Concerns as Stena Line shelves upgrade.

Pembrokeshire Liberal Democrats are disappointed that Stena Line Ferry havedropped plans for a £5m upgrade to their Fishguard terminal in Pembrokeshire.

The company was planning to replace the flexible ship-to-shore bridge that allows vehicles and passengers on or off at different heights of the tide. However, Stena have said that it did not now “have a timescale for future developments”.

Last year, Stena invited tendersfor the work to replace the Linkspanbridge on its Fishguard to Rosslare route and also made an initial outline planning application with Pembrokeshire County Council. At the time it said it was “committed to examining the possibilities of investing in key elements of the port infrastructure”.

However, the company has now decided “not to take on the tenders for this particular infrastructure but will continue to look at future options for the port”

Alistair Cameron, Welsh Liberal Democrat Candidate for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire at last year’s General Election said:-

“We cannot guess what Stena’s future plans will be. But the continuing uncertainty of our border arrangements with Ireland due to Brexit will be a major factor in their investment decisions.

The loss of this £5m upgrade is a blow to the local economy and job opportunities.”

Andrew Lye, Chair of Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire Liberal Democrats added:

“The Fishguard and Pembroke ferries are important to the local economy, tourism and trade between Wales and Ireland. Together with Holyhead they handled 2.5 million passengers and 530,000 lorries and trailers in 2016. They are threatened by border controls from a hard Brexit through leaving the Customs Union and Single Market. This is yet another example of how the uncertainties over Brexit are damaging our economy.”