Anglesey council U-turn over work near ice age beach

Huge boulders on the beach give insights into how glaciers behaved

Sea defences will be shored up after councillors were assured work will not affect a beach full of clues from the last ice age.

Anglesey council had previously rejected proposals for the 295ft (90m) concrete structure on the Menai Strait.

Councillors had warned of "environmental damage" that could be caused to nearby beach Traeth Lleiniog.

They described it as a "critically important" site of scientific interest - but work will now get underway.

Original plans were to replace the existing concrete sea defence protecting Cerrig, a private property in Penmon which was rebuilt in 2018.

• Sea defence plans branded 'environmental vandalism'

• Ice Age evidence bulldozed from Lleiniog beach

However, proposals were rejected because they involved heavy machinery travelling along the beach packed full of ice age clues and a site of interest for geologists across the globe.

But after assurances were provided that any damage could be mitigated, planning committee members reversed their earlier decision, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillors Carwyn Jones, Gary Pritchard and Alun Roberts had opposed the plans

Anglesey council had previously been criticised after some of the boulders were said to have been moved during flood relief work in 2018, with locals claiming that post-glacial peat beds were ruined by the bulldozers.

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.

In an updated report, planning officers obtained assurances from the applicant that measures to control any disturbance to wildlife and ecology would include managing the storage of materials and plant machinery as well as a pollution contingency plan.

However, councillor Carwyn Jones said work would change the appearance of the area as well as views on to the island from parts of the mainland.

"Allowing this would make a mockery of the area of Special Scientific Interest and other designations already awarded, making them worthless," he said.