

At the time, council officers warned cabinet members that drilling into the riverbed could contaminate a water supply to 85,000 homes, potentially making the authority liable for millions of pounds.

Speaking yesterday, Cllr Evans said he was not satisfied with the current position and wanted to explore whether an engineering solution could be found.

He said: “Pont Llanerch, we are reviewing the position. I’m just not happy parking this project. And there must be an engineering solution somewhere for it.

“We must be the only authority in Wales that when a bridge collapses, we haven’t got plans to replace it. Communities have been divided. And I just don’t get that. Why haven’t we come up with a plan to put that back together?

“So I’m keen to see what we can do with Llanerch Bridge. No promises, but we are reviewing the existing position on that.”

Cllr Ellis also questioned Cllr Evans about recycling. The Trolibocs scheme was launched in the summer of 2024 but ended up costing the authority millions due to having to resolve hundreds of late and missed collections.

This led to both the previous leader and chief executive apologising for the botched launch. Over two years later, problems persist, but

Cllr Evans said there would be a private meeting on Wednesday to discuss recycling, with any changes coming to Cabinet in due course.

Cllr Evans was also asked about previous decisions to cut library hours and close public toilets, prompting him to vow to also revisit existing decisions.

He said: “Yes, we are revisiting the existing decision. In simple terms, I just could not understand how an organisation with a £300m budget could not keep toilets open in Denbighshire. I just didn’t understand that.

“So because I didn’t understand how the decision was reached. And also libraries, the cut of library hours to me has been quite draconian. I want to revisit that as well to review that and see if we can come up with something which will make a difference to our residents.”

Cllr Evans also spoke about the relationship between cabinet members and senior officers – describing it as a “key” relationship – and the responsibility of lead members when difficult decisions have to be made.

He said: “As (a member of) cabinet, I feel really privileged to have the opportunity to have access to senior officers within the organisation, and we need to make the most of that as members. So that’s how I see that relationship building up.”

“And also I’d like to say lead members, when there are difficult things, difficult decisions, to lead on that, it always ends up being a political decision. And I hope to see lead members leading on that, even if it’s difficult and awkward, to show a bit of leadership and to provide support to the senior management if all the evidence before that decision is taken.”

Cllr Evans outlined his approach to the council’s forthcoming budget, drawing on his previous experience as leader during a period of austerity. His comments follow forecasted funding gaps for the next financial year running into the tens of millions of pounds.

He said: “Previously, when I was leader, I did have twelve years of austerity, and it was really difficult to set the budget when there was no additional funding allocated from our political masters, and it was a challenge in itself, so I’m pretty well aware of the difficulty of setting the budget.”

He then said he wanted “all members” to share their concerns on the matter. “But I want this budget to be one that is practical, realistic, and sustains our services for future provision, but it does have to have a community focus. For me that’s really important,” he said.

“This is a local government. This is not the Senedd, and this is not Westminster. We are local government, and we have a responsibility to deliver services for our residents.”

He added: “It is the best level of democracy you can have, and we are privileged to represent our residents, and I want the budget to highlight that.”

He added that the next eight months before the election was about setting up the foundations for the next council and embedding processes.

Cllr Gwyneth Ellis said she would like a single document to list issues with success criteria to show if targets were being met. Cllr Evans replied that was a statutory process that happened regardless.

By Richard Evans – Local Democracy Reporter