A last minute reprieve has been granted to a £2.3m cable car service in the Valleys which was due to be scrapped from tomorrow. Earlier this month Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council announced it had decided to axe the Ebbw Vale Cableway after canvassing opinion from residents.
Long a bone of contention in the local community, it's been much maligned chiefly because of its hefty price tag and the fact it also costs £50,000 a year in maintenance. It's also infamous for not working properly, clocking up more than 250 reported breakdowns in the four years alone since its 2015 opening.
Paid for through £12m European grant funding, the cableway links the town's centre with its nearby former steelworks site - which now houses the local community school. It can carry 22 people at a time and spans a distance of 140ft.
Read more: The appalling spelling mistake right outside a Swansea primary school
Due to have stopped operating from Friday April 28, the decision to axe it was part of the council's aim to plug a £6.6m funding shortfall. However, thanks to the late-breaking discovery of "alternative funding" it's now been confirmed that the much-criticised service is to remain open.
Leader of the council Steve Thomas said: "Following work undertaken by officers of the Regeneration and Environment department, alternative funding has now been identified which means that we can keep the Cableway open. This will keep the link available for the public and protect it from frontline budget pressures while we endure the current funding crisis.
"As I said some weeks ago, councillors from both political groups in Blaenau Gwent have been eager to see the link saved, as it was always a difficult decision to mothball the facility. But, as we have explained previously, we are facing an extremely challenging financial situation which has meant tough choices about services.
"We have heard from many people who use the Cableway to access education, work, leisure, and local amenities, especially those with mobility problems and vulnerabilities. Their feedback has been uppermost as we worked towards this positive solution."
The Cableway is open from 7.45am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday and is closed on weekends and bank holidays.
Read next:
- Incredible pictures as Northern Lights appear in parts of Wales
- Ryan Reynolds invites Wrexham fan with terminal cancer to watch Deadpool shoot
- Three girls 'seconds away' from being hit by train after walking on tracks
- The Welsh island called 'exceptional' by David Attenborough just a 15 minute trip from Wales' most famous beach
- Morrisons is offering free meals in its cafés for anyone that asks for Henry
