Here is a nice photo of Llanbedr on a fine summer day. It graces the front page of Gwynedd Council’s Environmental Statement, which it has prepared to support it’s plans to build a bypass round the village. This wonderful document is all about what a jolly good care your council is taking of your surroundings. It runs to over 500 pages.

The photograph is taken from the middle of the field to the west of Maes Artro, looking north across Mochras Road, the bend in the river beside the riverside car park and picnic area, and along the line of the proposed bypass to the houses beside the main road at the north end of the village. It shows the attractive and tranquil countryside that Llanbedr is set in.

And now here is a graphic taken from Gwynedd Council’s ‘Fly Through’ video simulation of what their lovely new bypass will look like if they get to build it. This shows exactly the same location as it will be if a bypass is built, with the bend in the river and the car park, but from a slightly different angle,.

Although the video attempts to disguise the new bridge as much as possible by using some convenient placed trees to screen it, just look at the height of the bridge as represented in the ‘Fly Through’ image and then the size of the car that is approaching it. Clearly the height of the bridge where it crosses Mochras Road is not represented accurately in the video. No commercial vehicle could possibly pass under it, and even a car might be in danger of scraping its roof.

With that in mind, it’s worth taking another look at the first picture. Bear in mind what the bridge looks like, and then consider the environmental impact on the village, and the whole area around it, if a new road very similar to the Porthmadog Bypass is constructed on embankments at Llanbedr.