CALLS for the Cleddau Bridge toll to be dropped to 50 pence, to avoid regular users in the south of the county “subsidising” council tax payers in the rest of the county were defeated at County Hall on Thursday, May 12.

At the May meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, members were recommended to maintain bridge tolls at the current level of 75 pence each way, a figure unchanged since the early 1990s.

Previous unsuccessful calls have been made to enter into discussions over the future of the bridge with the Welsh Government, described as “a cash cow” generating a £1.9 annual profit for the council, with a view that the Trunk Road Agency took over the running, with the expectation it would be toll-free.

At the meeting, Pembroke Dock councillor Tony Wilcox proposed the current 75 pence each way toll be cut to 50p, adding: “Those of us lucky enough to be living on the banks of the Cleddau are a little cheesed off with paying tolls.”

Members later heard that any changes in toll level of the bridge, subject to the Dyfed Act of 1987, would need to be ratified at Westeminster.

Councillor David Lloyd said the £1.9m raised annually equated to about five per cent of that raised by council tax.

It has previously been said the £1.9m is used to top up the council’s highways budget, which Cllr Lloyd described as “probably illegal and certainly immoral,” adding: “What local people pay by crossing the bridge to work is probably costing them upwards of £200 a year, if that surplus was removed and put in general council tax it would be £15 per head.

“We take this tax off local people in South Pembrokeshire and consider it justified; by any standards it’s immoral.”

Councillor John Allan-Mirehouse said it was fair that users should pay for the bridge.

Bob Kilmister said: “It is wrong that these people using the bridge are actually subsidising other people’s council tax; they’re not paying, they’re over-paying.”

Councillor Jon Nutting, a long-term proponent of a toll-free bridge, said: “This bridge is making a substantial profit which is subsidising the rest of the county, and that is a fact.

“This is a barrier to trade, it is stopping low-paid workers from finding proper jobs on the other side of the river because they cannot afford it.

“It is time we did start negotiating properly with the Welsh Government; there’s a need for a ‘golden parachute’ so we can wean ourselves off the bridge money. Let’s not fudge it any more, let’s get cracking.”

Councillor Rob Lewis warned that losing the £1.9m would lead to cuts to an already pressured highways department.

The 50p amendment, and a later amendment in which any surplus would be scrutinised, were both defeated in recorded votes, with the recommendation being approved by the majority.