BRIDGEND Council has dropped long-term plans to develop a new highways depot in the borough this month due to a proposal that is described as no longer being affordable.
It comes as the council’s Waterton highways depot is currently said to be in a “poor condition” with proposals for a replacement site at Brynmenyn Industrial Estate dating back to 2016.
The plans worth around £8.1 million would have seen the current site vacated and the land sold off as part of the Parc Afon Ewenni scheme for a housing development and new school – with cash from the sale going towards the new depot.
However, with the project removed from the local development plan due to revised flood protections leaving the site in a flood zone, and some of the capital funding transferred to the multi-million Maesteg Town Hall refurbishment, these plans were said to no longer be an affordable option.
The discussions were held at a council cabinet meeting on November 19, where members heard how the authority would now focus on refurbishing the existing site based off Waterton Road on a “prioritised” basis.
Officers described how it was important for council operations as it was home to a number of resources such as a salt barn for winter maintenance along with a materials reprocessing plant, as well as a vehicle refuelling facility and storage.
They added that they would now be fixing the things that were most essential for efficient operations with a revised budget of £3.5 million, with some of the highest priorities being to re-roof the salt barn which had collapsed last winter, replacing wash facilities and bulk fuel storage tanks, and re-roofing a highways building.
An executive summary within the report read: “The Highways Depot at Waterton remains in poor condition. Exploration of affordable alternative locations has not identified any which would be deliverable within current capital budget allocations. Accordingly, it is proposed to refurbish/maintain the existing depot on the existing footprint within the available capital budget on a prioritised basis.”
Members later approved the plans with council leader John Spanswick noting that the authority only needed a functional depot, citing some of the “great work” that had been done at Bryncethin depot.
