A MACHYNLLETH town councillor has fiercely hit back at his Tywyn counterparts after the Meirionnydd councillors branded the new Dyfi bridge plans as “ludicrous”.

In last week’s edition of the Cambrian News, it was reported that Tywyn town councillors were furious with the controversial £24m bridge proposal as they believe it would “cause more problems than it would solve” and that it was “crackers” that the new route would still pass under the railway bridge in Machynlleth - a road heavily susceptible to flooding.

There were also concerns that Tywyn council had not been consulted whilst plans for the new bridge were drawn up.

However, Machynlleth town councillor Gareth Jones has strongly refuted the claims that residents in south Meirionnydd were not involved with the proposal and accused certain Tywyn councillors of being “naïve”.

In an email to the Cambrian News, Cllr Jones said: “It’s true that town and community councils which border the Dyfi will have an obvious interest in the new bridge and they will no doubt make their own representations, but the idea that Machynlleth Town Council is in any way obliged to consult with others outside its own catchment is just plain wrong.

“As a neutral observer though, I would find it rather disturbing to learn from your article that representatives from another town are actually naïve enough to believe that to be the case.”

Cllr Jones goes on to explain that several representatives from south Meirionnydd, including Tywyn town councillors, were involved in a series of consultation meetings which took place in the summer of 2011.

“A few years ago Machynlleth Town Council did indeed decide to seek the opinion of other interested parties before finalising its own opinion,” the Machynlleth councillor continued.

“As the then deputy mayor I chaired meetings to gather a range of views on the location of a new bridge.

“This was a genuine attempt to move the matter on for the benefit of all on both sides of the river and I would suggest that it played a significant part in finally getting the matter taken seriously by the Senedd.

“Machynlleth Town Council has since formed an opinion and took the views expressed at those meetings into account when making its deliberations.

“Interestingly, some of those very same people are quoted in last week’s story are now holding an opinion which is at some variance to what they expressed at those meetings.

“From what your article says, it would seem that Tywyn Town Council intends writing to Machynlleth Town Council to express what now appears to be its current view, so I shall not pre-empt what my colleagues will have to say or what decision will be reached if or when that letter is discussed.

“However, I thought it was important to put the record straight following some rather less than accurate comments made by Tywyn councillors.”

The next Machynlleth town council meeting will take place towards the end of January.