Pwllypant hill will not be closing as part of roundabout improvement works, the leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council has said.
In a video posted on Facebook, Plaid Cymru Penyrheol ward member Cllr Lindsay Whittle claimed the road would close for at least two months – sparking online anger among residents and motorists.
In response to the video, Labour council leader Dave Poole said: “A video has been shared on social media featuring a local councillor claiming that one of the arms coming off the roundabout at Pwllypant hill will be closed to traffic for two months. This is not the case and we are keen to stress that there are no plans to close this road to traffic for two months.”
The council has admitted that work will be required on that particular section of road in future, but that access will be maintained. The details and times for the work has yet to be agreed.
Pontygwindy Road set to reopen
Pontygwindy Road is set to reopen at the Pwllypant roundabout on Saturday – almost a week later than originally planned.
The delay was caused by the recent snow that caused huge disruption across Caerphilly County Borough.
Council leader Dave Poole said: “I’m pleased to announce that Pontygwindy Road will fully reopen to traffic this weekend now that the works on this section have been completed.
“We are still assessing the impact of the recent bad weather on the timeframe for reopening two lanes around the roundabout and on the bypass.
“We are still working hard to get this in place before Easter, but I’m sure residents understand that the period of extremely cold weather, coupled with the heavy snowfall, has had a detrimental impact on the original plans.”
Are we heading for Trump style politics with local Councillors posting on Facebook ?
Surely Cllr Whittle should be more professional and responsible and at least ascertain the correct facts.
I suspect the discussion between Cllr. Whittle and the council may boil down to semantics. Lindsay must have read or heard of a longish road closure affecting this road. He is an elder statesman of local politics who was a councillor when I lived in Penyrheol which was nearly forty years ago and would not have made this claim lightly.
The council carefully says ” there are no plans to close this road to traffic for two months.” Note they did not say the road will not be closed at all, and there is no timescale made available for how this stretch will be affected. We shall see in due course what actually happens but I infer, from the conflicting statements, that the road will indeed be closed at some point. The council needs to be honest about how long and what the exact arrangements for access to the homes affected are.
You are probably right….because as you say they did not contradict his statement that the road would be closed.
As for honesty from Caerphilly Council ! – on past performance ,that is something we will be unlikely to see.