Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Recent storms that hit Wales left the coastline in devastation and with summer just around the corner; Keep Wales Tidy (KWT) is searching for volunteers in Carmarthenshire and surrounding areas to help get our local beaches back to looking beautiful! The second annual Clean Coasts Week, sponsored by McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd, takes place from the 10th – 18th May 2014. Keep Wales Tidy along with McDonald’s restaurant staff, community groups, schools and businesses will take part in clean-up events across the country, after high winds and severe flooding battered our coasts and left some beaches unrecognisable. Cefn Sidan lost a large amount of sand dune, and all along the Carmarthenshire coast, damage was caused causing transportation issues and problems for wildlife. A huge amount of marine litter was also washed onto the beaches with the large swells. Daniel Snaith, KWT Carmarthenshire Project Officer said: “After last year’s successful Clean Coasts Week in Carmarthenshire, we are ...

A massive clean-up is being held at Cefn Sidan Beach in Pembrey following the New Year storms. Up to 90mph winds together with the recent high tides caused lots of debris and litter to get washed up on the Blue Flag beach. Pembrey Country Park rangers have now teamed up with Tidy Towns and Keep Wales Tidy to organise the clean-up on Thursday, March 20 and are appealing for volunteers to come along and help. It is being held between 10am and 12noon, but volunteers are being urged to meet in car park 2 at 9.30am. Tools and equipment will be made available; volunteers should wear appropriate clothing and footwear and if possible bring gloves. Executive Board Member for Regeneration and Leisure Councillor Meryl Gravell said: “The recent storms have caused a lot of rubbish to wash up on the beach, from larger items such as fishing nets, plastic drums, tree branches and parts of old boats as well as general litter. “We are very grateful to Keep Wales Tidy and Tidy Towns for organising the ...

Residents and tourists are being encouraged to take advantage of the excellent water quality at Carmarthenshire’s beaches. Testing has shown that the quality of bathing water at the county’s beaches including Cefn Sidan and Pendine is excellent. Carmarthenshire Council's head of public protection Philip Davies said: “I would encourage people to make the most of Carmarthenshire’s fine beaches this summer. "The bathing water is of excellent quality this year so people should take advantage of that. “Swimmers should keep a look out for jellyfish as the hot weather has resulted in large numbers of them off the UK coastline. Anyone noticing jellyfish should swim away from them. If people see them stranded on the beach they should not touch them as some species can give you an irritating sting.”

  Environmental campaigners  Keep Wales Tidy  are calling on volunteers to help out with a clean-up of Llansteffan beach in a bid to restore it to its former glory. The date of the event is on Friday 24th of February at 10.00am, and volunteers are asked to gather next to the recycling bins in the beach car park where they will receive a short informal briefing. All tools and equipment (excluding clothing) will be provided. The event, in partnership with Carmarthenshire County Council will be co-ordinated under the banner of the Tidy Towns project; a Welsh Government funded initiative aimed at restoring pride in the aesthetic appearance of villages, towns and the countryside of Wales. Keep Wales Tidy’s Project Officer for Carmarthenshire; Daniel Snaith said, “Unfortunately the beach does suffer from littering, some of which is brought in with the tide, hence the appeal to people living in the surrounding communities to spare a few hours to give the areas a good...

Improvements to the facilities at Pembrey and Pendine Beaches are planned under the Green Seas Programme. Total funding of £110,000 has been allocated for improvements to the two beaches over the next few years, thanks to the EU’s Convergence European Regional Development Fund, through the Welsh Assembly Government At Pembrey, funding of £21,000 has been ring fenced to refurbish existing beach Ladies and Gents toilet blocks and provide baby changing facilities in a new toilet block to be located on the main beach access. The transformation of the beach toilets at the main beach access point will involve the installation of energy conservation schemes aimed at reducing electricity and water consumption, thus reducing revenue costs. A new, more efficent and effective extractor fan system will also be installed. False ceilings with sun tunnels may be introduced to provide a facility which will be far easier to maintain than is currently the case with the present high wooden beams and ope...